‘The Arrangement’ Costume Designer on Megan Morrison’s Wedding Dress Fitting and Other Practical Tips for Brides
Will she become Mrs. West—or will this wedding go south? The second season of The Arrangement—the juicy, original E! series starring Christine Evangelista and Josh Henderson—is back, and guess what? It’s wedding season.
Now that the marriage contract between titular superstar couple Megan Morrison and Kyle West has been signed (and sealed by the Institute of the Higher Mind), the latest plot twist touches on the wedding planning process for the A-list groom and the up-and-coming actress. While IHM members are intent on implementing control over most elements of the wedding, the bride at least has a say in one major category: the dress.
“Megan Morrison comes from nothing. She was a waitress,” Mandi Line, the show’s costume designer, tells The Knot in an exclusive interview. “And now, she has an entire styling team.”
THE ARRANGEMENT — Episode 201 –Pictured: — (Photo by: Eike Schroter/E! Entertainment)
(Photo by: Eike Schroter/E! Entertainment)
“What I wanted to do was to not intimidate her, and for her to still feel that this is her moment,” Line, who previously oversaw the department on Freeform’s Pretty Little Liars, continues. “I wanted her to be able to put it on and feel comfortable.”
Together, Line and Evangelista, who plays Megan on the series, stopped by a bridal boutique in Vancouver, where the show is filmed. The biggest challenge, though, was that they had less than 24 hours to source a gown before filming the actual dress fitting scene.
Despite a flight cancellation and other boutique mishaps, Line prepared 10 different styles as a base. The other nine didn’t matter, though. It was the first piece that spoke loudest to Evangelista.
(Photo by: Eike Schroter/E! Entertainment)
“I didn’t want white… I knew I wanted a tint of blush,” Line reiterates. “I had options but I really wanted [Christine] herself to love it, because she’s really good with taking on Megan Morrison.”
The resulting gown selected was a cap-sleeved, lace Berta design with an embroidered bodice. “You know how you say, ‘I’ll know it when I see it?’ I don’t want to get locked into a vision or parameters. That’s not my process at all,” muses Line. “When she put it on, it was made for her figure. It was a moment that could be disastrous, but it turned out to be the best moment.”
(Photo by: Eike Schroter/E! Entertainment)
Overall, Line encourages brides to come prepared with photos of gowns that will help flatter their figures and personalities. “My advice would be find a celebrity that reminds you of you. Look at somebody that you aspire to be,” she says. “Dress your body type. Come with references and come with examples. It’s like when you go for a haircut, you come with pictures.”
For the costume designer, her personal favorite wedding dress moment in a movie was Carrie Bradshaw’s Vivienne Westwood look in the Sex and the City movie. “To the day I die, I will say that dress,” Line concludes. “You see it for a moment, and I hated it for a second, and now, it’s everything.”
The Arrangement airs Sunday, March 18, at 9 p.m. ET on E!
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