Flattery at its finest. By now, the custom gown that Lauren Conrad wore when she married William Tell two years ago has served as inspiration for countless brides attempting to recreate the star’s pristine-yet-rustic wedding day aesthetic.
The dynamic duo behind the couture Chantilly and Alençon lace gown–Badgley Mischka‘s Mark Badgley and James Mischka–looked back on the design process while attending The Knot Gala in New York City on Monday, October 9.
“I will say this: That could not have been more of a dream situation,” Mischka told The Knot outside of the New York Public Library. “She was so lovely… First of all, she’s gorgeous, which helps, and then she’s smart and sexy and funny, and she was a joy to work with. I don’t think it could have gone any better than it did.”
Badgley echoed his partner’s sentiments. “It was a very natural and very organic situation,” he expressed. “She was the ultimate model bride to dress.”
Conrad’s custom gown was accented by pearls, baby glass beads and crystals, and memorably featured dainty buttons down its back with a gorgeous 10-foot train. While sharing the first photos from her wedding with Us Weekly in September 2014, the Little Market co-founder, 30, revealed an amusing, behind-the-scenes story related to her ceremony dress.
The dress originally included long sleeves, but, at the last minute, Conrad opted to go sleeveless. “I felt like I couldn’t pull them off,” she said two years ago. “I was like, ‘Sir, if you don’t cut them off, I’m going to use my kitchen scissors and cut them.’”
“She had a really clear notion,” Mischka told Us at the time. “And she stuck to her guns.”
Other designers have since replicated the design, but that hasn’t presented any problems for Badgley and Mischka. “It’s great,” Badgley told The Knot on Monday. “It’s flattering. Yeah, absolutely. Especially when you have someone like [Lauren] to showcase it.”
The American designers have been especially busy this past year tending to members within their inner circle, and creating inspiring, new designs for those loved ones.
“We have a lot of friends who have gotten married [or] who are in the process of getting married right now during this 2016 calendar year,” Mischka said at The Knot Gala, which gathers the best of the best in the wedding industry. “It inspired a lot of our collection this season. So, it keeps getting more and more personal. Our friends are getting married or their daughters are getting married. My niece got married last month! We did her dress. All the kind of things like that.”
Badgley added: “We’re hitting an age that we’re getting the next generation, so it’s fun. We’re getting all their daughters now… To us, it personalizes the business so much … The bridal business, which is a business, can become so personal because, you know, it brings families together and friends together. And I think that’s what’s unique about the bridal business: It’s so personal.”
