Putting together a cohesive and stylish wedding weekend wardrobe is no easy task, ask any bride or bridal stylist. Just the wedding dress alone can take many months to choose and then tailor. And factors like venue, weather, and season have to be accounted for. It’s enough to make anyone’s head spin. We’re sharing one bride’s fashion journey, as she and her stylist curated her bridal wardrobe, in the hopes that it provides insight and inspiration and makes the process less daunting for brides-to-be everywhere.
When OTM Bride Allison Ruben was shopping for her wedding, all bridal shops were closed, which made the process even harder. She decided early on to work with stylist Carrie Goldberg—who also styled Ivy Getty’s wedding—to smartly choose all six of her looks throughout the celebration in the Hamptons, and nearly all of the customization was done virtually.
The bride describes her everyday style as as “a combination of simple and classic with edgy accents,” and for the wedding, Allison really wanted her looks to emphasize every part of her style identity. Pearls were a big theme throughout the weekend, from a pearl bag to pearl earrings to pearl trim on her sneakers. For each outfit, it’s also worth noting that hairstylist Ashley Rubell and makeup artist Dana Rae were on-hand to subtly and effortless switch beauty looks with each dress change. Below, get a full rundown of her all her bridal fashion:
Rehearsal Dinner
The evening before the ceremony, Allison put on her custom J. Mendel gown. The original dress was dark purple, so it was created in a bridal white, and Allison added side-paneling and altered other small details. “It was truly perfect and a really good juxtaposition to my wedding gown,” the bride says of her rehearsal dinner dress.
She completed the look with Chanel shoes that had pearls on the heels, a Simone Rocha pearl bag, Stephen Russell pearl and diamond earrings that were gifted by Dan’s parents, and her late grandmother’s diamond and pearl bracelet. “I looped in pearls throughout all my looks because my wedding gown had a lot of pearls on it.”
Pre-Ceremony Cocktails
Allison and Daniel held a cocktail hour with their guests before the ceremony. It was a chance to mingle and greet their guests and diffuse any pre-“I do” nerves. For this event, she and Carrie chose a Carolina Herrera minidress with a satin bow at the back, Manolo Blahnik Maysale Bride heels, Allison’s other grandmother’s pearl bracelet, and diamond drop earrings by Stephen Russell. “The Carolina dress was super feminine and sweet,” the bride says. “I could only wear that dress for 45-minutes, so I hope to wear it again.”
Dan looked handsome in a green linen custom Suitsupply suit with Gucci shoes and a Cartier watch.
Jewish Ceremony
Alison’s custom, pearl-embellished Hermione de Paula gown was created fully over Zoom. “I wanted to do something different,” she says of her wedding gown. “It was so refreshing to find a designer who enveloped my vibe to a tee.” The bride expressed that she wanted her dress to have a scoop-neck and a super low back. The final design had Hebrew prayers, quotes from her vows, lyrics from their first song, love notes, and other sayings embroidered into the floral design. To complete the look, Allison also wore diamond drop earrings from Doppelt Diamonds and another pair from Maria Tash and had pearls pinned in her soft waves for the ultimate romantic vibe.
For the ceremony, Dan put on a custom sand linen suit, made with Zegna fabric, an Hermès tie, and Cartier cufflinks—gifted to him by his future parents-in-law.
Fun Fact: Allison had her first look in her ceremony gown before the pre-ceremony cocktails, so she and her beauty team had to change into the Hermione de Paula look twice within a span of a couple of hours.
Reception
Before dancing the Hora, the bride put on a Dana Harel chiffon design for a “Greek goddess vibe” with Material Good earrings and vintage Prada shoes. The dress was initially sent from Israel, so Allison could try it on, and once the final gown was complete, it fit like a glove and only had to be tailored once.
Late-Night Party
Even later on, Allison made her last outfit change into a pearl-trimmed Miu Miu dress with pearl-edged sneakers by Monique Lhuillier and Nancy Newberg pearl and diamond hoops (covered in the picture above by fun Silent Disco headphones!).
