The Bravo star will marry John Janssen later this year in a "very unconventional" wedding
Alexis Bellino will walk down the aisle in style.
Shortly after her bridal fitting at Modern Bride in Scottsdale, Arizona, the glamorous Real Housewives of Orange County alum tells PEOPLE about her wedding dress, which she anticipates will cause her fiancé John Janssen "to die" when he sees it.
The couple got engaged after nine months of dating on Aug. 27, 2024, at the San Ysidro Ranch in Santa Barbara, Calif. They plan to tie the knot later this year in a "very unconventional" wedding in which there will be no bridesmaids or groomsmen. Bellino especially looks forward to her grand ceremony entrance because she's skipping a first look with Janssen and wants to dazzle him and their guests with her dress.
"The gown is actually complementing exactly what we want the wedding to be," Bellino shares with PEOPLE. "It is unconventional, head to toe."
The bride-to-be remained tight-lipped about the specific details of the dress, but notes that it is "so beautiful" and "out of the box." She adds that her initial vision "changed a little" when she was trying on different dresses.
"I did have that wow, Say Yes to the Dress moment," Bellino says. "And I actually thought my vision was going to be different. But when I put this one gown on, it actually changed everything. So it was kind of one of those things where you think you want A, but then you try on B, C and D and you choose E."
Bravo stars Jo De La Rosa and Galyna Saltkovska joined Bellino for her fitting and desert bridal retreat — which included a visit to Rancher Hat Bar to design custom hats, a coastal Italian dinner at Élephante and a fun pajama party at Holly House — on Monday, April 7. They couldn't help but get emotional when they saw Bellino in her wedding dress for the first time.
"I think they were shocked a little bit," Bellino says, noting her friends were "sworn to secrecy." "They also had seen my vision and what I chose is a little bit off of my vision, but it is me and it is exactly perfect for the wedding."
Bellino is working with designer Julie Hurt on the gown. Hurt is the owner and founder of Modern Bride, and creative director and designer of DiKaSa Couture, which is the private label of dresses carried in the store.
"The name Modern Bride is what originally started me researching her because I am this bride that did not want conventional and did not want an ordinary dress," Bellino says.
She adds that working with Hurt has been "so organic."
"We work really good together. She's amazing," she gushes. "And I'm literally so excited about my gown."
From the initial sketch to the final dress, the two women are working together to create Bellino's dream gown.
"We actually have what I call a bunch of shells, right? And so our gowns are all shells and they are made individually for each bride. So lots of customizations," Hurt explains to PEOPLE. "So she picked something … but then we just made it all about Alexis and changed it completely. So it's really a completely different dress. We count parts of it, but not all of it."
"I completely love brides that have visions that are not like everybody else," she continues. "I definitely like unconventional looks. I like stylish, trendy, unique. I don't like boring … The first thing I tell my brides when they come in is, 'If you're looking for traditional, I don't have that. If you're looking for something fun, all about you, very unique, we can work together.' "
Bellino reveals that Hurt is "doing even more" than just her ceremony dress.
"We're not going to tell you how many," she says. "But yeah, there's definitely not just one."
