This week's GL Bride is the lovely Kelsey Zubkoff, who made it official in our custom G-104 gown! Surrounded by family and friends, Kelsey and her fiancé celebrated their nuptials at the beautiful Secrets Puerto Los Cabos Golf & Spa Resort. In the following interview, Kelsey shares her love story and how she found the dress of her dreams. As told by Kelsey:
A moment of your wedding day will you never forget?
As corny as it sounds, walking down the aisle was truly a moment I will never forget – when the violinist began to play “Can’t Help Falling in Love” both of my parents began to cry. My brother was officiating and standing up there with my husband, even over a hundred feet away – I saw them both up there crying as well. It was just so surreal. I remember seeing everyone I love as I walked down to my husband .… leading up to the wedding, my husband kept telling me that he was not going to cry… well he was wrong! My brother’s first line when officiating was “Is someone cutting onions?” Because it felt like everyone was crying. Such a special moment that I will never forget!
One thing you wish you knew as a new bride? What advice would you give to future brides?
Everything is worth it – all the planning, all the stress, all the details. Things will not go perfectly, the Newlywed Times I created never arrived… but that’s ok. Everything will happen as it’s meant to! Prioritize what’s important to YOU – it’s your special day after all.
Also, as a child of divorced parents, I had a special dance with both my mom and dad. Do whatever makes you happy and is important to you!!
Finally, your vendors make or break everything. I am so so so happy with every single person I got to work with and consider them all friends now.. make sure you do research and really love each one – from the makeup and hair team I spent each morning with to my entire documentary team I am so grateful for them all!!
One thing you wish you knew as a new bride? What advice would you give to future brides?
Everything is worth it – all the planning, all the stress, all the details. Things will not go perfectly, the Newlywed Times I created never arrived… but that’s ok. Everything will happen as it’s meant to! Prioritize what’s important to YOU – it’s your special day after all.
Also, as a child of divorced parents, I had a special dance with both my mom and dad. Do whatever makes you happy and is important to you!!
Finally, your vendors make or break everything. I am so so so happy with every single person I got to work with and consider them all friends now.. make sure you do research and really love each one – from the makeup and hair team I spent each morning with to my entire documentary team I am so grateful for them all!!
We were all about the details at my wedding. Each day had a dress code for my guests – which I think made everything feel so cohesive (and easier to pack right?).
First, we made sure to incorporate our dog Rudy into the wedding as the signature drink beginning at the welcome party, in our fun fact napkins, drink stirrers, and of course the cake topper!
Also, my iconic wedding planner really incorporated a lot of special things that were just true to us, about 25 Taylor Swift references, from the seating chart to the thank you note at everyone’s seat. She even incorporated my love for fashion in the flat lays bringing Vogue Magazines to match the vibes!
However, one of my favorite details was the custom bar sign with a Legally Blonde reference – as a female attorney, I absolutely loved this detail!!
We went dress shopping at Destiny’s Bride, intentionally, because it was the only store in Arizona that carries Galia Lahav. One of my bridesmaids booked the appointment as a fun activity to do the day after my engagement party – and with a bridal party of 12… it was one of the only moments we’d all be in the same state together until the Bachelorette Party or the Wedding!
I walked in and we were instantly greeted with champagne! I showed Karysma, my associate at Destiny’s Bridal, my Dream Gown – The Fleur and she instantly had everyone in my bridal party pick out one dress and she picked the G-104 for me based on what I showed her.
I still remember it like it was yesterday, but I knew from the moment I put on the dress it was the one. I put the dress on and instantly was in love… when I walked out to show my bridal party of 12 no one said a single word… when a dress can make 12 of my closest friends speechless…. It was the one!
I tried on about 12 more dresses, and ultimately we all kept just going back to the first one or comparing to the first one. At the end of the appointment, I put the dress back on with the matching Galia Veil and walked to the podium in the middle of the store… Everyone was crying! It was a moment I will never forget, and probably the first time I felt like a bride in the wedding planning process.
How did it feel when you put on your dress the day of the wedding? What was everyone's reaction to the dress?
We had so many alteration appointments I knew the dress was perfect, so I was excited to get in it! It felt like perfection from the moment I put it on – I absolutely loved every single custom detail on my dress and there is NOTHING I would change!
During the wedding planning process my dress was ordered in September 2022 and I was not married until November 2023 – I ended up losing a lot of weight and my alterations had to take about 7 inches off the dress.
