‘I Tried on More Than 100 Dresses’: Inside Dani Goldstein’s Destination Wedding Prep
One month away from her wedding day, the average bride enters panic mode as final details are put in place. Not so with Danielle Goldstein. In fact, you might be surprised to know that her fiancé, fellow horseman Alan Waldman (who, by the way, scouted Dani's powermare Lizziemary), is the one feeling the heat. “Alan is getting a bit stressed and I’m like 'eh, it’ll get planned,'" Dani says in her cool, calm, matter-of-fact manner.
After being introduced to each other seven years ago in Wellington, Florida, by mutual friend Kim Prince, Dani and Alan never left each other’s side. Alan popped the question following the 2018 Longines Global Champions Tour of Miami surrounded by their families. Not wasting any time, the glowing couple began wedding planning immediately for their May nuptials. "This was even a long engagement (to us). Initially we were trying to do it within the year but then we wanted to make sure the weather was nice and with the show schedule and everything ... we’re slightly over a year total which is even a little bit long, we would’ve liked it even shorter!"
It's all in the details. Photo by Ifat Zohar.
It's all in the details. Photo by Ifat Zohar.An Italian Getaway
Why celebrate finding the love of your life for just one day when you can party with your favorite people for a whole week? For Dani and Alan, what was most important was bringing together their closest friends and family and share with them their favorite things. For a full six days before the big finale, a small group will tour the Amalfi coast on a rented boat. Their journey will begin in Sicily, then move to Positano and Capri, and will end in Ischia where guests will gather to celebrate the happy couple.
"We’re going to have the rehearsal dinner at a villa in Ischia, and then the wedding is actually going to be on the boat. We have about 80 guests,” Dani explains. “If it were up to me I would have 50 people, but Alan wanted like 120, so we sort of compromised with 80. I was like, I want a fun wedding, but we could also just do it with our 10 best friends; you don’t have to have a lot of people.
“For us, we wanted to share our favorite things with our favorite people. That’s our concept for the wedding. I’m obsessed with Mountain Dew, so I’m giving all the guests Mountain Dew. Alan loves Rice Krispies treats, so we’re giving all the guests Rice Krispies treats. We want to share our favorite things with our favorite people.”
A Shared Love of Food
Passionate foodies and chef connoisseurs, Alan and Dani chose Italy as their wedding destination partly because of their love of Italian food.
“We’re doing all the food locally-sourced. We’ve actually gone down to multiple food tastings, which they say really is not normal. Apparently people only do one wedding tasting — we’ve done three,” Dani says. And it’s not just the food she’s attentive to, but the plating as well. Every detail makes a difference. “The things people remember at weddings are food and music. So we wanted to make sure the food was representative of us and to ensure it was really high quality.”
Who doesn't love an equestrian romance? Checkout the glamorous wedding of Karl Cook and Kaley Cuoco.
Saying Yes to the Dress (Finally)
It’s not unusual these days for a bride to have at least one wardrobe change during her wedding, but for a weeklong event, Dani will be packing multiple outfits for the occasion. In a video post on her Instagram, she showed us her living room turned into a wedding wardrobe mecca. Although Dani has all of her white outfits perfectly planned, the most important outfit she will wear, of course, is the dress she will walk down the aisle in. Picking the perfect frock is no easy feat for any bride, but it was especially so for Dani.
Searching for the right one. Photo by Ifat Zohar.
Searching for the right one. Photo by Ifat Zohar.“My dress was really important because I have such an interest in fashion. I tried on more than 100 dresses — it was crazy,” Dani says. “My Maid of Honor who was with me was like ‘This is it, we’re done’ … [So we] looked for her Maid of Honor dress walking around the couture shops in New York, and there was this floral-print dress. She was like ‘Try it on, maybe you’ll like it for your honeymoon or something.’ So I put it on and looked in the mirror and was like ‘This is it. I want this in white.’ So I basically was able to get that dress and customize it.
Stay true to yourself with life lessons by Dani.
“When I went to the fitting last week in Milan, I had it on for a couple of hours because we were making tweaks, and I was like ‘I don’t want to take this off! I love it!’ Everyone keeps asking if I’m going to change out dresses on the day of, but honestly, I’m wearing that one dress as long as I can.”
A Newfound Beauty Routine
Dani is quick to acknowledge she doesn’t take the best care of her skin. It’s difficult enough planning a wedding, but tending to your own self-care and keeping the busy schedule of a top international show jumper is a tough act to balance. Thanks to Dani’s friends and the fact that her wedding day is fast approaching, skincare has leapt a few places on her priority list.
“My friend gave me a needle roller which I think is amazing. I never thought I would do something like that and now I’m totally obsessed with it,” Dani says on her newfound love for skincare. “I have two new skin creams which I just started using — I never used creams before and only wore sunblock. Really, I thought everyone was kidding and it was nonsense about all the creams. But now that I’m using them my skin legit looks good.”
The Last Hurrah
What’s a wedding without a bachelorette party? Dani wasn’t a fan of popular destinations such as Miami or Las Vegas to spend her last moments as a single woman. Instead, she wanted to go back to her roots in her hometown of New York City.
“My bachelorette party is in New York City — we’re bringing it back home. There are 12 of us meeting there. Everyone always wants to go to Vegas or Amsterdam, and I’m like I live in Amsterdam, I was just in Las Vegas, I don’t need to go there. I want to go home! I want to go back to New York City!”
Best wishes, Dani and Alan! We wish you a life full of love and happiness!
Read this next: Danielle Goldstein’s Day Off: Martial Arts, Paella, and Knife Throwing
Feature photo by Ifat Zohar.