Lace Gown Melanie in a Classic and Colorful Wedding

What we love about Katie’s wedding is that she combined a classic lace wedding dress with bright florals and whimsical details for a totally personalized look. Keep scrolling for this summery occasion featuring kimono-style bridesmaid robes, fairy lights, and some seriously adorable cake toppers.

This occasion was shot beautifully by Caroline Lima Photography of Virginia.

Love our Platinum gown Melanie? Be sure to check out our sleeve wedding dress sister style, Melanie Marie. These elegant and ladylike gowns can be found at an Authorized Retailer near you.

📷: Caroline Lima Photography

Which Maggie Sottero Designs gown did you wear?
Melanie! Color: Ivory over light gold.

How did you know when you found “the dress”
I was pretty worried about finding a dress that I would love, because I don’t like white and I didn’t think I would look good in a white dress, but it was important to me that I look and feel like a bride. Before trying anything on I decided I wanted a lace dress with an interesting back, either sheer lace or a keyhole, and that I didn’t want a strapless dress or a mermaid style dress. I spoke to my friend and bridesmaid Sarah, who is actually a bridal consultant at Bliss in Petaluma CA, and the Maggie Sottero Melanie was the first dress she suggested! She couldn’t help me shop since I lived in North Carolina, but she recommended a few brands that would have dresses like what I described that were within my budget. I researched online and went to stores with a list of which dresses I wanted to try on.


I didn’t want to have any second thoughts, so I actually tried on the Melanie in two different stores, and both times when compared with a bunch of other dresses it was the clear favorite!!! I didn’t cry or feel any sudden change when I tried it on, but it just felt right—it fit my personality and my vision for the wedding. Also, it made me feel gorgeous and I couldn’t wait for my husband to see me walking down the aisle! Carolina Bridal World where I bought my dress was also super helpful for choosing the color. Ivory over light gold wasn’t available to try on in their store, and they removed the gold underlay from a different dress and somehow put it with the Melanie lace so that I could see what it would look like on me. The light gold underneath ivory really made the lace details pop!

What was your favorite part of the dress?
I loved the lace back! It was low enough to be sexy but still really classy, and had beautiful symmetrical lace detailing with lovely buttons.

How did you and your partner meet?
We met when we both started graduate school at Duke University—actually around a week after I moved to Durham, North Carolina. I was starting a PhD in Biomedical Engineering and Ian was beginning an LLM (Masters of Law). He had just moved from London. I was living with a law exchange student and we threw her a birthday party at our house that consisted of two people I had met, and about 40 international law students. I was trying to help host by making mojitos even though I had no idea what I was doing, and Ian came over and helped me make the drinks 🙂 We ended up talking most of the night and then he asked me to dinner and I said, “Maybe.” Then he sent me the most adorable Facebook message a couple days later asking if I would like to go to dinner tomorrow, or Saturday, or Sunday, or the next day or the next day…so we went on a dinner date and really hit it off!

How did he propose?
The short version – Ian surprised me with a trip to Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons, a superb restaurant and hotel outside of Oxford, and proposed during a walk in the gardens after an epic tasting menu lunch. He gave a short speech, got down on one knee with a beautiful sapphire and diamond ring and asked me to marry him and I said, “I would love to!” and then we hugged lots and I didn’t cry until about a minute later. 🙂 To me that place will always be the Fearrington Village of the UK—it was like a relaxing escape surprisingly close to the city, but once you are there you could be anywhere in the world—it feels so peaceful and isolated.

Where did you get married?
Fearrington Village in North Carolina. Fearrington is a small farm-style village with a hotel, several restaurants, a spa, some shops, and beautiful grounds. Fearrington has always had a very special place in our relationship so we actually didn’t even consider other venues. Ian took me there on a surprise birthday trip our first year together, and it was such a magical, peaceful, and much-needed escape from the city—we loved it right away. We have been back a bunch of times since then and often went out there for lunch on the patio and to wander the grounds.

Did your wedding have a theme?
Not really – Ian and I had been doing long distance for four years, so we were just so happy and grateful that our friends and families could celebrate with us in person.

How did you decide what you wanted your wedding to look like?
We never really had a vision for the whole event, we just picked a lot of individual things that we liked! Teal is my favorite color so I picked that for the bridesmaids’ dresses. Then Ian chose black suits, white shirts, and dark blue ties for the groomsmen based on his attire and the teal dresses. I love rainbows and lots of color generally so I wanted the flowers to be as colorful as possible.


To personalize the reception, we chose table names after places in movies, shows, and books that are special to us, a Little Prince guestbook, and Totoro cake toppers made by one of our close friends.


Apart from that, we knew Gilda McDaniel and her team at Fearrington would take care of everything beautifully, so it was a joy to work with them and develop ideas for our wedding!

What was your favorite wedding day moment?
Walking down the aisle together as husband and wife… after all those years of long distance, we could finally be together!

Describe your wedding in one word.
Heartfelt 💓

What advice do you have for future brides?
Whatever happens, remember that your day will be incredibly special and magical because you are getting married to the love of your life! Thinking big picture can help when all the details of planning are causing you stress.


Now focusing on dresses, I followed some advice from my friend Sarah that I think is really important. Decide on a budget for your dress before you go shopping, and then don’t try anything on that is outside of your budget! You don’t want to end up longing for a dress that you can’t have and feeling like the one you are wearing is only second best!


Alterations are also a key part of the whole process, which I didn’t really know before a lot of dress shopping. If you choose a lace dress, make sure to find someone who knows how to alter lace! The first place I took my dress, which was a well-reviewed bridal alterations shop, told me they couldn’t alter the lace without folding and cutting it and making a seam. I said no because I thought it would ruin the dress, which has beautiful seamless lace detailing around the whole bodice. I ended up being saved by Olga’s Bridal Alterations in Raleigh. Even though she already had a full schedule of many clients already, Olga took pity on my situation and saved my dress! Her expert work really made a difference. By the time she was finished I felt like my dress was made for me and she made a beautiful bustle! You will be wearing your dress bustled for most of the wedding, so it is important that you like the way the dress looks bustled as well.


I bought my shoes the week of the wedding and ended up buying a few pairs on Amazon Prime so that they would arrive in time and I could try on a few different pairs. The shoes I picked were a little higher than I had wanted when I got my alterations, so the dress was technically a little too short, but on the bright side, it was really easy to walk around. But if you can, definitely buy shoes before alterations and start the alterations process as early as you can!