A Vintage Dream Reimagined: Meghan’s Custom Maid of Honor Gown
When Meghan’s younger sister, Carolyn, planned her New Hampshire lakefront wedding, she asked Meghan to stand by her side—not in a lineup of bridesmaids, but as her sole maid of honor.
“We didn’t do traditional bridal parties. It was just me,” Meghan said. When Meghan got married, Carolyn was her entire bridal party, too.
Both sisters let each other pick the style and color of their maid of honor dress.
“She gave me a ton of leeway,” Meghan reflected. “She trusted my judgment completely.”
That trust inspired Meghan to commission a custom gown from Nathalie Kraynina and the NK Bride team. It was a decision that would merge her love of vintage fashion with Nathalie’s modern artistry.
Finding NK Bride
“I saw them on TikTok,” Meghan recalled. “I emailed Natalie to see if they exclusively did bridal, and she let me know that they didn’t.”
They set up a consultation call to go over the design Meghan had in mind.
From the start, Nathalie’s openness stood out.
“She was really lovely and friendly during the initial consultation. I felt like she was really open to all of my different ideas,” she said.
Old Hollywood Meets Modern Ease
For Meghan, the inspiration came from a specific era.
“There was a late-1950s Howard Greer dress that I had as the initial inspiration,” she said.
But she didn’t want to simply recreate a piece from the past.
“I wanted to use vintage as inspiration, but not just recreate a dress that already existed.”
The result was a gown that felt cinematic yet completely fresh: a soft sweetheart-neckline corset bodice with an asymmetrical drape, off-the-shoulder straps, and a flowy A-line skirt with a small train, all crafted in sage green silk georgette. Pink silk flowers adorned the waist and shoulder, giving it the tactile romance of a bygone era.
“The silhouette actually changed after the initial sketch,” Meghan said. “I came back and said I wanted to take the silhouette in a different direction, and Nathalie was great about making that change, drawing up a new sketch, and going from there.”
Bringing It to Life
The design process unfolded over the summer, from June to September.
“Nathalie was really great,” Meghan reflected. “I came in to see a bunch of fabric swatches, and she even had extra ones so I could take one with me to the flower shop, which was really helpful.”
That flower, in fact, became a signature detail. Nathalie suggested M&S Schmalberg Flowers for the flowers.
“They had these vintage piping stems that had been sitting in a drawer for decades,” she said. “They were a perfect color match to the dress.”
As the gown took shape, Nathalie’s team supported her.
“Toward the end, once we finalized the dress in the real fabric, the drape was just not fitting quite right,” she said. “Nathalie was really flexible. I came in a bunch of extra times to get the drape exactly how I wanted it. I was definitely picky about it, having it fall exactly right. She and Arthur were really helpful, pinning it over and over.”
When Meghan lost weight before the wedding, Nathalie adjusted the corset’s internal structure to maintain the perfect fit.
“Nathalie had to go back and change the construction a little bit to get the fit just right,” Meghan said. “They were so accommodating the whole time, from beginning to end.”
When the final gown was ready, Meghan said the reveal felt electric.
“I was so happy, especially with the movement of the dress,” she said. “It’s so exciting to see something on paper, then try it on in muslin, and finally in the real fabric. The skirt was perfect.”
She loved how it had an almost 1930s feel.
“I was twirling around in Nathalie’s studio,” she said. “I was so, so pleased with it.”
Vintage Romance by the Lake
The setting could not have been more perfect for such a timeless look. Carolyn’s wedding was held on their grandparents’ property in New Hampshire, on a lake at the base of a mountain.
“It’s very woodsy,” Meghan said. “My grandparents were married in that same field, around 65 years ago.”
Carolyn wore a cream vintage gown from the nineties with a Juliet veil. It mirrored her sister’s appreciation for the past.
“She had kind of an old-world, vintage-y feel,” Meghan added.
The NK Bride gown fit right in.
“My sister was so happy with it,” Meghan said. “It went perfectly with the overall aesthetic of her wedding. My mom ended up wearing a beautiful light pink dress with a diaphanous cape that went really nicely with mine, so it all came together at the end. We looked cohesive but not matchy—which is ideal.”
Beyond its beauty, the gown was engineered for comfort and support.
“I looked the way I wanted to without feeling like I was suffocating,” she said.
A Gown with Life Beyond the Wedding
“This is something I can wear again,” Meghan said.
For other maids of honor or bridesmaids considering going custom, Meghan encourages it wholeheartedly.
“At the end of the day, how many special occasions do we get to go to? Why not?” she said. “Especially if you’re interested in fashion, it’s a fun experience to have. And it’s great to have something that’s made to fit you perfectly. It’s literally made for your body.”
