A bride who had never designed a dress before decided to make 2 gowns for her wedding, and it took a lot of trial and error

In 2015, Alejandro Luviano, 28, got a call from someone looking to invite their friend, Alejandro, to a salsa dancing class that evening. He was the wrong Alejandro, but he decided to go to the class anyway.

He made friends with the people in his class, and they later invited him to join their soccer league — which Alondra's sister participated in. Eventually, her sister invited Alejandro to her birthday party, and Alejandro and Alondra finally met.

"It was destiny," Alondra said.

Alondra and Alejandro have been together ever since. They live in Texas and run a print shop together with Alondra's father.

Alejandro and Alondra are both Mexican, and throughout their relationship, they have honored their culture together by celebrating Día de los Muertos, the day of the dead.

"It's tradition for us now," Alondra told Insider. "During our whole relationship, we love to dress up. We do the makeup, and we have photo shoots."

In 2021, Alejandro made the holiday even more special for them by asking Alondra to marry him.

She said yes, and they planned their wedding for October 28, 2022, as the weekend is so significant for them as a couple.

The Luvianos had a destination wedding in Mexico at the Grand Palladium White Sand Resort & Spa on the Riviera Maya.

They knew they would have a Catholic wedding as both Alejandro and Alondra were raised in the faith, but as they started planning, Alejandro became inspired by the idea of a wedding that would honor the couple's Mayan heritage.

"Something that my husband really resonates with is our indigenous roots," Alondra said. "Our families are from Mexico, so he really wanted us to have that acknowledgment."

The Luvianos decided to have both a Catholic ceremony and a Mayan ceremony led by a shaman on their wedding day.

"I don't know why I thought that," she told Insider with a laugh. "I've never made a dress before. I had two years of fashion design in high school like 10 years ago."

But Alondra went on to say that art is her passion.

"I'm always creating things, graphic designing, and I'm an artist on the side," Alondra said. "For me, making a wedding dress was like a piece of art, and that would be something I would love to create for my wedding."

Alondra started working on the gowns in January 2022, 10 months before her wedding.

The Amazon dress cost $80 when Alondra bought it, though it now starts at $89.

Alondra started working on the dress without a clear plan for how she wanted it to look, though she was inspired by an off-the-shoulder ball gown from Paolo Sebastian, as she documented in a TikTok.

But because her vision was murky, Alondra ended up having to build upon the same dress over and over again.

Alondra turned the bodice into a gown with a simple skirt with sleeves, and she made another version that had a skirt covered in floral appliqué and beading. But neither was exactly right.

She also said the dress she bought from Amazon actually made creating her final vision more difficult.

"I thought it would be easier, but honestly, I think it made my life a little harder because really I had that restriction of it has to be this silhouette," she said.

She used the bodice from the Amazon dress and bought a new skirt that she could turn into a tiered, A-line skirt for her dress.

Alondra covered the bodice in floral appliqué that spilled onto the skirt, and she applied gems to the tulle on the dress to give it a touch of sparkle.

Fluffy, tulle sleeves completed the gown.

Alondra spent months making the dress come to life.

"I would spend all my free time making the dress," Alondra said.

"I honestly loved everything about the dress," she told Insider. "I just feel like I've always been a little out there when it comes to my style or the choices I make for my looks. So I wanted something out there."

Alondra did say she would make some tweaks if she could create her dress all over again, though.

She wished the tiers of the skirt flowed out more as they cascaded down, and she only noticed after the dress was complete that the skirt and bodice were different shades of white.

For the second dress, Alondra did a lot more planning before she actually started constructing the gown, which she decided to make from scratch.

"I went to the sketchbook, and I just started to draw out what I envisioned would match the vibe that the ceremony gave. I wanted to have that represented in my dress," she said. She also found photos of the earrings, headwear, and details she wanted the outfit to include before she actually started building the dress.

"It was really easy to get it going and get it finished," she said.

Alondra ended up creating an A-line dress with a V neckline, as well as a cape embroidered with stars and moons that she applied using a Cricut.

Alondra flirted with the idea of adding a cape to her Catholic ceremony dress, but the gown had so many details that it would have been too much.

It felt like the perfect addition to the simpler dress she made for the Mayan ceremony.

In total, Alondra estimates she spent around $800 on her wedding dresses, and she would have spent less if she hadn't made multiple versions of her Catholic ceremony gown.

The Luvianos only invited their immediate families to the wedding, which they turned into a week-long vacation for the group of 13 that attended the event.

They didn't have a reception, instead just grabbing burgers with their family between the Catholic ceremony and Mayan ceremony.

"I really didn't feel like I missed out on anything since it was just the 13 of us," Alondra told Insider. "And the whole experience itself was the party."

"Brides are always stressing about everything, every little detail. The coordinator, the location," Alondra said of traditional weddings.

But Alondra didn't want planning her wedding to feel stressful.

"We decided to do a destination wedding at a resort where they took care of everything. They gave you the package and you just pay for it," she said.

Forgoing a party also saved the Luvianos' money; they spent less than $7,000 on their wedding.

The Mayan ceremony took place in the Taak Bi Ha cenote, an underground cave with water in it, in a jungle that was about 10 minutes away from the resort.

A shaman from Ancestralceremoniaritual officiated the ceremony, which Alondra described as "epic and beautiful."

"It was beautiful. I loved it and my family loved it," she added. "It was something that we hadn't ever experienced because we've only seen the Western approach to weddings."

Alondra wore a flower crown with the dress for her Mayan wedding, completing the ethereal ensemble.

Alondra posted the video on a whim, and she didn't expect it to get much attention because she had already posted other clips from her wedding that weren't viewed many times.

But after she posted the TikTok in February, it quickly racked up millions of views and thousands of comments.

"For me, the DIY was the dress, that was my moment to do whatever I wanted," she said, as she didn't have a reception or decor. "So for me, it was my artwork displayed out for the whole world to see now."

The positive feedback she's received has made Alondra excited about the prospect of making more clothes in the future.

"After that whole year of making stuff, I am definitely interested," she said. "It's a fun project. Because I made my wedding dress, I found a new hobby."

"He is my number one fan," Alondra said of Alejandro. "Whenever I would say that I wanted to give up on the dresses, he'd just be like, 'No, keep going. You would be happier if you ended up making your dress like you had already imagined.'"

And when Alejandro saw his wife's dresses on their wedding day, he told her she looked beautiful.

"He's very proud," she added, saying their creativity is one of the things that bonds the Luvianos as a couple.

"We are so open and we're both creative and I think it reflects so much in our relationship," Alondra said of her marriage. "We are so in tune with who we are and the love that we have for each other."

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