A Look Back at Audrey Hepburn's Iconic Wedding Dresses

Minimal, elegant, and a little bit playful.

Audrey Hepburn Wedding Collage

Photos by Getty, Design by Tiana Crispino

She may be most often remembered clad in a black gown and diamond tiara for Breakfast at Tiffany's, but Audrey Hepburn's classic style wasn't just reserved for the movies. Her famous wedding dresses in Funny Face, Roman Holiday, and Sabrina have inspired brides throughout the years looking to recreate the fairy tale wedding looks she wore on-screen.

Audrey hepburn

Courtesy of Everett Collection

Hepburn also translated her much-sought-after fashion sense to her own bridal looks—all three of them, in fact. Hepburn had two turns as a bride (she was married to Mel Ferrer and Andrea Dotti) and one wedding dress that she never wore down the aisle. All three are classic Audrey: minimal, elegant, and a little bit playful. Read on for a look back at all her bridal gowns—and get some inspiration for your own nuptials while you're at it.

The Wedding Dress That (Almost) Never Made It Down the Aisle

Audrey Hepburn first wedding dress

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Before she was a household name, Audrey Hepburn was engaged to British businessman James Hanson, but the couple called off the wedding after a year-long engagement. However, Hepburn had already been fitted for a mid-length, boatneck silk dress, designed by the Rome-based Fontana sisters (the actress had been filming Roman Holiday).

Audrey Hepburn wedding dress
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In keeping with her signature kindness and grace—Hepburn was a long-time Unicef ambassador—the starlet asked that the Fontana sisters donate the dress saying, "I want my dress to be worn by another girl for her wedding, perhaps someone who couldn't ever afford a dress like mine—the most beautiful, poor Italian girl you can find." The dress was worn by Amiable Altobella, who wore it to her farm wedding.

In 2009, Audrey Hepburn's first wedding gown was sold at an auction in London for $23,000, according to Vogue UK. "I have had a happy marriage, so the dress brought me luck," Altobella was quoted saying in the Kerry Taylor Auctions' catalog.

A Tea-Length Gown by Balmain

Audrey Hepburn WEdding

Photo by Ernst Haas

For her first walk down the aisle on September 25, 1954, Hepburn chose a tea-length, flared dress with a satin sash, ballgown sleeves, and a high neck, paired with elbow-length gloves. The Pierre Balmain-designed dress (yes, the same couture house now famous for leather pants, rock star vests, and dressing Kim Kardashian for her bachelorette party) was the perfect choice for the doe-eyed Hepburn, who was riding her recent fame post-Roman Holiday.

Though the wedding in Burgenstock, Switzerland, was positively magical, the couple was plagued by infidelity rumors, miscarriages, and a fight for the spotlight. Happily, after many attempts, Hepburn gave birth to her first son, Sean Ferrer, in July 1960. The couple would divorce after 14 years in 1968.

A Pale Pink Givenchy Mini-Dress

Audrey Hepburn second wedding

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For her second turn as a bride, Hepburn tapped frequent collaborator and friend Hubert de Givenchy. The designer created arguably the most iconic LBD of all time, Holly Golightly's black evening dress, for the actress in Breakfast at Tiffany's.

To marry Italian psychiatrist Andrea Dotti in a town hall ceremony in Switzerland on January 18, 1969, Hepburn chose a Givenchy long-sleeve, funnel-necked minidress in a pale ballet pink, which she paired with white tights and white ballet flats. A pair of gloves and a matching headscarf completed Hepburn's understated wedding day look.

The union brought Hepburn her second son Luca Dotti when she was 39. After 14 years together, the couple divorced in 1982.

It's worth noting that Hepburn's final long-standing relationship didn't end in marriage. After her divorce from Dotti, Hepburn lived with Dutch actor Robert Wolders. She told Barbara Walters in a 1989 interview that the time she spent with Wolders marked the happiest years of her life. As Hepburn said to Walters: "Took me long enough."

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