Inside Dove Cameron's Final Valentino Wedding Dress Fitting
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Four days before her wedding, Dove Cameron is in Rome heading to Valentino for her last wedding dress fitting. She uses the visit to explain what she wanted from the dress, to talk through the details she and the Valentino team worked out together, and to describe how unprepared and how ready she feels.
"Wildly unprepared, but in a good way"
Cameron says she never dreamed about her wedding as a child. The closest thing to a fantasy, she says, was renting out something like Carnegie Hall, making an entrance in a big black dress made of feathers, and having a 32-piece orchestra play. Now that the wedding is real, she describes feeling "wildly unprepared, but in a good way." She says it feels right, natural, and easy, "a natural, beautiful next step," and adds simply: "I'm in love."
She is glad the wedding will span more than one day, because everyone keeps telling her it will go by fast. She says it still doesn't feel real, and that she and her fiancé keep telling each other it will feel real once they're there.
Seeing the full look on the mannequin
At Valentino, Cameron is shown the dress with the full veil on a mannequin for the first time. She has seen the dress many times, she says, but each time feels like seeing it for the first time, and someone from the team agrees that it looks different every time.
Her main goal for the dress, she explains, was that it be "simple but elevated" and something she felt like herself in: classic and timeless, but still interesting. She calls it very romantic and says that each time she puts it on, it feels more like a second skin.
A veil built around her middle name
Cameron says the veil is as good as the dress, "if not better," while joking that this should be impossible. Her middle name is Celeste, and she wanted something celestial and unique. She credits the Valentino team with pitching the design and calls it an art piece. She thinks they suggested it because of how dramatic it looks when it trails and the sun hits it. A team member describes the intended effect as a "floating constellation on the ground."
The veil changed during fittings. Cameron recalls that at the first fitting it was perhaps a foot or two longer, and they later decided that was not very practical. The team also added openings on each side so she can reach her arms out and hold the bouquet. The embroidery includes a moon and many small stars. Cameron says she is excited for people to see the look on her, both with and without the veil.
Trying it on, and a call home
As she gets ready to try on the dress, Cameron says she doesn't know why she's nervous, then that she is actually going to cry. Someone tells her it would be weird if she didn't. Once it's on, she explains why it matters to her: it is usually hard for her to feel like herself in a dress, but in this one she does.
She then video-calls her mother and sister, who couldn't be there. Her mother says she looks gorgeous and compliments her hair. Cameron passes the phone to someone named Caitlin so she can put on the veil, and makes clear the look is a secret that no one else gets to see yet. The call ends with them saying they'll see each other in about three days.
"Strong, timeless, ethereal"
Asked to describe her style in three words, Cameron answers "strong, timeless, ethereal," then adds that there are about 20 other words. Someone with her jokes that this is their problem: they love too many things, including words and clothes.
The fit and the buttons
Cameron says she will never get over the fit of this dress and calls what the team achieved "crazy." She attributes it to the care, effort, and pace of the work.
They then point out the buttons, which she says haven't gotten enough attention. The buttons run from the top of the dress all the way to the hem of the train, and also along the sleeves. Cameron calls them maybe her favorite detail, admitting that sounds odd given the veil and the many other details. Her reasoning ties back to her overall vision: she loves movement in clothing, but didn't want a dress with a large skirt because that didn't feel like her. So she wanted the movement to come from other elements.
Planning a wedding in solidarity
Cameron admits that people warned her how overwhelming planning a wedding would be, and that she and Damiano brushed it off, assuming they would figure it out. Someone on her team notes that she has been doing this while releasing an album and preparing for a tour. Cameron agrees, but says her real message is for anyone planning a wedding right now. She offers them "love and appreciation and solidarity," because the experience was more overwhelming than she could have foreseen. With so much leading up to it, she says, it still doesn't feel real.
Why Valentino
Cameron closes by calling Valentino her "dream house" for the wedding look. She says she cries every time she visits because the team was so kind and went over the top for her. She jokes that something in the air there makes her emotional, then concludes that the whole experience feels special because "it's my wedding… It's all of it."
Ciao, Vogue. It's Dove Cameron, and we are here in Rome on our way to Valentino for my final wedding dress fitting. Crazy.
I never really dreamed about what my wedding would look like when I was a little girl or anything like that. I think I wanted to rent out Carnegie Hall and enter in a big black dress made out of feathers and have a 32-piece orchestra playing. And so now that it's real, I feel wildly unprepared, but in a good way. It feels right. It feels natural. It feels easy. It feels like a natural, beautiful next step. I don't know how else to describe it. I'm in love. We're getting married in four days.
