Our beautiful bride of the week Kylee Marie Kao! This GL bride wore our Esme gown from our online wedding weekend collection, and we are absolutely obsessed. Kylee and her husband Ryan eloped in a stunning ceremony at Joshua Tree National Park, California. In the following interview, Kaylee shares what she loved about her wedding along with some tips for future GL brides! As told by Kylee:
A moment of your wedding day will you never forget?
It was about 9 pm the night before our wedding day (and I’ll admit I was a little wine-drunk). We were beginning to prepare our attire for our big day and of course, in the stress and excitement, I’ve forgotten my wedding veil. Although it’s a small detail I was pretty disappointed. Ryan on the other hand didn’t even blink an eye.
He drove us to Walmart, bought an entire roll of tulle and a cheap hair clip, then watched a million Youtube tutorials and made me quite literally the veil of my dreams. His devotion to caring for me in all of life’s silly and unfortunate situations has shown through not only on this day but every day since we met. I’ll never forget being able to wear this piece on our wedding day and I brag about this moment every chance I get.
It’s inevitable you’re going to worry about how friends and family perceive how you choose to spend your wedding day. People will have opinions and may unfortunately make them known. It’s important to not get caught up in the opinions of others when planning a day that is meant for you and your forever partner. It is for this reason, my husband and I chose to elope. It just made sense that we choose to celebrate our love in private. After all, it is supposed to be a celebration of your love for one another so do it your way, unapologetically.
Because we chose to elope, every aspect of our wedding was special and unique to us. The
ceremony itself was in Joshua Tree National Park, with a beautiful backdrop of Joshua Trees
and large desert rocks, where we said our vows together with only our photographer and
officiant as witnesses. The entire day was about us––from getting ready together in the
morning, making scrambled eggs, to our ceremony, a private chef for dinner, and finally, a much
needed a tequila shot toast to finish the night off.
As soon as I saw the Esme dress online I knew it was what I’d been looking for. Its elegance,
flow of fabric, and simplicity immediately stood out to me. Even before trying it on I stopped
looking for anything else.
How did it feel when you put on your dress the day of the wedding? What was everyone's reaction to the dress?
I felt more beautiful than I thought possible. I was impatiently waiting all morning to put on my dress and share my first look with Ryan since he had no idea what dress I had chosen. He immediately melted when he saw it.
What was your favourite part of the wedding to plan/you were most looking forward to?
A particular part of our wedding day we both looked forward to was reading letters from friends and family after finishing dinner. Because we chose to elope together privately, it was important that friends and family be included somehow. We asked the people closest to us to write us letters of encouragement, well wishes, and pearls of wisdom on life and marriage. It made us feel so loved and supported to share these letters together on our most significant day yet.
How did you meet your husband? How did he propose?
I (very out of character), commented a slightly cringy comment on one of his Instagram photos late one night. In the morning, I had a DM waiting. It may sound ridiculous to say but it feels like we’ve been together ever since.
He surprised me with a winter weekend away at a tiny remote cabin in Washington. No phone service, just days and nights together by the fire. One afternoon, he said he was going to take a photo of us against this large window where you could see the tall trees and snow outside. Little did I know he set up the camera and hit record on video. He joined me, said a few sweet words,and pulled the ring out of his pocket. Of course, my answer was yes––and now we have a video of the moment to look back on from time to time.
How many dresses did you try on before you found it?
Well, from the get-go it seemed I knew exactly what kind of wedding dress would best suit me––I wanted long, simple, elegant, no lace or beadwork––everything that Esme is. However, to appease the “little girl” in me, I booked a day at a local bridal shop for my husband and me a few months before the wedding and tried on every style of dress I could from bold, to colorful, etc. Despite already having Esme it was a fun and untraditional experience to share with my husband. We both cried over just how excited we were.
