Jennifer Lopez's Wedding Dress In Marry Me Weighed 95 Pounds And Needed Five People To Transport It
"Marry Me" — the Jennifer Lopez and Owen Wilson-led rom-com about a pop superstar who finds love where she last expected it — has one visual that's impossible to forget. In the movie, now in theaters, J.Lo wears a stunning wedding gown covered in intricate, sparkling designs. It turns out that the dress required its own team of handlers, as it weighed 95 pounds. If anyone's going to wear a 95 pound wedding dress, it's going to be a pop superstar like J.Lo (or her movie alter-ego, Kat Valdez).
A Dress to Die For, Especially if You Tried to Swim in It
In "Marry Me," Kat is set to marry her handsome fiancé Bastian (Colombian singer Maluma) in an elaborate public wedding. Unfortunately, she discovers that Bastian is cheating on her, and decides to do something a little bit unhinged as a result: she picks a random person out of the audience (Wilson) to marry her then and there. Whether or not you're interested in the middling rom-com's story or not, it's impossible not to be impressed by the gown.
According to Variety, the rose-gold metallic Zahair Murad bridal gown was selected by costume designer Caroline Duncan straight off the runway. Imagining a poor runway model trying to balance nine layers of silk taffeta, horsehair, crystals, and tulle is enough to make my ankles hurt. The dress required five people to transport it and get Lopez in and out of it, but the final results are undeniably stunning. The crystals and silver sewn into the top layer of the dress are both elegant and dazzling, and the layers of lace and tulle give the dress both volume and texture. The embroidery on the veil is similarly gorgeous, and the whole thing is the kind of wedding dress one imagines a princess getting married in.
According to Duncan, the imposing size of the dress also represented the burdens Kat is facing in the moment:
"First, you see her get into the car, and it's a symbol of how that wedding had gotten too big, and it wasn't honest and has taken over her ability to see who she was marrying. Later, you see her in the bedroom alone on what should have been her wedding night, and here she is trapped in this claustrophobic dress that's like the concert — bigger than she is. It's the loneliest shot in the movie."
A wedding dress is a statement for the bride, a way to show off her best features and personality while still holding true to traditions. For Kat, it became a harsh reminder of how much pressure she's constantly under as a pop artist, a celebrity, and a woman. Oh well, at least she looks stunning the whole time.