In the first part of our series, Luca Hollósy, a member of Daalarna’s marketing team, shared the story of her engagement and what it felt like to return to her everyday work at Daalarna knowing that she was now a bride-to-be. This time, we talked about how she found the dress she will wear to say “I do” on one of the most important days of her life, and what it was like to explore the Daalarna collections not simply as a member of the team, but as a bride herself.
Luca, in the first part, you told us that since getting engaged, you have looked at Daalarna dresses in a completely different way. What was it like to walk into the salon for the first time not as a member of the brand’s team, but as a bride?
To be honest, I was a little apprehensive at first, because I spend such a large part of my everyday life in this environment, but in a completely different role. I was worried that it would be difficult to put work aside and that I wouldn’t be able to fully experience the fittings as a bride, but would instead look at the entire process through a professional lens, as if I were working.
That is why I deliberately booked a Saturday champagne fitting and brought my mum, my fiancé’s mum and my best friends with me. Before the appointment, we went for coffee together, which helped me step away from everyday life and get into the moment. In the end, I felt that I had completely let go of work and arrived at the salon just like any other bride: excited, emotional and open to the experience.
You have been working in the world of Daalarna for years, have seen countless dresses up close, followed entire collections and encounter brides’ stories every day. Did that make choosing your own dress easier or more difficult?
It may be surprising, but knowing the world of Daalarna so intimately actually made the decision more difficult for me. Every day, I come across so many different dresses, fabrics, techniques and inspiring stories that at first, it wasn’t at all obvious what I actually wanted. There were so many possibilities and ideas swirling around in my head that it was difficult to narrow them down.
Luckily, during the very first fitting, we managed to find the direction in which I truly felt like myself, beautiful and comfortable. I arrived with three completely different ideas in mind, and it became clear very quickly that the style I felt closest to was actually the one I had initially ranked third in my head.
This experience also confirmed for me how important it is to remain open and try on several different silhouettes, fabrics and styles during your first appointment.
A dress can look completely different on a hanger or in our imagination than it does when we actually see it on ourselves. The final decision becomes much easier when we experience for ourselves which dress makes us truly feel like ourselves.
Did you have a specific idea of what kind of bride you wanted to be? Even before getting engaged, did you know what kind of dress you could imagine yourself wearing?
Yes. Before my first fitting, I had three completely different styles in mind, each of which felt close to me in some way. The first was a strapless dress with an elongated waist, made from mikado fabric and featuring a full A-line skirt. The second was a romantic princess-style gown with a richly lace-covered A-line skirt. The third was a cleaner, more understated style: a dress with delicate lace, a softly fitted mermaid silhouette and a high halter neckline.
Interestingly, this was also roughly the order in which I ranked them in my head before the fitting. But once I actually tried them on, everything changed. Although I found the dresses with the fuller skirts beautiful, I felt that they were too dominant on me. The dress became the centre of attention, and I felt a little lost in it.
The turning point was the high-necked dress with its softly fitted mermaid silhouette. As soon as I put it on, I knew that it was the closest to my personality.
I saw much more of myself in it than in any of the other silhouettes.
My body shape also played an important role in the decision. Since I have broader shoulders, I didn’t feel that strapless dresses were particularly flattering on me. The high neckline, however, beautifully balanced my proportions and elegantly highlighted my shoulders while creating a more elongated silhouette. When I saw myself in the mirror, everything simply fell into place, and I knew I had found the direction in which I truly felt like myself.
Many brides spend months searching for inspiration, collecting images and trying to define what they want. How did you approach the process? Did you have a Pinterest board or saved inspiration, or did you arrive at your first fitting with an open mind?
Naturally, because of my work, I closely follow bridal fashion, international trends and celebrity wedding looks from around the world. I also collected a lot of inspiration on Pinterest, but there is one important lesson I have learned that I would love to share with other brides.
Social media and inspiration platforms are wonderful sources of ideas, but it is worth approaching them with a healthy sense of distance.
Today, we come across an incredible number of perfectly composed, retouched and sometimes even AI-generated images, which can easily create unrealistic expectations. We can become inclined to magnify the little imperfections of real life, even though those are precisely the things that make our own stories unique and human.
For years, one of my favourite wedding dresses has been Sofia Richie’s. The delicate lace, clean lines and understated, timeless elegance have always felt very close to my personal style. Even from the photographs, I felt that this aesthetic reflected my taste most closely, but it was only during the fittings, when I started trying on similar silhouettes, that I truly understood why.
