Bikini Bride Testimonial with Emily Chacona

Being a Bikini Bride isn’t just about rocking a hot bod on your wedding night. It’s also about looking amazing on your big day from your head to your toes! Emily Chacona is a fashion stylist and owner of Moda Privada in Austin, Texas. Emily talked to us about her wedding day and gives us some some fashion tips when looking for your special dress or any bridal accessories as well as her results with Bikini Cleanse.

 

 

 

BC: So tell us a little bit about your company.

EC: My company is called Moda Privada, it means ‘private fashion’ in Italian, which is my family’s background. I’m a personal stylist, fashion stylist, and personal shopper. I lived in LA for about 10 years, was a stylist for about 6 years and wanted to start my own company. When my husband got a job in Austin [Texas], which we were planning on moving anyway, I thought this was the perfect opportunity to start my own company. Right now, I’m primarily working on closet makeovers and shopping. I’m still getting to know the city and the clientele here. There’s a huge market in Texas, so I’m traveling to Houston and Dallas as well.

BC: The closets you are working on, what kind of work do they do? What is your clientele?

EC: I’m working with a lot of corporate clients right now. A lot of people who work a lot and don’t have time to do it themselves. I’m also working with a lot of housewives in the country and a few celebrities. It’s a bit of a mix out here.

BC: That’s nice to get a break from the LA scene!

EC: Yeah it is! I’m working more on functional wear. In LA, it’s all about events and here it’s more about lifestyle and functionality. You know, what can you wear everyday instead of the once-in-awhile glamourous style. And since I’m new out here, I’m getting to know people through this experience in the city.

BC: It sounds like a lot on your plate with the recent move and new company!

EC: Yeah, my husband actually found out about that he got the job on our honeymoon so it happened a lot faster than we thought. We thought we would have a lot more time in LA to plan all of this out but it’s been great. We’re getting this house and I’m just getting my bearings. It’s been wild.

BC: So how did you meet your husband?

EC: I was waitressing in a nightclub and my husband had just gotten hired to be a bartender there. So we met working at this nightclub downtown and we knew each other for about 7-8 months. When I broke up with the guy I had been dating, I knew I wanted to date him. My husband was in school at the time to be an engineer and I was interning in fashion, so we were both putting ourselves through school and working at night together. We started dating and after our first date, we both knew we wanted to marry each other.

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BC: Aw!

EC: Yeah! [giggles] I’ve known him for such a long time but I just got this sense from him. And we’ve been together ever since! We have this joke we say, ‘We started from the bottom, now we’re here!’

BC: I love it! How did this translate into your big day? I’m sure it was such an epic party!

EC: Well, I am from the East Coast originally. I’m from New Hampshire and my family has a summer home in Wellfleet, Cape Cod. We would go there every summer. My dream has always been to get married there, it’s such a part of me. I remember growing up and seeing one inn within this tiny town and I remember thinking, ‘Oh, that’s so romantic, I want to get married there.’ After my husband proposed to me in Paris, I said, “We have to get married in Cape Cod.” We ended up snagging the date at that same inn hours before someone else was going to get the same date.

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BC: Wow that’s so lucky!

EC: Yeah everyone said that I was crazy booking it that far in advance! But it’s very old and when you book it, you book the whole inn, which is very cool. It’s such a small town so everyone stayed at the inn. We got married right after labor day. And Labor Day is when everyone leaves so it was really beautiful but very quiet. We kind of took over the town for the weekend. It was amazing.

BC: So do you have any bridal advice?

EC: So for me, I wanted my wedding to be beautiful but I also wanted it to be relaxed and simple. All the fancy centerpieces and things, I don’t really care about that so much. I want a really great dress and everything else will be fine. I also feel that when you’re getting married somewhere beautiful, that place should take precendence and everything else is an accent. But when it comes to the dress, there’s this place called the Glamour Closet in Beverly Hills. It is amazing. It’s a sample sale and it’s random sizing, but the prices are amazing and they have everything from obscure bridal lines to Oscar de la Renta. I mean everything. My advice about the dress, though, is you think you want one thing, but you have to keep an open mind. I thought I wanted one thing but I ended up getting almost the exact opposite. The one I got was by Van Barge, and originally I didn’t want strapless or anything princess-y. And of course, I got the one with sparkles on the bodice and a strapless.

