Real Brides: Marissa

I got married on June 2, 2018 to my husband, Mark in Boston, MA. Our ceremony was at St. Leonard’s Church in Boston, MA, and our reception was at the Fairmont Copley Plaza in the Grand Ballroom. My husband and I met at Providence College in 2008 at an ice cream social, which was a few days before the start of our freshman year of college. We went our separate ways throughout college but had the same mutual friends and always bumped into each other throughout the years. It wasn’t until a few months before graduation he finally asked me out on a date in 2012. The rest is history! This Val Stefani Bridal gown was the second gown I tried on. I didn’t want to try on other gowns after it but my mother and maid of honor told me to try more on just in case… needless to say, I tried it on again and just knew! We all got teary eyed when I put this gown on. What made me fall in LOVE with this gown is the beaded, scalloped pattern… It reminded me of my grandmother, Dulcinia, who used to make “renda,” which is essentially a Portuguese, lace doily. This gown had everything I was looking for: vintage lace with beading, scalloped patterns, ivory color, and a sense of my Portuguese culture! The only thing missing was some type of sleeve… Luckily, my dear friend, Fatima, at Fatima’s Bridal in Fairhaven, MA, made my dream a reality. I asked her to order the extra scalloped, beaded lace and, sure enough, we combined our creativity and her incredible alteration/sewing skills and the final product was an incredible gown with off the shoulder sleeves. She also ordered a plain, cathedral veil and sewed the exact scalloped, beaded pattern on the veil. My husband’s face was priceless when he saw me walk down the aisle at St. Leonard’s Church in Boston, MA, for the first time!