That was when I realised that I hadn’t necessarily fallen in love with one particular dress, but with the feeling this style represents: natural elegance, sophistication, and the way a dress can gently enhance the woman wearing it rather than take the attention away from her.
Tell us a little about your chosen Daalarna dress. What captivated you most: the silhouette, the fabric, the details or the feeling it gave you when you put it on?
My dress ultimately became a completely unique piece, dreamed up together with Anita and Dorci, in which every small detail had a meaning. The base was a high-necked, softly mermaid-shaped silhouette with a white lining, over which we chose a more classic-feeling lace with delicate sequins. I immediately fell in love with the character of the fabric, especially its beautiful border details, which gave the dress an elegant and timeless quality.
The back of the dress was designed with a deep illusion-tulle opening, made even more special by lace appliqués running down both sides. The construction also played an important role in the final look: the lines around the waist and hips beautifully emphasised my figure and created a very feminine, slender silhouette.
But the most personal detail was added at the very last moment.
Butterflies have always held a special place in my life. When I was in kindergarten, the butterfly was my symbol, and later it became such an important motif to me that my mum and I even have matching butterfly tattoos, symbolising our relationship, my journey into adulthood and our shared memories.
I have followed Daalarna since I was in high school, and the first collection that truly left a deep impression on me was Rebelle. I remember seeing that special lace with the butterfly motif for the first time and immediately feeling as though it had been designed for me. Of course, at the time, my wedding still felt very far away, but somehow that motif stayed with me.
When my dress was almost finished, I nervously asked whether there might still be a small piece of that iconic fabric somewhere deep in the archive. To my great delight, we found a tiny leftover piece, from which we were able to save a few butterfly motifs and have them hand-appliquéd onto my dress.
For me, those little butterflies became the soul of the dress. Not only did a deeply personal symbol find its way onto my wedding gown, but it also became a detail that brought back my very first connection with Daalarna.
It was a special feeling to see the motif I had fallen in love with as a high school student years ago become part of my own wedding dress – at the very brand I now have the privilege of working for.
For me, this story beautifully connected the past, the present and one of the most meaningful memories of my wedding.
How much does your dress reflect your everyday style and personality? Was it important to you to remain yourself on your wedding day?
Yes, it was incredibly important to me to feel completely like myself on the big day as well. From the very beginning of my search, I knew I didn’t want to choose something that might be beautiful but didn’t reflect who I actually am. In everyday life, I also gravitate towards more understated styles with a little more coverage. I don’t feel particularly comfortable with deep necklines, while I have always loved highlighting my back and shoulders. It was also important that the dress complemented my more feminine figure, so I was very happy when I found the silhouette that was elegant and sophisticated, yet still felt completely like me.
Was there a moment during the fittings when it suddenly hit you that you were now the bride whose dress the Daalarna team was creating?
Yes, there was one particularly memorable moment. During my first fitting in the atelier, I suddenly found myself surrounded by my colleagues, while Anita and Dorci were sketching and shaping my dress on the mannequin. Until then, I had experienced everything so much as part of the process that I hadn’t really stopped to think about how special the situation was.
Then I looked around and realised that I wasn’t observing things from the background anymore. I wasn’t working on a collection or on another bride’s story – I was the one standing at the centre of it all. Everyone’s attention was on me, and the dress, which until then had only been an idea, was now being shaped around my body and my personality.
It was a deeply moving moment because that was when I truly felt that I wasn’t there as a colleague, but as a bride. Suddenly, I was experiencing first-hand the care, attention and professional dedication that I see every day in the salon and atelier. It was incredibly special to experience everything from the other side, and I think this was when it truly became real to me that I would soon be a bride myself.
What did you feel when you thought about saying “I do” in this dress and looking back at your wedding photographs years from now?
I feel incredibly happy because I believe I have chosen a dress that I will be able to look back on with joy at any stage of my life. I wasn’t following a trend or a passing idea; I was looking for something in which I genuinely felt like myself. That is why I am certain I will never regret my decision.
We have already received a few preview photographs from the wedding, and honestly, I love every single one. Not only because of the dress, but because when I look at them, I can see exactly how I felt that day: happy, free and completely myself.
Perhaps this is the most important advice I would give to a bride: don’t look for what is the most fashionable or what looks best on someone else. Look for what makes you feel truly good.
If you feel comfortable in your dress and feel like yourself in it, that confidence will come through in your presence, your mood and your photographs. In the end, I don’t think we remember exactly what dress we were wearing as much as we remember how we felt in it during that important moment.
