The Journey Towards a Vintage Wedding - The Dress

If you are following us on Instagram you might have seen that Anastasia had her getaway wedding in Copenhagen at the beginning of September, quite spontaneous and super intimate with only their witnesses present. Surprisingly, despite a lengthy two-year engagement, the decision to make their union official came merely over a month before the chosen wedding date. This decision set off a frenetic race against time to assemble Anastasia's wedding ensemble, with a specific goal in mind - to source a treasure trove of vintage and pre-loved pieces. Since time pressure is the worst enemy for successful treasure hunting, the race was on from the first day! 

Anastasia’s goal was:
 

Let’s start with the biggest of them all: The Dress
 

Of course, the sustainability factor is a big one for us. Why produce something new, if there are already so many other beautiful dresses out there? But a vintage dress was a no-brainer for Anastasia for many more reasons:

Contemporary wedding dresses that don’t cost the world didn’t seem so interesting in design and quality. Indisputably vintage dresses are crafted with such great attention to detail and artisanship that are nowadays priceless.

Anastasia started the search online and found great shops such as Retold Bride in the UK or Laura Dols in the Netherlands but since the shops don’t have a return policy the move just seemed too risky. Going to some second-hand and charity shops was the next plan. Here in San Sebastian the shops often had very small sizes and not a very big choice of bridal gowns.

So when we travelled for the Amsterdam Fashion Trade Fair with Re-Nou, we decided to quickly drop by at Laura Dols shop in the Nine Streets. Literally 2 hours before our flight was going back home Anastasia tried 7 different and very cute dresses there.

The Lady who owns the shop told us that they have a shop only for bridal gowns where you can come by appointment. We were so upset that we didn’t know and were about to leave when we spotted a white dress with black lace at the front in the party section. The design was so chic and simple, but the craftsmanship and the silhouette were simply out of this world, so we decided that this dress was worth the hassle. We bought the gown knowing that the lace could be taken off, as it seemed it was added afterwards.

Having arrived home, we inspected the dress and were just overwhelmed by how special it was. A dress from the 60s, from a Parisian Atelier, probably handmade. Taking off the lace was easy, so we were thinking that maybe the former owner might have worn the dress for her wedding and attached the lace afterwards to use the gown for other occasions. Something that Anastasia was also inspired by and wants to do the same way.
 

The dress needed to be washed (we washed it by hand), a slit added on the side and some seams had to be redone, but that was it. Maybe it was a gamble but it definitely paid off!

Anastasia was lucky to be in Amsterdam a month before her wedding, but really if you have more time on your hands and travel to destinations such as Amsterdam, Paris, Berlin or London for holidays anyway, the choice is probably not too bad. Sure, there is pressure to buy something there and then, even if it might be the first dress you are trying on because that’s the only chance. But if the dress makes you feel comfortable, pretty, and just like you, it surely will be the right one!