Jordyn Woods's Final Wedding Dress Fitting with Danielle Frankel

The question running through the visit is whether a custom wardrobe made on a short timeline can hold up. There is also a quieter one: how the family is carrying grief into a happy occasion. By the end, Woods says the dresses exceed what she had imagined. She also says the fitting has eased some of her nerves about the wedding.

Carrying Her Father Into the Day

Woods opens by saying she is feeling "so many different emotions" and that the whole thing feels surreal. She admits that when she gets nervous she prefers not to talk about it too much. She knows the wedding will be emotional for a particular reason. When you lose a parent, she says, you think about your dad not being there to walk you down the aisle.

Her mother wears a photo of Woods's late father on a necklace. Her mother explains that she chose to wear it that day on purpose. She says he is "a part of everything every day anyways," but she wanted him to be visibly present at the fitting. Later, her mother adds a short blessing on the marriage: her daughter "met her person," and if she is happy, her mother is happy.

A Six-Month Deadline

The timeline was tight. Woods says she and Karl got engaged on Christmas Eve, and he wanted to marry that summer. Because of his professional schedule, she explains, summer is the only time he can get married. She says people told her a dress couldn't be made in six months.

She booked four showroom appointments, and Danielle Frankel's was the first. What won her over, she says, was the Italian silk Frankel uses, which she felt suited her skin tone "so perfectly." From there, Woods says, the two refined the design together. They changed the silhouette somewhat and added pieces. She credits Frankel's "unique eye for detail" and says she can't now imagine anyone else making her dress.

How the Ceremony Gown Was Built

Frankel walks through the ceremony gown's construction. The lace finishing uses three different laces, all hand-dyed. Close up, the layers visibly sit on top of one another. The team also used several shades of ivory, a choice Frankel says she likes a great deal. Woods describes the process as gradual: at each fitting they would "add a little thing here, add a little thing there."

Frankel explains why she insists on fittings on the body. Going straight from a sketch to a finished dress doesn't work for her, she says, because every person is different, in proportions and in how they carry themselves. She says she is most comfortable "with the fabric in my hand."

One element was not in the original design. Frankel says her team was developing it separately for a collection. Whenever she develops a new technique, she says, she is eager to try it on a real bride because she wants to see it "on something real."

She frames the gown as a collaboration. Woods let her include details she considered important, and elements that mattered to Woods stayed in. She says the design intention was clear from the start. Woods's specific demands were that the stomach area be smooth and the ruching be perfect. Woods, for her part, says "you have to let the artist be the artist."

The Reveal

When Woods comes out in the ceremony gown, her mother and sister react right away. They call her a princess, and her sister says it is her favorite wedding dress she has ever seen, "not just saying that because you're my sister." Woods says it is "honestly everything I could have wanted" and "better than what I thought my dream wedding dress would be." Her sister's verdict is "10 out of 10, no notes."

Before and after the reveal, the three joke about who will cry first on the wedding day. They guess her brothers might tear up, and maybe Karl too. They agree there won't be a dry eye in the room.

Coordinating the Groom

Woods says Karl was "in this thing called the NBA Finals," so he had no time to design his own wedding looks. He knew he wanted a Ralph Lauren suit, and she handled the rest. She got a swatch of the silk from Frankel's team and brought it to Ralph Lauren. She asked them to match his suit jacket to it, tying his look to her gown.

The Veil

The veil, handmade in ivory, gets its own attention. The group points out its small "baby scallop" edge rather than a larger one. Frankel says she loves mixing ivories because it "elevates" the look so it doesn't feel "one note." She notes that it is all done by hand in her New York atelier.

Woods says it was Frankel's idea to add silk woven into the lace, which came out of experimenting with different laces. Frankel says the silk makes the draping feel delicate, soft, and natural instead of heavy.

A Second Look Found by Accident

For the second look, Woods says she always pictured something with lace. When she asked for it, Frankel told her, "Say no more," and began sketching.

The final shape came about by chance. Frankel recounts that when Woods first tried on just the foundation, it felt "very safe or simple." Frankel asked her to lift one side so she could see what was underneath. As Woods held it up, the gown draped beautifully, and Frankel told her to hold it there. The team pinned it in place, and that became the design. Woods describes it as literally just the fabric scrunched in her hand.

Frankel says the result has a "Grecian feel" that complements the ceremony gown while still looking different. In her view, the two dresses tell a cohesive story. Others in the room describe it as timeless, "like antique, but with a new modern twist."

Sleeves, Corsetry, and Practical Details

Woods wanted a sleeve on the second look. Frankel suggested making it a removable shrug so Woods can take it off if the night "gets a little cray."

Inside is a full bustier with a lace-up corset. The group praises how well it fits. There is no spillage at the chest, so she won't be adjusting it all night, and there is no roll or bulk at the back. They note that she can still breathe and sit, and joke that "these things are important." Someone also spots a detail: the underlayer is cut almost like a mini dress.

The fitting also includes live alterations. The team plans to hem the dress and take it in. A shift at the waist turns out to be Woods's own doing: she says she yanked the dress down, so everything has to be moved back.

The Welcome Dinner Dress

The third look is for the welcome dinner. It is made from what the group calls "that water silk again," which they describe as signature Danielle Frankel. It is flowy and fluid enough that "it kind of just does what it wants." Woods notes she had only seen a rough draft before and hadn't seen the tie at the neck.

Woods also recalls that she originally liked a different first dress, and Frankel told her she didn't think they should do that one. Her sister says she's glad Woods changed direction. Looking at the back and the train, Woods jokes that she'll fight anyone who steps on it. Someone replies that the dirtier the gown gets, the better a time you had. Woods agrees it should be dirty by the end of the night, "but not that dirty."

Closing: Nerves Turned Into Confidence

Woods ends by crediting the seamstresses' hard work and creativity, which she calls inspiring. She admits she is still nervous about the wedding. Seeing the finished looks, she says, helps the nerves "flow," because she feels confident in every outfit and grateful to have a designer who "executed to the extreme." With her family around her, she says, it is time to enjoy it.