I'm really glad that the wedding is going to be more than one day because everyone keeps telling me that it's going to go so fast. I feel like it won't feel real until I'm there. My fiancé and I keep saying that it'll feel real when we're there.
So, who's I? Let's go. Let's go. Final... to Valentino.
We're almost there. Okay, open your eyes.
Oh my God. I've never seen it with the full thing, with the veil on the mannequin. I've seen it multiple times, but every time that I see it, it really is like seeing it for the first time.
Yeah. I mean, each time it feels so different.
Oh, you guys did such an incredible job with it. It's so beautiful.
My great desire for this dress was that it was simple but elevated and something that I felt like myself in. Something that was classic, something that felt timeless but still interesting. And it's so romantic. Every time I put it on, the dress gets more and more like a second skin. And this veil was really the... The veil is equally, if not better than the actual dress, which is impossible.
My middle name is Celeste, and I really wanted something that was really celestial, something very unique. They really created an art piece. The veil is really special. I think that the Valentino team pitched this because it was just so dramatic when it trails and the sun hits it.
It's going to just look like a floating constellation on the ground. I do think when we had our very first fitting, it was maybe a foot or two longer. Remember?
Yeah, which felt like we were like, "Wow, we're going to..." And then we thought, "Maybe this is not super practical." I don't know if you can see, but we created the separation here and on the other side so that I can reach my arms out and hold the bouquet.
They have this beautiful moon embroidery. You can see all these beautiful little stars.
I can't wait for you guys to see what it looks like on, but also with and without the veil. It's so special. I can't wait as well. Should we try it on? Let's try it on.
Wow. I don't know why I'm nervous now. I actually am going to cry.
Be weird if you didn't. Would it be weird if I didn't? Yeah. You have to let it out now.
It's really hard for me to feel like myself in a dress. And I really feel like myself. So, thank you so much.
Oh, should we call my mom? Ready? Yeah. We're going to call my mom and sister because they couldn't be here. Hi, Mommy. Hi, baby.
Hi, Grandma. Here, let me take you. I'm so excited to see you guys. You can't cry because I'm going to cry so much.
You look gorgeous. Thanks. I like your hair that way. I'm going to pass you off to Caitlin so that I can put my veil on. Is that okay? Absolutely.
No, it's a secret. No, Damiano is not seeing any of this. Not until later today. Oh my gosh. See you in just a couple days. Yeah, see you in like three days. Hi, sweetheart.
How would I describe Dove's style in three words? Strong, timeless, ethereal. I mean, there's like 20 other words, but three for now.
That's our problem. We love too many things. Uh-huh. And we love words and we love clothes.
I don't think I'll ever get over the fit of this dress in particular. It's really insane. What they were able to do was crazy. And I think it's because of the care, the effort, the pace.
We haven't really given a moment to the buttons. The buttons. Look how many. Look at all of these buttons. So, the buttons are going to go all the way from the top all the way to the hem of the train. And the sleeves. I love this. I feel like I forget them and then I remember them.
These are maybe my favorite detail. I know that's crazy, but I... No, the... Yeah. It's crazy because we have this insane veil and there's a million details on this that I could obviously focus on, but I do... I don't know. I love movement in garments, but I didn't want a dress with a large skirt. Mhm. Because it didn't feel like me. And so I wanted to find the movement in other places. That's why we also ended up with three trains.
Everybody tried to warn me how crazy it was going to be to plan a wedding, and I was like, "Yeah, yeah." And Damiano and I were both like, "We're going to figure it out. It can't be that hard."
This is also on top of everything else that she does. FYI, releasing an album, preparing for a tour.
True. But I honestly think, just whoever, reaching out to you guys, whoever's out there planning a wedding right now, I reach out to you in love and appreciation and solidarity because it was so overwhelming. I could not have foreseen how crazy it was going to feel. And now we're here. So I feel like it doesn't feel real because there's been so much leading up to it. Yeah.
The experience of creating your wedding dress with a design house that you are so passionate about... Valentino was my dream house to collaborate with on the wedding look. And I was so... I don't know. Every time I come in here, I cry because they were so kind and they really went over the top for me.
Oh my God. Every time, it's something in the... They put it in the air. Makes you emotional. But really, the whole thing is just special because it's my wedding, you know? It's all of it, of course.
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