The Story Behind Olivia Culpo’s Traditional Dolce & Gabbana Ballgown for Her Rhode Island Wedding

Olivia Culpo has this belief about marriage: “It’s a covenant. It’s the beginning of the rest of your life, and it’s the union and bonding of two people forever,” the model and former Miss Universe said. Vogue. So, when it came to designing her wedding dress with Dolce & Gabbana, she especially insisted on one important point for the workshop. “I wanted something that was as serious as this commitment,” she says.

For months, she and the Italian house worked together to translate this emotional ideal into a physical dress. And on Saturday, June 29, Culpo walked down the aisle of the chapel in Watch Hill, Rhode Island to marry San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey in a long-sleeve, crew-neck crepe ball gown with a voluminous skirt and buttoned back. “I didn’t want it to exude sex in any way,” she said of the dress, which she wore with a 16-foot lace veil. “I wanted it to feel effortless and like it complimented me, without dominating me. There is so much beauty and simplicity. (This philosophy also extended to her beauty: Culpo says Vogue (She wore little makeup, forgoing mascara and eyebrow gel in favor of a pared-down look.)

“When I think about Christian and what he loves and the moments when he thinks I’m the most beautiful, it’s absolutely in something like that: timeless, covered and elegant,” she adds.

Photo: José Villa