👰🏼♀️ What we wore to our Montana wedding
Custom suits, Greek knits, and one fake ponytail.
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We’ve made it to the most important part of the Montana wedding series: the outfits.
We styled our outfits together—there were no “first look” photos as it seemed stressful not to know what the other person was wearing! Skylar and I are both very particular about how we dress. We often discuss outfits and purchases with each other, so it seemed appropriate to do it for our wedding.
The dress
I had a few different criteria for my dress:
A light neutral color like white, beige, gold, or silver.
Material that would hold up okay through sitting and standing.
A cut where I didn’t have to worry about popping a titty when dancing.
A non-traditional style. I don’t like standard princess wedding gowns; I think they are bland and overpriced, so I made it a point to not even look at wedding retailers. (This is also a great way to save money.)
Years ago, I saw a dress by Kepler, a now-defunct British brand that worked with one of Greece’s last family-owned knit factories. I never forgot that dress!
After our engagement, I ordered the Kepler dress from Maimoun. The dress ended up being darker than I expected, and I waffled back and forth on the color for months, even going so far as to buy the same made-to-order dress in “Natural” (a creamy beige) directly from Kepler, figuring that I could sell the one I didn’t wear. After many months, Kepler shared that they were unable to work with the factory to get the dress made and refunded me (they then closed down a few months later).
I loved the dress, but was even more worried after Skylar bought the fabric for his custom suit. He chose a golden cream brocade, and I was concerned the gold and silver would clash. It wasn’t until we put them together that I was completely sold. (Since my skin is so fair, I think the “Natural” would have melted into me. The silver tones in the original dress better complemented my skin and hair color). I love this dress!!
(Kepler co-founder Alex Hadji has her own collection and a similar dress on Maimoun, now for $825).
Total cost: $627
The bride’s shoes
I wanted to wear cowboy/Western boots and searched for months, even fantasizing about $1,200 custom-made boots. I came very close to ordering from Nashville Booted a few times, but I wasn’t confident about my vintage boot size.
After spotting a pair (not in my size) on The Real Real, I ended up purchasing new boots—the Thelmas from Larroude in cream white. I think the cream coordinated well with Skylar’s suit color, and the height of the heel was flattering.
Total cost: $495
The jewelry
I fell in love with this massive, Huge Kreit ring from SSENSE and had to have it. A few months later, I was charmed to find these earrings from Mondo Mondo (in green) that coordinated surprisingly well.
Total cost: $300
The undergarments
The dress was indeed see-through, so I knew I would need to wear a skin-colored bodysuit. I also wanted to smooth out my body shape a bit.
I tried two shapewear styles from Skims, but I preferred the Sculpting Thong Bodysuit ($70) in the shade Mica. (I also tried the sculpting bodysuit with snaps that had full ass coverage, but it was too small and showed panty lines.)
I don’t have particularly large breasts, so it was more than enough support to go without a bra. I wore Nippies Skin nipple “stickers” ($27), though. I love those things! Perfect for the girlies who don’t want to wear a bra but don’t want to nip out at the office.
Total cost: $124
(For both bodysuits, I already had the Nippies)
The skincare
I “worked” for over a year to avoid hormonal acne at my wedding, and I can’t believe I pulled it off! I credit my 200mg prescription of spironcolatone. Before makeup, I followed my regular skincare routine, which I’ll write about soon.
I treated myself to a microcurrent facial at SB Skin a few weeks before the wedding. In hindsight, I would not do the facial because of the ridiculous cost ($250). Don’t get me wrong, I looked great after the facial, but I don’t think it made a noticeable difference. The wonderful facialist did recommend The Ordinary Azelaic acid cream ($12) for my post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation. Essentially, my skin is so fair that if I get the smallest of pimples, the redness would linger for weeks. The product has become a holy grail of mine.
I used Paula’s Choice Skin Perfecting 2% BHA Exfoliating Toner ($35) the night before and tried to keep my skin as hydrated as possible. I also used my Nuface (I think I got it on sale for around $200 a few years ago?) religiously for many months.
Total cost: $250
The makeup
I decided to do my own makeup, and I’m so happy I did. My friend Meg got married a year before me, and had a disastrous makeup test that solidified my decision to do my own (in the end, she did her own very gorgeous makeup, too).
I took an elevated approach to my daily makeup: dewy skin, brown cat-eye eyeliner, glittery eyeshadow, and subtle fake lashes. My friend Chelsea, the queen of Sephora, took me there to color-match a foundation. She also helped me choose a blush and eyeshadow.
I listed the full cost of the makeup products below, but I continued using them all in my daily makeup routine, so the sticker shock wasn’t so bad.
I practiced the makeup routine a few times to see how it would wear throughout the day.
