Tradition meets 2016! After becoming engaged to Jesse Metcalfe in August, Cara Santana hit the Amsale New York salon to try on her wedding dress for the very first time. And while superstition says that the groom should not see the bride in her gown before the big day, Santana has her own thoughts on that.
“I’m pretty traditional. So I like the idea of [the groom] not seeing his bride-to-be’s dress before the ceremony,” the Salem actress, 32, told Amsale. “My favorite moment at a wedding is when you watch the bride walk down the aisle, then look at the groom seeing her this way for the first time.”
That said, she doesn’t want to make a final decision on her frock of choice without her husband-to-be, 37. “I definitely will want [Jesse’s] opinion, though, during the process of finding my dress, so I think it is important that he has a say,” shared Santana, who modeled these Amsale dresses in an NYC-based photo shoot for the label’s look book. “I showed him all of the dresses I was trying on at Amsale, so he can see the process of a dress that we will enjoy together.”
Santana also dished about the actual planning of her September 2018 wedding. “I love the start of fall and taking the nuances that time of year brings. There is a lot of romance for me this time of year,” she told Amsale. “I’ll be taking cues from a lot of ideas like color and design for a romantic fall type of wedding. Nothing too bright or over the top. Just subtle. Soft colors. Really elegant and romantic and whimsical.”
And yes, the locale’s been set too. “We know we want to get married in Martha’s Vineyard, at a small hotel, where every single person stays with us. We want to create an environment that is quintessentially East Coast and fun at the same time. Not stuffy!” promised Santana, who accepted a 5.5-carat, emerald-shaped engagement ring from the Desperate Housewives alum in August. “This will be a weekend getaway for boating and sailing and walking into town for a live band and lobster. We want this to be an experience for everyone, and for them to know that they are all a part of our lives.”
