Lauren Elcan’s Montana wedding was a great example of how the fashion and the setting can come together and complement each other perfectly. After all, it would be easy to get lost with a backdrop as imposing as the vast mountains of Big Sky, or to look incongruous to the overall theme. But Lauren’s look was perfection – with a little help from The Stylish Bride team, of course.

From the start, Lauren’s brief was clear: she wanted to honour the epic location while also sticking to a more formal, classic wedding look. “She’s not an outdoorsy, boho girl,” shares Julie. “Her mom described her perfectly, she’s stylish but not trendy.” This meant that Lauren’s looks would have to strike a careful balance between nods to Big Sky, and tradition, ultimately deciding that the pre-wedding events would be the way to have a little bit of fun with it.

The first event that Lauren wanted some sartorial guidance on was her engagement party, which her and her fiancé, Baxter Ingram, were hosting in their hometown of Nashville, TN. The party was taking place at her beloved grandparents’ home in the garden, and Lauren wanted something really special. “She definitely has a fun, feminine side to her personality,” says Julie. “So we went all in on that by selecting a gorgeous Elie Saab wedding dress with tonal sparkle that we made t-length to suit the occasion. It was the perfect dress to celebrate in.”

It all kicked off on the Thursday evening before the wedding, when Lauren and her groom, Baxter Ingram, hosted an outdoor party with a semi Western theme. Originally, Lauren had selected a Cuccinelli dress with bespoke constellation embroidery with the date of the wedding embroidered on to it, but as so often is the case with these things, a chance encounter led to the discovery of another piece – one that was so perfect, she had to wear it. “I was in Ralph Lauren, and saw this long, white, fringed skirt,” shares Julie. “I took a picture and sent it to Lauren, and she told me to buy it. It really came down to a game day decision, we had both looks ready, but ultimately, she went with the skirt and a denim top and cowboy hat – she had so much fun with it and totally rocked it.”

For the second day of festivities, Lauren went more classical, opting for the Fern dress by Oscar de la Renta, which she wore with a suede Moto jacket and cowboy boots. Sometimes, when a bride tries on a dress, she knows it’s not THE dress, but she still wants it to be part of her wedding. This is what happened with the Fern. While Lauren completely fell in love with it during the try-on, she knew she wanted something a little more soft and romantic for her actual gown.

“We decided to make that dress the Friday night one instead,” explains Julie. “In order for it to suit the vibe of the event, we shortened the front and cut off most of the train to make it a high-low style – something which we’d never done before. We were laughing like, are we actually doing this, we’re cutting off so much detail, but it ended up being really beautiful.”

On the wedding day itself, Lauren was the ultimate fairytale bride. From the moment she first tried it on, she fell in love with a beautiful lace gown, the Easton, from Monique Lhuillier, featuring a flattering sweetheart neckline, lace sleeves and a full skirt. Completing the romantic look, she wore Manolo Blahnik heels, a long veil, as well as heirloom pieces of jewellery from her grandmother, plus a custom lace jacket created for the ceremony. With sweet floral detail on the lace, her dress perfectly complemented the flower arches Easton Events and Mindy Rice created for the ceremony and sweeping drama of the setting.

But one element out of everyone’s control was the weather, and it was not playing ball. “About an hour before the ceremony, it decided to rain, so we had to be really careful to protect the dress,” shares Julie. “We had to lay down a plastic tarpaulin during photos sheet out for it to make sure the dress it didn’t get dirty, and we had a curtain rail in the back of the SUV to hang it on while we travelled the 25-minute journey to take photos.” The team even had to use coordinates, military-style, due to a lack of reception. Suffice to say, it all went perfectly.

When it came to her bridesmaids, Lauren knew exactly what she wanted them to wear, coming with a reference that looked great on all of them. “We created the dresses with our partner, Belle a’s Atelier, in Chicago, and they turned out to be some of the most beautiful dresses we’ve ever created,” shares Julie. Each gown featured beautiful pastel floral embroidery, that was created just for these dresses. The finished look was both with really dramatic and romantic at the same time. Her two sisters wore a gorgeous long cape, sheer details that differentiated them each slightly.

Meanwhile the Mother of the Bride was not left out, either, wearing a custom-made Oscar de la Renta dress in baby blue that we modelled off of a different dress with a shape that she loved. We added a ruched cap sleeve for a little arm coverage, which was super flattering.

To make sure that she could dance late into the evening, Lauren did a quick change into her second dress by Lihi Hod wedding party look — a backless halter which required A LOT of tape — and Lauren’s dream wedding fashion moment was complete.