Like a lightning bolt, there was an electric charge between Erica Pratt and Nicolas Le Jalu on the beach in Cannes, France. The couple kept eyeing each other but were too nervous to make the first move. On the final day of the trip, they gathered the courage to approach one another where they exchanged numbers and stayed in touch until they met again. Fate brought them back together two years later when she went back to France for a ski trip in Tignes. Erica was living in Paris at the time where she owned a boutique, giving the couple the perfect timing to get to know each other in person, and the rest was history.

From the day they were reconnected, Nicolas asked Erica to marry him every day. It became a sweet inside joke between the couple that she always declined. “Of course I wanted to marry him, but I kept him on his toes!” Erica says. One day, while the couple was vacationing in Aspen, Colorado, Nicolas asked again, and Erica finally said yes. “There was no grand proposal, it was just simple and sweet. It was perfect.” Erica says.

During a trip to Greece, Erica visited many ateliers to get inspiration for her gown. She immediately fell in love with Costarellos, a boutique where all of the dresses are made by hand by a husband-and-wife team. The bride kept them in mind during her wedding planning, and after following them on Instagram, she saw a photo of the perfect dress that was no longer in production. She called the shop, and luckily, they made the dress just for her. The gown fit like a glove, needing no alterations after its arrival, “I was very lucky,” the brides says.

The wedding was held on September 9, 2017, in the Dallas Arboretum’s sunken garden, which gave the international couple’s wedding a European feel. The ceremony was small and intimate with mostly the bride’s family and the groom’s parents. The couple planned the wedding fairly quickly, so with the short notice, most of the groom’s family and friends were not able to attend. The ceremony was done both in English and French by an interpreter so that his parents would be able to enjoy the special moment.

For the reception, the bride wore a beautiful pink gown from Forty Five Ten by Australian designer Alex Perry. Erica, a self-professed lover of fashion and all things pink, paired the gorgeous dress with gold Prada heels.