A bride said she saw 2 other women buy the same wedding dress as her after they watched her fall in love with the gown at Kleinfeld

Emily and Andrew's fathers have been best friends since they were in high school, so the pair were brought together throughout their lives for summer vacations.

Emily, 28, told Insider that she "always had a crush" on Andrew, 32. But because he's four years older than her, he didn't feel the same spark until after she graduated college.

They reconnected at Andrew's brother's wedding in the summer of 2017, where Emily made her move, as she told Insider.

"That's when he realized that maybe there could be something there," she said of her now-husband.

By September 2017, they were an item, and Andrew proposed to Emily in 2021.

Today, the Cecins live in Maryland, where Emily works in digital marketing and Andrew is a designer at Under Armour.

"The wedding was in Charleston, and we got engaged in Charleston too since I went to college there," Emily told Insider. "He knew it was really special to me."

As they started planning their nuptials, Emily knew she wanted a simple wedding dress, potentially with a ball-gown silhouette, particularly because she saw form-fitting, lace gowns trending.

"I knew that that wasn't me, so I wanted something a little bit more classic," Emily said.

While visiting her family in Long Island, New York, Emily went to Kleinfeld Bridal of "Say Yes to the Dress" fame during an Anne Barge trunk show, as she loved the designer.

Unlike a traditional ball gown, the Tucker dress from Anne Barge, which retails for around $3,000, had a sleeker skirt.

A more-form fitting underlayer with a slit made up the base of the dress, while a second layer circled her hips and provided volume.

It gave the look of a removable skirt, though it didn't actually detach.

The ruched bodice had off-the-shoulder sleeves that swooped downward, balancing the train.

The fabric flowed out at the hip and pooled into a train, adding a sense of drama to the gown.

Emily told Insider the skirt was pretty heavy, but it bustled for her reception, which made dancing easier.

"I love that it had a slit," she told Insider. "That was a huge thing for me because the wedding was outside, and I knew in Charleston it would probably be hot."

"That was a game changer," Emily went on to say. "I needed the slit."

The ruched bodice formed a point in the back, and button detailing flowed down the center.

Emily wore her hair in a low bun styled by Kacie of Lashes and Lace for the wedding, drawing the eye to the buttons and train.

"Actually my mom picked it, and it's funny because I'm always so hesitant whenever my mom picked something," Emily said of how she found her dress. "I was like, 'Oh, I don't know how that will look.'"

But she tried it on with her mom's encouragement, and it ended up being exactly what she wanted.

"My mom's face said it all," she said, adding that she thought it was "perfect" when she saw herself in the dress.

"The material was perfect. I thought that it was unique enough," Emily went on to say. "I thought I wanted something more poofy, but I tried it on a second time and then I was like, 'OK, I'm not gonna do better than this.'"

After Emily fell in love with her dress, two other brides who were looking for gowns at Kleinfeld that day tried on the same gown.

"It was one behind me and then one who was sitting in front of me," she said. "They tried it on right after I did, and then we saw as we were leaving that day, they ended up saying yes to the dress as well."

She shared a video of the moment she tried on her dress on TikTok, noting that the other brides chose it as well.

"I was like, 'Oh my God, I'm gonna be seeing this dress everywhere in the spring,' but I haven't seen it on any other videos of it," she added.

Emily told Insider she bought her floor-length veil from Amazon for just $20, as investing in an expensive veil wasn't a priority for her wedding look.

"You don't need a $500 veil," she said. "Honestly, it looks just as good in photos."

She also said she isn't sure where the veil is today.

"I have no idea where the veil went after I took it off," Emily added. "It did the job and then it was done."

Vanessa from Lashes and Lace did Emily's makeup for the wedding.

"I wanted to have a Hailey Bieber slash Princess Diana vibe to my dress," Emily said of what she wanted her wedding gown to look like, and she felt like her look fit her vision.

"When I put it on that day with my makeup and hair all done, I really felt special, which I knew I would feel on my wedding day. But I didn't realize the level," she said.

Andrew faced away from the aisle until it was Emily's turn to make her way to the altar.

"He was crying before he even turned around, and then he turned around and saw me for the first time," Emily said.

He got even more emotional when he saw Emily in her gown.

Their wedding photographer, Karen Schanely, documented the moment.

They got married at The Pavilion at Patriots Point, a golf course in Charleston.

Hailey Vogt of Patrick & Co. Events planned the wedding, which Emily said she wanted to be classy with modern touches.

"I wanted the atmosphere to speak for itself," she said.

For instance, they exchanged vows overlooking the water, and the aisle was lined with flower petals from Creech's Florist.

"We wanted it to be really fun," Emily said of her reception. "We didn't want traditional wedding music or anything like that. We wanted more house music and cool vibes."

"We just wanted everyone to have a great time, and I didn't want it to feel like a typical wedding because you're just sitting there through all the speeches and everything," she added.

David Fox was their DJ, and he also provided lighting and a photo booth for the nuptials.

The wedding also featured a gelato truck from Gelati Moto and a cigar rolling station from Cigar Row Events. They used furniture rentals from French Eclectic and additional rentals from Snyder and Event Works.

They also got their wedding cake from a Publix in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina.

Because they wanted their reception to have a fun vibe, Emily and Andrew enlisted the help of their bridal party to get the dancing started for their wedding.

"During our first dance, we had our bridal party standing on the side and then they jumped in during the second chorus and were dancing with us and it was really so much fun," Emily said, adding that it was one of the highlights of her wedding.

"They started the whole night, and everyone was standing up clapping and yelling," she added. "That was really special."

"Look in the mirror and see how you feel and what makes you happy," she recommends to brides who haven't found their wedding dresses yet.

Emily went on to say that shopping with fewer people can help you stay true to what you want.

"It's so hard, especially when you're going with a big group of friends or cousins or something like that to have so many opinions," she said. "I would say try to go with as few people as you can honestly, like your main people."

"As long as you feel happy with it, that's all that matters," she added.

Emily saw it as a compliment to her dress that two other brides picked the same gown as her, and she hopes others can do the same.

"As long as you and your best friend don't have the same dress," she joked. "That would be weird, but other people that you don't know and you're seeing on social media, who cares?"

Emily also encouraged brides not to focus too much on other people's wedding dresses when they're getting married in general.

"It's so easy with social media, too, to have dress regret," she said. "You get your dress months and months in advance and then you're seeing all these dresses and you're like, 'Wow, I wish I tried that on,' or, 'Maybe that would have looked better on me.'"

"But you just have to stick with your decision at the end of the day because you picked it for a reason," she went on to say. "These dresses that you're seeing on social media look good on that person but it might not even look good on you. Everyone has a different body type, and everything looks different on everyone."

"Wedding planning and everything is so stressful. You just gotta be happy when you can because if you worry about every little thing, it'll drive you completely crazy," Emily added.

The feeling is mutual, according to Emily.

"He thinks that I'm hilarious, and I love how comfortable I am with him," she said. "We're just at ease."

"We could just be sitting, not even talking, and we're just having the best time of our lives just sitting on the couch, just happy with one another in each other's presence," Emily said of her marriage.

"He is more calming than me because I'm very, like, all over the place," Emily said of Andrew. "I always have my anxieties, and he just makes me very levelheaded and brings me down to earth."

"He always helps me be the best version of myself," she added.

If you wore an eye-catching wedding dress and want to talk to Insider for a story, get in touch at sgrindell@insider.com.