- Francesca Braun had a wedding with a black-and-white dress code on Sunday.
- She asked her twin sister Anastasia Domanico to rewear her wedding dress from 2022 for the event.
Twin sisters Francesca Braun and Anastasia Domanico have always been close.
"There's not an adjective to describe how close we are," Braun told Insider of their relationship.
"When I'm by myself having a conversation, I'm half of the whole person that I am," Domanico agreed. "But when we're together, we're like a complete person."
The 27-year-old sisters, who use their maiden name Geonnotti on social media, both live in Pennsylvania, where Braun is a clerk for a judge and Domanico is transitioning from being a teacher to a career in fashion. They also have two older sisters.
No matter what situation they're in, Braun and Domanico's bond couldn't be tighter — even on their wedding days.
Braun had a black-and-white dress code at her wedding on Sunday
Braun got married at the Jean-Georges at the Four Seasons Hotel in Philadelphia.
The wedding had a chic feel, particularly because she had a dinner-style event rather than a traditional wedding.
She wore a strapless Amsale gown from Elizabeth Johns Bridal Couture, and she customized the dress by adding an off-the-shoulder Romona Keveza jacket, giving her two looks in one.
The jacket's semi-sheer fabric let the dress peek through, creating a modern yet elegant look.
To complete her vision for her wedding, Braun requested her guests adhere to a black-and-white dress code for the event. She told Insider that meant she was happy for any of her guests to wear white, even though she was the bride.
"Anyone at my wedding could have worn white, and I couldn't care less," she said. "That would have been totally fine by me."
"I think people were really just not listening to the fact that they could wear white and I wasn't kidding," she added.
Braun didn't have a formal wedding party, but Domanico was basically her maid of honor in spirit because of their bond.
As Braun's wedding came together, she knew she wanted her twin's outfit to stand out.
"I was like, 'Ana is obviously the most important person in my life. I'd really love for her to wear ivory,'" Braun said. The twins' two older sisters had also gotten married earlier in 2023, which fueled them even more to "go out with a bang" at Braun's wedding, they told Insider.
The pair started looking for a suitable ivory dress for Domanico, but they weren't having much luck.
Then, in July, Braun got an idea: Why couldn't her sister just wear her own wedding dress?
The twins decided that Domanico would rewear her wedding dress to Braun's nuptials
Domanico got married at the Baglioni Hotel Luna in Venice, Italy, in August 2022. She wore an A-line Peter Trends Bridal dress that had a square neckline and a dramatic train.
She bought the ivory dress at The Wedding Factor in Philadelphia just a month before her wedding.
Braun thought the dress could be the perfect maid-of-honor look.
"What ivory dress would you love more than your wedding dress?" she asked her sister.
Domanico told Insider she thought Braun was joking initially, but she got excited when she realized her sister was serious.
The twins tapped their go-to seamstress Svetlana Kapirina to make some alterations to the gown so it would look a bit less like a wedding dress.
Kapirina removed the train from Domanico's dress and replaced it with an ankle-length, ruffled hem, and she added a black ribbon to the waist, nodding to Braun's wedding theme.
Both sisters loved the playful additions to the gown.
"I wouldn't have cared if it had the train, but the modifications of it made it look more like a guest or maid-of-honor dress," Braun said of the updates.
Domanico also said she had no qualms about making alterations to the dress, adding that she was glad there was a way for her to rewear it instead.
Domanico and Braun said wearing their wedding dresses together was the 'coolest thing in the entire world'
The twins told Insider they loved getting to wear their wedding gowns together, both for the aesthetic and because of how emotionally significant it felt for them to wear the dresses side by side.
"That was our only opportunity to get to both be in our wedding dresses," Braun said. "So I think it really did make it so much more special.
Domanico posted a TikTok about her look for Braun's wedding on Tuesday, which had 1 million views as of Wednesday.
Domanico and Braun said they were surprised by how many negative comments people have left on the post, with some accusing Domanico of wearing the dress without Braun's permission or secretly hating her sister.
The video didn't specify that Braun asked Domanico to wear the dress, though Domanico clarified how the dress came to be in a follow-up video.
The sisters told Insider they have no regrets about Domanico's outfit for the wedding, and they feel certain they would have done the same thing if it had been Braun who had been married first instead.
"We are so obsessed with each other," Braun said. "The only thing that made sense was for her to wear her wedding dress."
The sisters also hope their experience will inspire other brides to rewear their wedding dresses.
"I love thrift shopping, vintage shopping, finding new ways to wear things," Domanico said. "It's actually OK to rewear something."
For Braun and Domanico, standing side by side in wedding dresses was a dream come true.