Despite war, Ukrainian designer finishes Chester County bride's wedding dress
"I'm just blown away by her dedication to her craft knowing she was still willing to do this," the bride said.
COATESVILLE, Pennsylvania (WPVI) -- A Coatesville bride has made an unlikely connection with a Ukrainian woman who has fled her country while it is at war: the woman designed the bride's dress.
"There's a warm, airy look to all of the pictures," said Megan Teti as she looked at the engagement pictures with her fiance, Jared. For the couple, the joy of planning their big day has been in the details.
"There are hand engravings of leaves because we like to go camping and hiking and stuff a lot," Teti said pointing to her ring.
The personalization is important to her, so as she looked for her perfect gown, "I just really wanted to love my dress and I wanted to feel like it's me."
She wanted something unique. "Light dusty blue and copper as our wedding colors," he said.
Her vision came to life thanks to a designer on Etsy, but the bliss of placing the order was quickly met by fear. Maria Kolomoiets is the designer from Ukraine and had messaged Meg that she had to flee her home as her country was under attack.
"It's horrible. We just don't know the scale of it yet," said Kolomoiets, who owns Sumaorokova Bridal.
In March, she escaped with her family to Portugal, determined to protect them.
"My main motivation is to support my family. I just cannot stop," she said.
When the war broke out, Megan offered that Maria keep her deposit and cancel the order, knowing how difficult it would be to make and ship the dress. What she didn't expect is for Maria to work even faster.
"I'm just blown away by her dedication to her craft knowing she was still willing to do this," said Teti.
The dress shipped through Poland and is expected to arrive in Coatesville this week. As Teti plans for her big day, she says she will wear the dress with pride.
"Now knowing everything this dress has gone through just makes it that much more special on the day," she said.
"We feel the support of the whole world and I just want to ask 'don't forget about us,'" said Kolomoiets.