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BC: That’s great advice! And a lot of brides are going for that Bohemian look now.

EC: I thought I wanted that bohemian, lace, different looking dress. And when I tried them on, it just didn’t feel right. Actually, I went shopping at the Glamour Closet with one of my best friends, Amber. I went with her to pick out her dress and she said, “You have to try on some today.” So I saw one that was sparkly and I said, “I’m going to try this one just for fun!” And I put it on, and it was the most amazing dress ever! I would never get this dress, I was doing it as a joke and it ended up being my dress.

BC: It’s almost like… You don’t pick the dress, the dress picks you.

EC: Yes! Honestly. And my other tip about the dress is it’s really all about the tailoring of the dress. I don’t think any dress is going to fit you 100% perfectly, but I had the most amazing tailor. His name is Paul Fox and we work with him a lot in LA. He’s the tailor to the stars. The dress didn’t really fit me, I had three fittings, and the dress fit me like a glove! My fear about having a strapless dress was pulling it up all of the time but if it’s tailored perfectly, you won’t have to touch the dress. And that’s what I’ve been telling girls: pay more on the tailoring than the dress. If the dress fits you perfectly, it will look more expensive than buying some expensive dress and having it not fit you well. And no one told me this, but even looking in pictures.

BC: As a stylist, do you have any other tips on wedding day accessories?

EC: Originally, I didn’t think I was going to wear a veil. I thought, “I’m not a traditional bride, I’ll wear a flower crown!” When the time came and I was wearing the dress, I thought that I was missing the veil. I realized I wanted that bridal moment. So I bought a veil at BHLDN. There veils are actually reasonably priced and personally, I don’t like when the veil perfectly matches the dress. But I didn’t want to do a costume change during the reception because I loved my dress so much and I didn’t want to buy two. So instead of the veil at the reception, I got big statement earrings and took the veil off. I went a little over budget on the earrings [laughs]. I got Dolce & Gabbana, huge, crystal, chandelier earrings.

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BC: Ooooh. Beautiful.

EC: Yeah. I think just one accessory and changing it up for the reception, like I did, is gorgeous. And while I spent a lot of money on the earrings, I’ll keep them forever. And if you don’t want to do an accessory, you could do red lipstick or put some flowers in your hair. Something subtle but easy to do. And when it comes to the shoes, you’re going to be standing all day and dancing all night. I go for a 3 ½ inch heel and a lot of designers are doing between 3-3 ½ inch heel. I got a pair of Jimmy Choo strappy sandals and I was not in pain until the last half hour.

BC: How about before the wedding? How did Bikini Cleanse help you for your big day?

EC: Before my wedding I was working out and eating healthy, but I wasn’t losing that 3-5 extra pounds that I wanted to shed before getting into that fitted dress of mine. I thought I would give Bikini Cleanse a try and within 4 days I had lost 3 pounds! The cleanse took my body to the next level where I felt and looked the best I could.  Bikini Cleanse kept me focused on my goal and even had me thinking about wearing my new bikinis for our Hawaiian honeymoon. My dress fit perfectly!

BC: Did you prepare in any other special way?

EC: I noticed when I was getting my fitting for my dress, my back wasn’t as toned as I wanted it to be. I’m kind of intense about working out, so I work out 6-7 days a week. But I needed to work out my back to make it a bit more trim, so I started doing assisted pull ups at the gym. I basically did 3 sets of 10, 3 days a week. For me, the pull ups were the most transformative for my body because it tones my back and arms. It really made a difference. And you can do pull ups anywhere!

BC: This information you’re giving us is gold! We can’t wait to use this info for our big day!

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