Casual second looks are eclipsing formal wedding gowns
Kerry McDonald waited more than a year to get the wedding gown of her dreams.
The $10,000 Galia Lahav ivory fit-and-flare sheer lace gown was custom-sourced from Israel, and she had to send it back twice to be altered.
But the 28-year-old content creator, who works in architectural and interior design, didn’t even wear it for her whole wedding.
Before the fireworks, the bouquet toss and the cake cutting, she slipped into an open-back silk Meshki halter gown she bought for just $115.
It was the perfect frock to shimmy to Abba’s “Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!”
“I threw it on and … It started off the party,” McDonald told The Post.
She felt some guilt about shedding her pricey ceremony gown, but she was desperate for a more low-key look.
“I wanted to dance freely and not feel too constricted. I also loved the idea of having a completely separate second look,” she said. “I knew the low open back of the second dress would make cute late-night dancing photos.”
Increasingly, brides are opting for a second wedding look that equals — or eclipses — the cupcake confections they walk down the aisle in.
On TikTok, #SecondDress has garnered more than 16 million views. According to a 2022 survey from wedding planning and vendor marketplace the Knot, 15% of individuals wore different outfits for their ceremony and reception.
“It’s become a bigger trend more recently because brides want to show their personality the minute they step into their reception,” celebrity wedding planner David Tutera told The Post. “Brides can actually change into a dress that has color.”
Sofia Richie’s trendsetting April wedding in the South of France saw her wearing not one but two bespoke Chanel dresses on the big day.
Her long, lacy ceremony look featured a crisscross neckline, while later on she changed into an ivory minidress inspired by a little number that Claudia Schiffer wore on the catwalk in 1993.
Designers are capitalizing on the market for post-ceremony dresses. Newly launched Silk Thread Online bills itself as a “one-stop collection” for everything but the ceremony gown, specializing in reception and after-party dresses. And, last month, Kim Kardashian’s shapewear brand Skims expanded into the bridal market with 63 simple dresses — like a a blue silk slip dress, and a formfitting minidress with a crystal beaded hem — that appear destined for reception glory.
Tutera notes that unlike ceremony gowns, which tend to be more conservative, brides are taking big fashion risks with second looks — from feathered jumpsuits to sequined minidresses.
“I’m working with a bride right now who has a stunning gown that costs thousands of dollars for her walk down the aisle and her second dress is an eggshell blue and it’s covered in all crystal,” he said. “It’s a pencil skirt, sweetheart neckline, her arms are not covered … it’s much more revealing.”
Unsurprisingly, the trend is being driven, in part, by social media.
A second, more daring frock makes for compelling wedding post content .
Kendal Cradic posted a TikTok of the bedazzled minidress she wore after ceremony. She was desperate to get out of her more formal gown.
“After wearing it for hours, people stepping on the train, all night long — I could not wait to take it off,” she said.
“There’s absolutely no way I could have as much fun as I did if I was in my ceremony dress.”
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