Bride Reveals 'Traumatic' Wedding Dress Experience After Designer Butchers Her Dream Dress
"I was sobbing."
TikTok A bride was left astonished after her dream wedding dress was butchered by her designer's attempt to replicate it.
In a TikTok video, Josephine Pepa explained the disastrous details that ended with her scrambling to find another wedding dress just months before her big day.
Pepa claimed the wedding dress designer created a gown that was the opposite of what she wanted.
The bride, who was married in September 2022, explained that now she is "finally able to laugh" about her entire wedding dress fiasco.
Pepa explained that she "hated" trying on different wedding dresses and attempting to go wedding dress shopping, so she decided to just have her dress custom-made.
"The designer was really reputable," she said, adding that one of her friends had hired the designer to design her wedding dress and it had been "stunning."
After realizing the designer had done a fantastic job on her friend's dress, Pepa had no qualms about hiring the same person to design her dress.
At her first fitting, however, Pepa noticed that the dress she'd asked for — a white gown with a structured bodice, long sleeves covered in pearls, and a plunging neckline — didn't look anything like she'd expected.
"I have my first fitting, the dress is like a skeleton,” she recounted. “So I’m like, ‘OK, it’s obviously [not] what it’s supposed to look like.'"
Pepa then showed viewers the final design after asking for a replica of the dress she'd initially shown the designer.
"First, I have a kangaroo pouch,” she pointed out, noting that it was supposed to be the "final design" and she was just two months shy of her wedding day.
Pepa said that while she appeared to look happy in the photos, she was only "smiling through the pain" upon realizing that her dream wedding dress she'd spent thousands of dollars on had been butchered.
She explained that the designer had to hot glue the pearls onto the bodice of the dress because the bra cups were showing through the transparent material, and refused to stay on the fabric.
"I was sobbing," Pepa revealed. "I’m like, 'Get this dress off of me.'"
After voicing her disapproval of the dress, Pepa recalled that the wedding dress designer had "cursed her out" and didn't find any issues in her design.
"She was very offended," Pepa said of the designer. "And she was like 'I need five minutes' [and] went upstairs."
The designer later told Pepa that she'd used the photo of the wedding dress she'd wanted as "inspiration," while Pepa wanted her to make a replica of the gown instead.
"I was like 'oh when were you going to tell me that it was just for inspiration,'" Pepa said.
In a follow-up TikTok video, Pepa explained that she ended up parting ways with the wedding designer, ultimately finding another wedding dress.
"I didn’t care if I didn’t get my deposit back," she admitted, revealing that she chose a Marchesa gown for the ceremony and a Vera Wang dress for the end of the reception.
Pepa's video garnered support from other users, who agreed that the designer was in the wrong.
"I feel like the design was simply not in the designer’s wheelhouse WHICH IS FINE but they should have known their limitations and been upfront about it!" one user pointed out.
Another user added, "No no no no no this is not how the custom wedding dress experience is or should be!!! I’m so sorry yours went like this."
"Conversely, it's not your fault, ultimately, the other designer should have drawn out what she was going to do," a third user chimed in.
Nia Tipton is a writer living in Brooklyn. She covers pop culture, social justice issues, and trending topics. Keep up with her on Instagram and Twitter.