Featured Bride: Daniela Rebull and The Cielo

Daniela's story is not quite the conventional wedding dress buying story. How does it normally go with buying a wedding dress? In Daniela's case it was as simple as going to a store with her family and deciding on a dress. The whole experience was done in the one and only location she had visited while wedding dress shopping.

Daniela came to Jorge Manuel for something completely different other than for her wedding dress. Jorge Manuel met her mom, Teresa Rebull, months before the wedding to discuss the 13 flower girl dresses he'd be making for her daughter's wedding. This is around the time that he was producing his 5th collection, The IRIS collection 2012, yet to be revealed in April 2011. Nevertheless, Daniela had already purchased a gown she loved and looking for another wedding dress was far beyond her or anyone.

 The wedding was to be held at Vizcaya Museum and Gardens in Miami, Florida. Daniela had chosen a modern garden theme for her wedding decor...lots of flowers! Her flower girl's dresses, as well as, her bridesmaids dresses carried the theme throughout the design of the dresses. Her wedding planning was in full bloom and everything seemed to, as if by magic, start falling into place.

As the wedding drew nearer and nearer, Jorge Manuel, began to take on more responsibilities with this family's wedding attire. Teresa picked a gown from Jorge Manuel's Etelvina collection 2008, the Erika, for her mother-of-the-bride gown, then a gown from the IRIS collection 2012  the maids-of-honor, Daniela's sisters.  Somewhere along all the fittings Teresa kept eyeing a wedding gown that she knew would be the one for her daughter. The sample gown had barely made it out of the sewing machine when Teresa instantly knew that this dress represented her daughter, Daniela. But how could this be? When Daniela had already chosen her wedding gown!

If fate would have it, two months prior to the wedding, the Rebull family attended a close friend's wedding. The Bride had chosen the exact dress Daniela planned on wearing two months later at her own wedding. Some of the guests ovelapped hers. The decision after that was a simple one. Daniela would walk down the aisle in a gorgeous Jorge Manuel wedding gown! The dress she chose which had no assigned name at that moment, became the center of much emotions.

The gown Daniela had originally purchased was a ball gown silhouette. However, the CIELO gown was a mermaid fit! It perhaps never dawned on Daniela that a mermaid style gown would shine brighter on her than a ball gown. The unexpected dress had turned out to be THE DRESS of her dreams!

The gown she selected is a mermaid faille and tulle gown with over 275 hand-made, hand-encrusted geometrical flowers and hand-embroidered crystal dress. The lead time for a gown with this caliber is about 14-16 weeks minimum! Because the change of her wedding dress was five weeks before she walked the aisle, Jorge Manuel, turned his studio into a production frenzy and 13 flower girl dresses, two bridesmaids dresses, one mother-of-the-bride dress, and 1 very gorgeous wedding gown was produced in time to make the wedding deadline.

"It was a great challenge, but they were such wonderful people. I was just so happy to see that the bride had found her dress in the most unexpected of ways. There's a certain look that you see on a bride-to-be's face when she has found THE DRESS. I saw that face on Daniela when she put on the CIELO gown sample. The emotions she felt along with her family was overflowing with hugs and tears. And I couldn't have been prouder to see that one of my gown had made a family so happy! I am honored and so proud on how gorgeous they all looked!"

The Rebull family could not have been prouder to celebrate with the gorgeous Daniela and her groom her much awaited, and quite interesting dress journey, wedding. Allow me to introduced Daniela, the groom and the GORGEOUS Cielo gown to be released April 2011 at bridal market.

Photos: Ray Santana photography