Planning a wedding is a difficult task but even more tedious during a global pandemic. As a celebrity stylist, Micaela Erlanger style brides-to-be and is an A-list connoisseur elevating taste to her niche clientele such as Lupita Nyong’o, Lucy Hale, Meryl Streep and notable bride Amanda Hearst. The celebrity tastemaker is now working in the midst of the global pandemic and assisting brides with their wedding conundrums. As a bride-to-be herself, Micaela has managed to launch a new venture through a digital arena while providing her valuable expertise in all things bridal. She has also partnered with industry experts such as Brandon Maxwell and Carolina Herrera to help brides in need of dresses and advice.

In a conversation with HOLA! USA, the bridal pundit shared her thoughts on fashion post-pandemic, the future of bridal and how to navigate the wedding planning atmosphere during the crisis. Besides being awarded as a style influencer by The Accessories Council, Micaela is a mastermind when it comes to styling a bride.

©Micaela Erlanger

Celebrate with friends and family on a later date
As the coronavirus has put on halt many wedding preparations, including Micaela’s own wedding, it is necessary to postpone to a later day instead of canceling it altogether. “I think is great that brides are honoring their original date with a Zoom ceremony,” she says. “And I think it’s so modern and wonderful that New York state has declared this and honored this. However, I certainly believe that brides should consider postponing and not canceling their celebrations.”

Accessorize your gown
Micaela recommends accessorizing your bridal gown to elevate the aesthetic of the dress. “A lot of dresses that brides have might have been imagined for a summer wedding and now those weddings are postponed to the winter months,” she notes. “So much of what you can do in order to make things still work despite the change in season is the way you accessorize your gown or the way you alter your gown.

“Perhaps you want to add a sleeve or you want to modify a neckline, perhaps you want to remove a sleeve or you want to open up a closed back so that you have more skin showing. There are other things you can do too, maybe you opt for a cape instead of a veil or upper length gloves with a strapless dress”

©Micaela Erlanger

Choose a weekday
Micaela forecasts weekday weddings as an alternative to weekend celebrations. As things transition after the pandemic it is important to adapt to new wedding paradigms. “If it’s a Monday night party, a rooftop celebration or a backyard celebration, I think we’ll see the scale and size of weddings will be probably a little bit smaller in light of social distancing.”

Make an appointment with a bridal stylist
Currently, Micaela is offering virtual styling services to brides whose plans were impacted due to the global pandemic “in exchange for contributions to charity, both Direct Relief, which is an organization that provides frontline workers with the medical equipment that they need across the globe, as well as A Common Thread, which is the CFDA, which funds and it supports the fashion industry and the fashion brands impacted by this virus.” Micaela is giving back to the community with her expertise including tips from the red carpet. As someone who has styled many celebrities, Micaela understands the importance of feeling VIP, “I firmly believe that walking down the aisle is the closest thing to walking down the red carpet.”