A bride found a see-through lace gown that fit perfectly with her forest wedding

The South Africa-based couple met in 2017, when Calvin was in medical school and Helena was an intern.

A year after they met, Calvin proposed to Helena on a trip to Italy, where his family is from. He proposed at a restaurant with a view of the Colosseum using his grandmother's engagement ring.

"He is very romantic and sentimental," Helena said Calvin.

They got married in Cape Town, which is over 1,000 miles from the town they were living in, so they had to plan the wedding from a distance.

Helena went shopping for her wedding dress in Johannesburg, South Africa, with her mother, sister, and mother-in-law.

She had always imagined herself in a dress with lace detailing, and she knew she wanted her dress to be comfortable.

Calvin also mentioned he had been picturing his bride-to-be in a backless gown, so Helena kept that in mind as she shopped.

She tried on the gown at Vonvé Bridal Couture, which was the first boutique she visited.

Helena told Insider she tried on dozens of other gowns that day, but she couldn't get the Milla Nova Elle dress out of her head.

She also liked that Milla Nova is an Italian designer, as it fits with Calvin's heritage.

Ayeh Khalatbari and Mischa Durant, who make up the Something Forever photography team, documented all the emotional moments of the wedding.

The bodice is made up of transparent lace in a floral pattern.

The lace flows onto the bottom of the gown, fading as the tulle spreads out on the A-line skirt.

The delicate design of the lace makes it seem as if the gown is part of Helena, rather than something she's wearing.

"The lace detailing on top was what sold me on the dress," she said. "It's Italian lace with what they call 3D glass beading for the flowers."

Glass beads are embroidered on top of the lace, which gives it a sparkle effect.

Corlé Barnard did Helena's hair and makeup on her big day.

The dress was designed with buttons going all the way up the back over a transparent fabric.

But because Calvin had been imagining Helena in a backless gown, she decided to have most of the buttons removed so her back was bare above her waist.

Mesh fabric ensured it didn't fall off her shoulders.

"I chose an A-line skirt with quite a long train because it was so comfortable and it was so beautiful," she said.

She had to add in one extra hoop to the skirt to make sure she didn't trip over it while she walked, but other than that, she felt at ease in her gown.

The dress cost R44,000, which is about $2,375 at the time of writing.

"I was excited to see what my husband was going to think because I had been misleading him with all sorts of terrible stories about dresses that I would never wear," Helena told Insider.

Calvin was emotional when he saw the gown, having to brush away tears.

"It was like a forest church," she said of her venue. The couple hung flowers over an archway for the ceremony.

"So I think my dress fit in so beautifully with the flowers and the leaf detail," she added.

Sitting Pretty Bespoke Events styled the wedding.

When Helena tried on the gown with the veil for the first time, her sister cried. "I was like, 'This is a good sign,'" she said of her sister's reaction.

The veil created a dramatic look for the ceremony and cocktail hour, elevating the already beautiful gown.

Helena took the veil off for the reception, giving her more freedom to dance.

Helena and Calvin posed in a field for wedding portraits following the ceremony.

"It was so nice to find a dress that was exactly what I had visualized, but I was open to trying on a whole bunch of other styles, which was good to do," Helena said.

Trying on the other gowns helped her know for sure that her dress was right for her.

"I just had that gut instinct that I fell in love with my dress," she said.

"I think as much as the aesthetic of the dress is important, you have to realize that it needs to be comfortable," she said. "You need to be able to move."

"Comfort is something that you need to prioritize," Helena added.

For instance, she wore heels to the ceremony, but she found a flat shoe that looked identical for the reception so she would be comfortable while dancing.

"It was just so beautiful. And I think that's when everything really sunk in," she said. "When he spoke to me directly in front of everyone and just said everything that was on his heart, it was just so special and I'll never forget it."

"They say when you know, you know, and I never believed in it until the day when I just knew," she said.

"I felt like I knew him before I even knew him," Helena added. "We have just such a deep connection."

"We share everything and anything, and we're just always supportive of each other," she said of her relationship.

"We are soul mates," the bride said.

You can see more of Ayeh Khalatbari and Mischa Durant's work on their Instagrams, and you can follow Helena on Instagram as well.

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