Photo: Instagram via Doooonie
We see wedding dresses on the daily, but when it comes down to it — what actually goes into designing a wedding dress (and a very extravagant one at that)? Bride (and fashion influencer) Dana Wolley Zagat decided to document the entire process of custom designing her wedding dress on Instagram, showing us just how much work went into it all.
And on July 29, 2016, after a year of intense work by dress designer Esposa, the Lebanese bride finally had a finished wedding dress to wear on her big day. But it wasn’t just any run-of-the-mill wedding gown. Here’s why the Internet is totally obsessing over her bridal look.
This Wasn’t Her Original Plan
Before she decided to create a custom gown, she went dress shopping like the rest of us. “I started by checking out simple designer gowns at @esposagroup they are all stunning, but I felt I needed something made just for me and faaar from simple! It’s go big or go home for me!” Worley Zagat said on Instagram. She began to document the wedding dress journey shortly thereafter, noting that she was creating a custom dress with Esposa.
Photo: Instagram via Doooonie
The Dress Has Its Own Hashtag
#DoonieXExposa to be exact — and it has over 100 posts sharing all the deets. The bride-to-be is a social influencer with over 233,000 followers, so it’s only natural that she’d want to share with her fans. From the first stages of trying on designer gowns and deciding that she wanted something “more” for her dress, so it was all on social media for the world to see. Most people’s weddings don’t have that many photos tagged on Instagram — let alone just photos of the bride’s dress.
The Wedding Dress Wasn’t White
Instead, it was a beautiful champagne that was adorned with Mouawad jewels and ornate beading. There is not ONE inch of this dress that doesn’t sparkle.
Photo: Instagram via Esposa Group
It Took Forever to Make
While most dresses take about six months to make, this custom-designed gown took a year and had a staff of several people creating it. “The beading took two months of working days and nights!” the entrepreneur shared on Instagram.
See More: THIS is what a $2 Million Dollar Looks Like
Photo: Instagram via Doooonie
Her Shoes Were Just As Extravagant
So what does a bride wear on her feet when she is wearing a fully bedazzled wedding gown? Nicholas Kirkwood platforms completed her look (of course with genuine hand-picked pearls) — only the best oyster gems for this gal. Still, the bride called these pumps “the most comfortable bridal shoe ever,” which leads us to believe that she’s either a) lying, or b) is used to wearing 7-inch stilettos and that this was a nice break from reality.
Photo: Instagram via Doooonie
Her Bridesmaids Basically Wore Wedding Dresses
The bride shared a snap of her sister in her bridesmaid attire. “My gorgeous sister Nadine wore @ramikadi to my wedding, I loved her dress! Can you believe she’s my sister?? We look nothing alike,” she joked. TBH they do resemble each other because Nadine was wearing an ornately beaded, pale blue gown which dare we say looked a bit like a wedding dress?
The Rest of Her Wedding Was Just As Fancy
You know, just a casual sword used to cut your wedding cake which had a LIT chandelier inside of it, and thousands of flowers hanging from the ceiling — a few small touches, nbd. The edges of the venue consisted of ornately stacked flower walls, once again giving Kim and Kanye a run for their money.
The bride shared on her Instagram, “For those who asked, the floral decorations at my wedding were done by @eventna.international I wanted something different, not a typical white/pastel floral wedding.. I told them exactly what I wanted and they did an amazing job.” Quite the over-the-top scene, but it definitely fit her aesthetic.
While we can’t help but wonder how many thousands (millions?) of dollars this dress (let alone wedding) cost, no matter how you slice it (or the chandelier wedding cake), it’s quite the sight to see and definitely a gown that will go down in history as one of the most extravagant and social media-shared wedding dresses EVER.
See below for more photos of her glamorous big day.