Candice Huffine Shares the Story Behind the Custom Christian Siriano Dress for Her Las Vegas Elopement
The duo wound up brainstorming two looks: For the ceremony—officiated by a female Elvis impersonator—Huffine wore a lace corset with matching sheer pants, complete with sweeping, off-the-shoulder sleeves. And when the two lovebirds headed into the Nevada desert in a vintage car, she swapped her pants for a lace miniskirt, and changed out her sleeves for a grand veil, embroidered with a lyric from “Cold Desert” by Kings of Leon: “Hand over your heart, let’s go home.” For Siriano, the functionality of the look was just as important as the aesthetics. “I think it’s important for a modern bride to think about her day. Candice was in the desert, then dinner, then dancing with Adele so it all had to function differently than a traditional wedding dress,” he says. “I love that the look became so many pieces and everything can be worn in different ways. The sleeves with the top and pants, or just the mini skirt and bodice alone with the embroidered veil was fabulous in the end.”
Huffine, a longtime muse of Christian Siriano, knew there was only one person to turn to for her wedding look. “Christian was one of the first people I told that we were together. He was also one of the first people I told that we were engaged, and he was like, ‘Well, we’re obviously doing the looks right?’” While Siriano, per the couple, was a big proponent of the Italian wedding, he sprung into action when Huffine texted him about their change of plans. She notes that she and Lynch-Sparks were married on August 25, just before New York Fashion Week. “He was like, ‘Yes, come in, we’ll talk about it,’” she recalls. “I didn’t have an idea, I just knew that I was going to collaborate with my friend whom I admire.” For Siriano, the feeling was mutual. “Candice was a dream to work with,” he says. “It was so different from our normal fittings. She really wanted her vision to come to life, so it was a full collaboration from sketch to final looks.”