Lela Rose hardly needs an excuse to celebrate, but if you ask her, two decades in the bridal business is as good a reason as any to put on her party boots. 

Marking the occasion, the consummate hostess lived up to that reputation Tuesday by inviting guests into her TriBeCa duplex for a special New York Bridal Fashion Week installment of “dinner theater,” as she described it. Retailers and editors who’ve supported her career gathered around the famous drop-down table hidden in her ceiling. But, according to the designer, the evening’s true VIPs were former Lela Rose brides.

“What’s really been special is just being part of these girls’ most special day for 20 years,” she said, beaming with pride. “And it’s fun now because they come into the stores all the time and they’re like, ‘Oh my gosh, I wore you for my wedding,’ pulling up their pictures.”

Equally nostalgic, Rose recalled one of her first bridal designs. Made of burlap covered in guipure lace, the technique is a bit like putting lipstick on a pig, but “it was absolutely gorgeous, and it totally reminds me of what we’re doing today,” she said. 

Marrying high and low has been the Lela Rose way since she founded the brand in 1996. Flash forward to 2026, that Rose-ism is still a guiding principle: “We’re always trying to take something really dressy, down.” For instance, a hefty faille pouf skirt in her anniversary collection is offset with strips of leather boning, while twisted straps seen throughout carry a spirit of carefree elegance. 

Rose loves to gild the lily when it comes to a theme, so she created 15 dresses and five extras, including veils and toppers, for a total of 20 pieces commemorating 20 years. Taking it a step further, she studded the backs with porcelain rosette buttons, nodding to the traditional gift for couples once they reach two decades: fine china.  

So, of course, guests dined on porcelain chargers and plates in pink decorated with floral patterns. Flowers are Rose’s signature (it’s her name, after all), and they echoed elsewhere, both in fresh white table arrangements and in fabric, like sculpted peonies on a sleek column modeled by a nearby mannequin. “I just think that one is so chic,” said Rose, whose personal preference is a “sweeter” A-line set aflutter with teeny-tiny hydrangeas.  

Asked her advice to brides shopping Lela Rose in the next 20 years, Rose responded simply: “Be yourself.”

“Don’t try to be something that you’re not and don’t go in with preconceived notions that you’re never gonna wear ‘X’ style because I think when you try on gowns, it’s like when you try on clothing: when something just looks fabulous on you, it hits, it’s right.” 

More food for thought to chew on? “Too many cooks in the kitchen at the appointment,” Rose added with a furrowed brow. “That’s a death knell for bridal.”