So it was really special to me that we got every single detail right and it honestly felt like a whole new dress – so I was really excited for the big reveal. We also added a lot of custom details to make it a one-of-one – such as the Swarovski detail down the front an homage to my original dream dress at Galia – the Fleur!! Everyone loved each detail on the dress. We also added the leftover flowers onto the matching veil, anywhere we could use from the original dress we did!
As a former wedding photographer, I wanted a special moment revealing the dress to each group of people. So, OF COURSE, in true Kelsey Extra Fashion, I had 5 first looks planned that morning!
I did one with my bridesmaids, my bridesmen, my mom and my stepdad, my dad and brother, and then with my husband. Each one was so special and it was so fun revealing the dress to them having those reactions forever is something so special to me. Most reactions were happy tears, along with some gasps and lots of hugs. I 10/10 would recommend more than one first look!!
Would you have done anything differently?
I am a huge believer that everything in life happens for a reason, so no I would not! I absolutely loved my wedding weekend and the dream team of vendors made it a weekend to remember forever and always.
What was your favourite part of the wedding to plan/you were most looking forward to?
My favorite part was planning the fashion for the entire weekend – everything was very intentional!
For the welcome party, I had a custom Dolce and Gabbana dress from the Kim Kardashian collaboration, it was also a runway piece from the 1991 runway – the year I was born. I found a vintage blue Dolce and Gabbana belt on Poshmark for my something blue and was in D&G accessories head to toe from my sunglasses to my shoes.
For the night before, I had a custom dress from a designer in Kosovo I found on Instagram. The dress had the same V mesh cut as an homage to my wedding dress and had floral and silver accents so I wore a Chanel heart bag and Jimmy Choo white heels with heart detailing.
For the wedding day, I had a very extra getting-ready robe with Jimmy Choo heels! Not any fashion detail was left unplanned for the entire weekend.
How did you meet your husband? How did he propose?
Kelsey and Andy met using an online dating application called Hinge – funny enough – the application’s tagline is “Designed to be Deleted.” Their first date was watching RedZone Fantasy Football on a perfect Sunday in Chicago, IL.
After their first date, Kelsey called her friends crying because she knew something special was there with Andy. The rest is history – and Hinge was deleted eventually!
Kelsey and Andy were destined to be together. Kelsey grew up figure skating and Andy grew up playing hockey. They both love reality dating shows, game nights, music, and sports. They have a mutual obsession with their dog Rudy and real estate. Most of all they love and believe in each other fearlessly!
Andy planned Kelsey the picture-perfect proposal at the home that they own together in Phoenix, AZ. Andy involved Kelsey’s MOHs, Anna and Christine, to execute the perfect plan.
Kelsey hates surprises and has major anxiety SO, so the date was set for 9.9.2022. However, Kelsey knew no other details on how the proposal was going to happen, when, where, who would be there, etc. So Kelsey still had some anxiety on the day of!
On the morning of the big day, they made sure Kelsey got out of the house with her favorite things: her friends, sushi, and shopping.
Then, they arranged for Kelsey to have her hair done at the W Spa before the big moment. When she arrived to the spa, Kelsey was greeted with a tray of Diet Coke and was handed two cards. One card was from her future fiancé, Andy, and one from her Maid of Honors, Anna & Christine. It was in the card from Anna and Christine that Kelsey learned the next stop was back at their home in Phoenix.
When Kelsey arrived back home, the house had been transformed into a romantic scene with flower petals, candles, roses upon roses, and big marquee letters saying MARRY ME guiding her to her dream man Andy! He got down on one knee and asked his dream girl Kelsey to marry him. She said YES & also mentioned… “its SO HUGE” about her beautiful engagement ring. Then Rudy was released wearing a bandana saying SHE SAID YES! They had a fun photoshoot afterward, and Rudy & Kelsey both had a second outfit ready!
How did you find working with the team at Galia Lahav?
For my wedding dress, choosing a designer from Israel was something so special to me because my grandparents were Holocaust survivors, I carried them down the aisle with me on my bouquet and felt like they were with me too within the dress. When everything recently happened with the attacks in Israel and I saw Galia’s posts learning her family’s story I felt even more connected and grateful that I was going to be wearing Galia Lahav at my wedding. I would 10/10 recommend buying your dream dress & working with your dream designer.
How many dresses did you try on before you found it?
It was the first wedding dress I had ever tried on, and I tried on every other Galia Lahav dress and some other brands too in the store – I even went back for the Galia Lahav trunk show later in the Spring when they had my original dream dress the Fleur… which is scary because what if I loved that more? But, my dress was always the one… just like my husband, I knew right away and I never faltered or waivered from that decision!
