The Time Traveler's Wife Wedding Style

In The Time Traveler’s Wife, which opens this Friday, Clare (Rachel McAdams) and Henry (Eric Bana) share a timeless love. Clare knows that she and Henry are meant to be together, even though she never knows when they will be forced apart—Henry is a time traveler who is born with a genetic disease that causes him to move back and forward uncontrollably through time. So it’s fitting that when costume designer Julie Weiss created the style for the pair’s wedding, she decided to eschew trends and peruse a classic look.

The result? Weiss, who describes the wedding as a “designer’s paradise” selected looks rooted in the characters’ personalities to create a timeless cerebration set in a fairy-tale garden. —Kathryn Papanek

Henry and Clare’s professions (the groom works as a librarian and the bride is an artist) guided many of Weiss’s costume choices. “Can you imagine designing a wedding for someone who was an artist and another person who spends his days in a library?” she says. “They know images. They know romance. They know that creative spirit as well.”

Clare (Rachel McAdams), wearing a wedding dress by Lea-Ann Belter Bridal, walks down the aisle with her father. Weiss found the silk organza ball gown in the designer’s Toronto boutique (the film was shot in Canada) and added custom details that made the dress the character’s own.

Clare’s headpiece, a cathedral length tulle veil dotted with organza flowers by Lea-Ann Belter Bridal, adds an ethereal element to her look. “The veil was there to really give her an aura,” Weiss says.

Clare’s bridesmaids wear dresses in light green shades that match the celebration’s garden setting. “The bridesmaid dresses were designed so that the bridesmaids felt like they were part of the wedding party but still individuals,” Weiss says. “And that’s the way it should be for an artist’s wedding.”

For the groom, Weiss choose a traditional tuxedo—with a special twist. Because Henry can’t take his clothing with him when moves forward or backwards in time, Weiss knew that he needed to wear an outfit that he could put on quickly in case he time traveled during the wedding. “What made dressing the groom so interesting is that you pick something, and you want him to look absolutely glorious,” she says. “But what also makes it so great is that he only had a minute to put it on.”

At the reception, the newlyweds dance in a garden lit with romantic paper lanterns. Removing her veil for the reception, Clare also lifts the skirt of her wedding dress with a special wrist loop that Weiss added so that the bride could dance easily.

After saying “I do” Henry carries Clare over the threshold of their hotel room. For Weiss, watching the actress put on the wedding dresses was one of her favorite parts about designing the wedding look. “You know that you have done something correct if there is this moment of quiet when the actor puts the dress on and then becomes the bride,” she says. “There’s nothing else like it.”

See more movie and celebrity wedding style inspiration.