My Wedding Dress

Written By Dominique Calvillo

I have been working as a bridal stylist for 11 years. Wether I am styling hair or making the wedding dress, helping brides feel and look beautiful as they walk down the aisle is kind of my thing.

I love working in the wedding industry, however, I knew being a bride myself would be a completely different experience. I had to give up my comfortable spot behind the scenes and embrace the fact that this is MY bridal moment. Here comes the bride…and it’s me?!









Of course, I have always dreamt of what I would want my wedding dress to look like. I always wanted a trumpet silhouette with geometric lace and some sort of nod to the art deco style beading from the 1920’s. The Theme of our wedding was Havanna Nights. My husband is Cuban and we recently visited Havana together and had the best time. I thought I could theme my dress around the gorgeous 1920’s Spanish architecture set against the tropical background.

I called my friends over at Circulo to see if they would send me the Natural Cotton with the silver metallic strand running through. I wanted the yarn to have some sparkle and the color creme is so pretty and bright. This was the perfect material for the dress.

First, I created the crochet base of the dress. If you know my creative process, then it comes as no surprise that I unraveled an almost completely finished first dress. The fit wasn’t quite right and I wasn’t happy with the lace placement.





My second attempt at the crochet design worked so I began to work on the beading! For the beaded details, I bought real freshwater pearls and an assortment of glass beads. The pearls were extremely hard to work with because of the tiny hole gauges. It took many attempts and trips to buy beading needles until they felt secure.

One month before the wedding, my dress was 95% done but I decided that the back wasn’t fitting right. Though my sisters tried to stop me, I took a pair of scissors to the dress and cut the back off. Doing this surgery on the dress was very difficult because I had to re-work the beading and secure all of the cut ends. I am SO happy I made this decision because the fit felt so much better after and I had the open back look that I wanted. Check out the Before and After!

My sister-in-law Jasmine also happens to be a very talented crocheter and I was so lucky to have her there to help me with the finishing details. She helped me create the back straps and designed a bustle for the skirt so that I would be able to dance in the dress! I would not have been able to pull this off without her!

The bustle came out perfectly and I was surprised at how well it moved while we salsa danced the night away!

I was so excited to collaborate with jewelry designer, @robynrhodes, who made jewelry with the same pearls that were used to make the dress. She handmade my hand jewelry and fitted it to my hand perfectly. It was a very special experience. If you’re looking for gorgeous organic looking jewelry, treat yourself and check her out!

There really aren’t words to describe how magical our wedding day was and the joy that will live in my heart forever when I think of our day.

There were some incredible people who lent their love, support and creativity to make sure this was an epic event.

I could write a novel about the artistry that went into this day and I have more people to thank starting with my amazing friend and photographer @dahliafinchphoto.

The makeup looks were created by my friends and colleagues @jacquelinereyesmua and @veronicasinclair. I have never felt more beautiful in my life!


The florals were created by my incredibly talented auntie/ friend @margaretjoanflorals whose flower arrangements completely elevated the whole event. My bouquet was over the top stunning and it made me cry when I first saw it.

I was so sweetly surprised a midnight performance by mariachi royalty @lupitainfantexo which also made me cry.
@calvillocreates surprised us with a cake that had lace made of sugar!!! I was blown away and so touched.

I have so much gratitude for every moment and every person that was a part of this experience. I was truly overjoyed and I am so excited to see what the future has in store for me and my love.

xoxo,

Dominique Noelle Calvillo Soto

Dominique Calvillo
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