Parents Discover Daughter’s Dream Wedding Dress Years Before She Gets Engaged (Exclusive)

• Dolly Meckler always knew she wanted her wedding dress to be over the top
• In an exclusive interview with PEOPLE, Meckler recalls how her parents found “the dress” at the Pucci store at Woodbury Commons Premium Outlets in February 2022, just before she got engaged.
• Eventually, Meckler and her boyfriend got engaged on July 15, 2023, and she started looking for wedding dresses, but the Pucci dress was never far from her mind.

Dolly Mecklerhis extravagant wedding dress took social media by storm, all thanks to her parents, who saw it in February 2022 – long before they got engaged.

In an exclusive interview with PEOPLE, Meckler, a New York native, recalls how her parents found the dress at the Pucci store in New York’s Woodbury Commons Premium Outlets. They sent her a photo and called to say, “We found your wedding dress.” At the time, Meckler and her now-husband Jordan Cohen had been dating for less than two years and were not yet thinking about a wedding. Although she liked the dress, she told her parents not to buy it.

Eventually, Meckler and Cohen got engaged on July 15, 2023, and she began looking for wedding dresses, but the Pucci dress was never far from her mind. Conformable Voguethe dress was part of a capsule collection between Japanese designer Tomo Koizumi and Italian fashion house Pucci.

“I emailed designer Tomo Koizumi to ask where I could buy one of her wedding dresses in America,” Meckler, 32, tells PEOPLE. “Mr. Koizumi replied, informing me that the dress my parents saw was part of a 2020 capsule collection and none were left. He mentioned that having a custom dress made is an option, but it’s way out of my price range.”

Discouraged, Meckler, head of digital at Becca, a public relations firm, and her mother spent the summer visiting bridal shops but couldn’t find anything that felt right. “Everything I saw seemed way too ‘regular,'” she says. “I really didn’t want a dress that anyone else could just buy.”

One day, while at the Kleinfeld bridal destination in New York, she found herself wearing dresses that were too small to fit. Looking at her mother, she suggested, “Let’s try calling Woodbury Commons; maybe they’ll know where to find a Koizumi x Pucci dress”. When her mother called, the manager took over and said, “You’re not going to believe this, but I made a mistake and never sent it back. I have the dress in a box in the back.” They quickly asked her to hold it and told her they would be there that week, packing up and leaving Kleinfeld excited.

Two days later, Meckler and her mother took a bus from NYC’s Port Authority to Woodbury Commons. When they arrived at the Pucci store, the manager took out all the pieces from the collection they still had: the top, the skirt, and a cape. Meckler tried on the top and skirt, but both were tiny—she could barely get the top over her arms or close the skirt.

But she didn’t care: she knew she could find a skilled seamstress to help remake the dress to fit. Mother and daughter thought they could use the cape to add to the bottom of the skirt and create a long train. So they purchased all three pieces — and had to borrow the Pucci store’s cart to get them out because of the weight.

“It was perfect,” says Meckler. “It was so obviously MY dress! It met all three criteria I had set. I don’t know what else to say!”

“I never wanted to feel ‘beautiful’ walking down the aisle,” she adds. “It felt too obvious and that doesn’t excite me – it wasn’t enough. If this is a “show”, let’s really make it one. Let’s give people something to look at, something to feel, something to talk about. It energizes me and makes me feel beautiful.”

“My maternal grandmother was a model and fashion designer whose family was in the textile industry,” she continues. “And my mother was a fashion designer turned model designer. Fashion has undoubtedly been an important part of my life. It’s literally in my blood.”

In August 2023, Meckler began meeting with seamstresses to see who might take on the challenge of working on the dress. The fabric and construction were complex, making them unsuitable for any tailor. They even considered reimagining the dress into a jumpsuit or bolero jacket.

Finally, a friend of a friend recommended a talented tailor who specializes in couture and custom pieces and has many celebrity clients. When Meckler and her mother first met her at her studio in New York, they packed the dress in garbage bags and stuffed it into an Uber. The tailor was shocked by the dress, but decided to take it because it seemed like a “fun challenge”.

“My mom and I went to the first fitting and were impressed that the tailor really made it work,” says Meckler. “She added a cape to the train and we looked at reference images of Koizumi’s dresses, which he often pairs with contrasting colored cuffs. I brought a pair of cuffs I had at home to see how they would look. We loved it and bought black silk organza fabric from a nearby store.”

After months of modifications, on March 4, 2024, Meckler went for final fitting. The dress fitted beautifully, the Pucci lining was reattached, the train was perfectly dramatic and the cuffs were full.

“One of my favorite parts of the dress is that I got to work on this project with my mom,” says Meckler. “I couldn’t have done it without her. We have similar tastes and attitudes when it comes to fashion and style, which definitely makes it easier and more fun. I’m so lucky to have parents who know me so well and embrace me for who am I”.

“My parents knew that dress was mine before I did,” she adds. “It’s a gift! To be known is to be loved.”

Despite her excitement over the dress leading up to her May 11 wedding day at Temple Emanu-El in New York, Meckler kept it a secret. All her friends and family knew to expect something outrageous because that’s just her style, but that’s about it.

“My mom wore a red wedding dress, and it was a show-stopping moment that all my parents’ friends and family still talk about to this day,” says Meckler. “I had big shoes to fill! It was a huge secret that only my mom, dad and brother knew.”

“We kept it a strict secret from everyone else so they could really have a moment,” she adds. “During the ceremony, there were gasps and ‘oohs’ and ‘ahhs.’ When we threw the lining, the dress was a show and guests flooded the aisles to take photos and videos.”

As for her hair and makeup, Meckler opted for a simple look so as not to overpower the dress. The only jewelry she wore was a pair of her paternal grandmother’s earrings. She decided to wear her hair up because it kept getting caught in the dress when she tried it on with her hair down. For this he collaborated with Aizhan Sembayevawhich she says created the perfect modern updo.

For makeup, Meckler worked with makeup artist and owner of Gee Beauty (based in Miami and Toronto), Steph Gee. She wanted to accentuate her brows and chose a bold red lip to complement the graphic nature of her entire look. The vision was to keep it focused on ‘eyebrows’ and ‘lips’. Wearing a red pom-pom bouquet tied it all together, making her ensemble a striking combination of red, white and black. “Steph nailed it!” she exclaimed.

Although Meckler kept the dress a surprise, she documented the process of getting it, which she later shared on TikTok. She felt that the journey of finding and altering the dress was such a compelling story that people could find interesting. To her surprise, many of her videos went viral.

“There were definitely some negative comments and reactions, but a lot of it was so kind and heartwarming that it brought me to tears,” she says. “It was amazing to see how inspired people were by the story and the dress. I was truly touched that so many took the time to follow my journey, leave encouraging comments and even create reaction videos with their own comments on my TikToks.”

“I hope people feel inspired to wear beautiful and cheerful things that make them feel confident,” she continues.

With the wedding behind her, Meckler adds that she has no plans to wear the dress again, but because of how meaningful the garment is to her, she wanted to make sure it was preserved.

“We worked with a fantastic dry cleaning and restoration company called Jeeves to clean and preserve the dress,” she says. “They were amazing. It was so white after they cleaned it and they even managed to clean the inner lining of the Pucci, removing all the dirt from going to Central Park for photos before the ceremony.”

She adds: “The dress and cuffs were lightly wrapped and wrapped in acid-free tissue paper and placed in two preservation boxes wrapped in cloth muslin. The two boxes are in our closet. I actually posted the process on my Instagram!”