Rachael Ray on Her Wedding Vow Renewal Dress: ‘It Was Lovely, But Itchy!’
Rachael Ray wasn’t a bridezilla when it came to choosing a dress for her Sept. 19 vow renewal to husband of 10 years, John Cusimano. In fact, the celebrity chef and TV host let famed bridal designer Reem Acra take complete creative control of the design.
“I just wanted Reem to be happy,” Ray tells PEOPLE exclusively. “She’s the pro when it comes to that, and I have so much respect for her. I was thinking ’60s-looking, kind of vintage vibe and so was she. After that, I was like ‘Whatever you want to do.’ I’m so not that kind of girl. I’d much rather be in pajamas. I let the pros take over. If it’s not the kitchen, I’m not that bossy.”
Ray says she was thrilled with the finished product: a lace, heavily-embellished tea-length design, which she paired with silver metallic platform sandals and a half-up hairstyle for the vow-renewal celebration in Castello di Velona, the Tuscan castle where the pair was first married in 2005.
“The dress was very lovely. A little itchy, cause I don’t wear fancy lace gowns or lacy lingerie, and the whole dress was lace. So I was a little itchy twitchy I have to say, but I loved it,” Ray shares. “It’s the only couture ever made for me. And she made my sister’s dress as well. She’s just so insanely talented.”
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The designer did not incorporate any elements of Ray’s first wedding dress — a long, flowy chiffon design with a beaded bodice — into the look.
“I drew a doodle and she’d already done a sketch and when I showed her the doodle that I’d made, it was exactly what she was thinking and drawing on her side. This [dress] was Reem,” Ray says. “She was so lovely. I surprised her; she said ‘I want to try your tabbouleh,’ so I made her a huge, huge Israeli feast for lunch.”
Acra did, however, make sure to add lots of embellishments to the design, which was one of Ray’s favorite parts of the dress.
“We all have superhero nicknames here at the show [The Rachael Ray Show], and my superhero nickname is ‘The Accessorizer,’ because I love costume jewelry. So she [Acra] put a lot of bedazzles all over it. I would use the bedazzler — like the thing from the infomercials that’s made for seven-year-olds — but hers were hand sewn, and really pretty.”
And while Ray fell in love with the dress, she admits that she couldn’t wait to slip into something more comfortable as soon as the party ended.
“I cannot tell a lie, as soon as the ceremony and the festivities were over, I did go and put on my nightgown pretty quickly,” she shares. “In fact, on my wedding night, my friends gave me a beautiful Cosabella nightie set and I put it on, and I came out and my husband cracked up laughing. He laughed so hard he was doubled over. He’s like, ‘Who are you? Go put your pajamas on; you look ridiculous.’”
What do you think of Ray’s custom dress? Sound off below.
For more exclusive photos and details about Rachael Ray’s wedding renewal weekend, pick up the latest issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands Friday.
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–Brittany Talarico, with reporting by Shay Spence
