Meet our beautiful GL Bride of The Week, Nicole Rodriguez Olsen, who married the love of her life in our Gale gown from the Do Not Disturb Collection. Surrounded by lush greenery, the couple celebrated their nuptials with a whimsical outdoor wedding at the Fair Tropical Botanic Garden. In the following interview, Nicole shares her favorite moments, practical advice for new brides, and how she found the dress of her dreams! As told by Nicole:
A moment of your wedding day will you never forget?
Our first look…I hesitated this moment so much but I am so happy we did it. The stillness in the air as I walked up to my soon-to-be husband, the butterflies filling my stomach, and my heart bursting with love were so special. I felt like my heart was going to pop out of my dress. Going into my wedding day I was really nervous that the absence of my father would make me sad, and in this moment where we first laid eyes on each other, there was a tiny sun shower and I just know in my heart it was my dad crying of happiness for the both of us. It was breathtaking.
One thing you wish you knew as a new bride? What advice would you give to future brides?
My advice to new brides would be to really take it all in, every moment, every budget discussion, everything because once the day comes it all happens so fast and every minute you spent planning is flying by in seconds. Don’t stress the little details, you are the only one that will know it’s missing. Especially during wedding week when you are dealing with last-minute vendor issues, getting the last-minute texts of cancellations was brutal, don’t let it affect you, don’t even reply until after the wedding. I felt this to be super helpful in protecting my peace.
I used the same caterer my parents used at their wedding back in 1992, Mena Catering, to honor my father and our shared love of lunch or dinner dates we used to have. Bizarrely enough when we went to do our tasting with Mena Catering, Benito is the current chef for Mena, and Benito previously worked for my grandfather and father’s restaurant in Coral Gables, FL so it all really came full circle, and felt it was meant to be.
This kept happening to me throughout the process to and it was always a confirmation that my dad was right there with us the whole time. Plus, with the help of my mom, we were able to create a headpiece with the same designer that created my mom’s headpiece for her wedding.
Fun fact: My moms was stolen years back from the family safe, so we recreated a modern version using 2 bracelets gifted to my mom by my dad and 2 crosses that were gifted to my sister and me from my father’s mother. It was really special. I kept it on all night. We also incorporated using my grandmother’s mantilla in the ceremony and my father’s side’s traditional coins which to me really helped glue our family traditions into a modern outdoor ceremony.
I knew from the first time I saw the “Gale” online while booking my dress fitting appointments for dresses that she was the one for me. I was nervous about trying her on and everything. I emailed the Miami flagship location to see if they had the Gale available in person and to my luck they did!
I booked my appointment immediately and when walking in I told myself to “Keep an open mind”. So I actually tried on a few other dresses that drew my eye in person before putting the Gale on….and it was game over. I fell in complete love with how Gale looked and how Gale made me feel. We then made a few custom additions and my dream custom Gale dress was born.
How did it feel when you put on your dress the day of the wedding? What was everyone's reaction to the dress?
It was all a dream…there is no other way to put it into words. I could not believe the day was here, the moment had arrived. I have dreamt of this over and over again for years. I remember feeling so nervous walking to the room where my dress was but the moment they zipped it on me all the nerves zipped away and I was so ready to show everyone. My mom gave me a kiss on my forehead like my dad used to and we were ready. Everyone was screaming and crying when I walked out with my dress for the first time, none of them had even seen a photo yet. It was truly so magical…
Honestly no, I truly believe it all came together exactly as it was supposed to. This was hard for me to understand until it all came together. Our violin quartet actually canceled on us the week of and we were able to find someone that fit the vibe better for the music we wanted played anyways so it all worked out as it was meant to be. Trust in that.
What was your favourite part of the wedding to plan/you were most looking forward to?
The whole thing. Planning my dream wedding was a dream I can thank my mother for. She really let me be me while creating this wedding. I was able to create everything from the invitation suites to every detail of the ceremony, cocktail, & reception that was displayed was created by us as a couple. I am a creative and my husband is an experiential marketer so ensuring our vision was executed properly took a lot of hands-on planning from us personally.
Our Alice in Wonderland theme really allowed for such a special and unique curation of wedding day vibes, from decor, artsy florals, and creative details which we called our “Wedding wonderland”, to the funky and twinkle lights display, to the down-the-rabbit hole entrance for the reception, the drink me vials on the tables, my father’s memorial mad hatter poker corner, it all allowed for it to come together playfully and that made the day so fun and playful which is exactly what we wanted.
How did you meet your husband? How did he propose?
We actually met through a close friend at my mom’s house when I had a few people over when my parents were out of town. We went out that night and I could tell Chris had an eye for me but was playing hard to get. Little did I know our mutual friend had a crush on me and Chris was being respectful. Chris and I made plans to have dinner after work one day and when he found out I was single everything changed. We have been inseparable since. He proposed to me behind my family’s Key Largo home, I had no idea. we went to lunch at our favorite spot Lorelei’s and filled ourselves with strawberry daiquiris and conch fritters.
My mom texted me mid-lunch saying our neighbor was having a birthday party tonight. so when we arrived back home I didn’t think much of the chaos until Chris took my hand and said “I have to show you something” as I walked back to the beautiful setup.. I still thought it was my neighbor’s party until I noticed the photos of Chris and me on the tree and then it all started to click together as I read the marry me letters, and as I turned around there he was on one knee. It was the easiest yes ever. followed by a surprise from my closest family and friends. It was perfect.