Concealer: Revealer Super Creamy + in “Tone 1.5 C” by Kosas ($32)
Foundation: Light Reflecting Advanced Skincare Medium Coverage in “Mont Blanc” by NARS ($54)
Eyeshadow: Liquid Powder Eye Shadow Tint in “Aura” by Ilia ($28)
Second eyeshadow: Super Shock in “Ladybird” by ColourPop ($7)
Eyeliner: Flyliner Longwear Liquid Eyeliner in “In Big Truffle” by Fenty Beauty ($24)
Eyeliner setter: Colorful Eyeshadow in “Coffee Break” by Sephora Collection ($8)
Mascara: Lash Odôle Lengthening & Volumizing Mascara in black by Lancôme ($30)
Setting spray: Airbrush Flawless Setting Spray by Charlotte Tilbury (mini, $23)
Eyelash glue: Brush on Lash by Lilly Lashes ($13)
Fake eyelashes: Falscara Lengthening Wisps by KISS ($7)
Eyebrows: Express Brow Fast Sculpt in “Blonde” by Maybelline ($10)
Lip liner: Artist Color Pencil Longwear Lip liner in “Wherever Walnut” by Make Up For Ever ($24)
Lipstick: Rouge Volupté Shine Lipstick Balm in “Nude Lingerie” by Yves Saint Laurent ($45) (discontinued, but the alleged replacement is here, I haven’t tried it though!)
I collected all the makeup links here in this collection:
Total cost: $395
The hair
I watched one of the best videos about wedding looks by beauty influencer Susan Yara and makeup artist Nikke La Rose. Their primary point is not to wear anything to your wedding that you don’t wear in your everyday life. If you always wear glasses, wear them to your wedding. If you never wear a bold lip, my god, don’t do a bold lip. I took this approach for my makeup, but I was stumped on my hair.
I almost always have my hair up, usually with a claw clip or scrunchie. I knew some type of updo was the right approach, but nothing felt obvious or special enough. Googling Montana wedding hairstylists did not soothe this anxiety. The ringlets!!!
I was talking to my hair colorist (Kaitlin at Scott J Aveda on 72nd) about my conundrum, and she suggested I do a high pony with a clip-in ponytail. (I had shorter hair at the time, and my hair is thin and fine.) Bingo!
I first went to The Hair Shop on Kaitlin’s suggestion, but none of the ponytails came close to matching my platinum blonde hair, and bleaching one to match mine seemed risky. Kaitlin came back with a recommendation for INH. The hair is synthetic, but it looked very realistic. I ordered a few samples and was shocked by how well “Platinum” matched my bleached hair.
I was concerned about looking like Ariana Grande, so Kaitlin thinned out the Lily pony for me.
I almost backed out of the Jennifer Behr Virginia bow barrette ($140), because that was one thing I would never wear in real life, but it completed the look by bringing in more white to match the shoes and helped conceal the clip-in.
Speaking of Kaitlin, she’s my extremely trusted hair colorist who has been making me a platinum blonde for almost a decade. I like my hair the most when I have about two weeks of root growth (I think I look like that GoT family when freshly dyed), so we timed my appointments to get two weeks of growth.
In Missoula, I got a shampoo and blowout at Boom Swagger Salon and hired Lee Rizzo to style and place the pony. She did a fantastic job.
One regret I had about my look was that my curtain bangs got greasy quickly. I wish I had pinned them back the day before.
Total cost: $385
($70 blowout, $140 bow, $100 updo, $75 ponytails)
The nails
I got a soft pink manicure at Kindred in Missoula. I’m glad I went with something neutral!
Total cost: $100 or so???
The groom’s suit
Like me, Skylar took a non-traditional approach to his look and opted for something more adjacent to his everyday style.
His suit was tailor-made by Ramón Nuñez, a tailor in the Lower East Side who has been making custom pants, shirts, and suits at his small shop since the 1990s. To get started, Skylar brought Ramón sketches inspired by a combination of American workwear, a particular pair of very costly Jil Sander pants, and 1970s silhouettes.
He sourced the fabric from Mood Fabrics in New York and spent hours combing through three floors of different textiles. He settled on a cream brocade inspired by wallpaper on our mood board.
Total cost: $500
The groom’s shirt
Skylar’s shirt was an embroidered silk piece from the 1970s by Double Red Horse, scored from eBay. He wanted something adjacent to the embroidered designs of Western wear while still fitting the more vintage cut of the suit.
Total cost: $20
The groom’s shoes
Skylar was searching for a dress shoe that was less traditional than an Oxford or a derby. He chose a black tassel loafer from the Italian brand Velasca. The smooth bull leather had the perfect shine to work as a formal shoe, but the loafer style captured the more casual vibe of our ceremony. He chose an option with Vibram soles, a material often found on utilitarian shoes like hiking boots, to be prepared for non-stop dancing on a potentially drink-soaked floor.
Total cost: $305
Thank you for reading our Montana wedding series! I hope you enjoyed it❣️
Lolled at "Googling Montana wedding hairstylists did not soothe this anxiety."
In awe of how thoughtfully it all came together. $500 for a custom suit in NYC made my jaw drop