We Went Wedding Dress Shopping With Paralympian Oksana Masters, And There Wasn't a Dry Eye in the House

Immediately after the 2024 Summer Paralympics, 19-time medalist Oksana Masters left Paris with two new road cycling gold medals in her collection. Yet, she didn't go straight home to Illinois. Still riding the adrenaline of the competition, Masters made a stop in New York City for something new to add to her suitcase (as in, her wedding dress).

A lauded athlete, Masters is engaged to fellow Paralympian Aaron Pike, who, like his fiancée, competes in both the Winter and Summer Paralympics. The couple met at a cross-country skiing event in Utah, and things turned romantic during the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. After eight years of dating, Pike proposed with her grandmother's ring during a vacation at Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming.

In 2024, with both Masters and Pike set on the Games, the couple faced yet another milestone head-on: balancing their Olympic preparations with wedding planning. Of course, for Paralympians competing every two years, finding time to plan a wedding is easier said than done. With their sights set on a fall 2025 celebration in the American West, Masters was able to squeeze in a wedding dress shopping appointment exactly one year before—and The Knot tagged along to give you an inside look at what it's like trying on gowns with a prolific Olympian.

Inside Oksana Masters' Wedding Dress Shopping Appointment

Photo: Jess Kane for The Knot

After the Games and on a crisp September day, The Knot team met Masters at Pronovias' flagship salon in Midtown Manhattan. Clad in casual denim shorts and an Olympics top, her laid-back ensemble presented a stark difference from the whimsical gowns in her dressing room. Our conversation naturally took place during her bridal fitting. Just the editors and the bride-to-be.

"This is the best day ever," she said from behind the curtain as her stylist, Karina Pugliese, helped her into the first look. "Winning gold is good, but trying on dresses in New York is amazing." Fresh off a celebratory post-Olympics trip to Disney, Masters explained that she envisions a fairy tale look for her Western wedding day. Weddings are bespoke experiences, after all. "I'm all into princesses right now," she said.

What no one expected was the emotional reaction we would all have when she walked out in the first dress. Complete with a fitted lace bodice, Masters was silent, a departure from her otherwise engaging personality, as she took in her appearance from the pedestal. "I can't believe I'm trying on wedding dresses right now," she said in between gasps.

Photo: Jess Kane for The Knot

Even more powerful, though, was when Pugliese placed a cathedral-length lace-lined veil atop her head. It was a moment that spoke to Masters' inner child—and a moment that, at one point in her life, she never thought she would have. Born in Ukraine in 1989, Masters had birth defects caused by radiation poisoning. Following a series of surgeries as an infant, she eventually had both legs amputated above the knee. She was raised in an orphanage for seven and a half years before she was adopted by her mother, Gay Masters, who brought her to Illinois.

Given her upbringing, Masters never had the opportunity to play dress up or daydream about her wedding, much like so many other young girls do. But now, over thirty years later, watching her try on dresses was like watching an unanswered childhood dream come true.

Photo: Jess Kane for The Knot

While she originally came to the salon thinking she wanted a "simple," fitted mermaid dress, Pugliese encouraged her to think outside the box and try a few different silhouettes. "I wanted her to feel comfortable," Pugliese told me as Masters twirled around in her second dress, which had a straight strapless neckline and a fuller A-line skirt. "This is what it's all about. You need to try new things because your heart will tell you what you want."

---

FOR YOU

The Most Iconic Weddings Over the Last 30 Years

These celebrations live rent-free in our minds.

Exclusive: Inside NFL Star Jaylon Johnson's Wedding

An exclusive first look inside the Chicago Bears cornerback's refined tropical nuptials in Punta Cana, loosely inspired by 'Love Is Blind.'

See Max Blank & Bruna Petrillo's Club-Inspired Wedding

An exclusive look inside Bruna Petrillo and Max Blank's non-traditional, private club-inspired wedding.

Things took an emotional turn in her third dress. The breathtaking design inspired the athlete to FaceTime her mom, who was waiting on standby for updates from halfway across the country. "I feel like a girl," Masters exclaimed as another veil completed the look. "I never thought this would be me." "Aaron's gonna roll over," her mom joked.

Photo: Jess Kane for The Knot

The longer she looked at herself in this dress—which we can't reveal *too* many details about, wink wink—it became clear that it very well could be "the one." With our entire entourage waiting by the entrance, Masters strutted down the main hallway of the salon while shouting out her innermost thoughts. "I love when I walk!" she cheered, followed by, "I'm gonna be a bride!"

When she got to the mirror in the waiting area, her emotions came back in full force. "I don't cry," she said as tears pricked her eyes. "It's hitting me. I never liked putting on dresses, but this makes me feel so pretty. I don't want to take it off."

Photo: Jess Kane for The Knot

While the general consensus felt like she might have just found her gown, Pugliese had another trick up her sleeve. Back into the dressing room, Masters tried on yet another dress, completely different from the one she just had on…but her reaction was just as authentic.

Although this dress was the polar opposite of what she just donned, the addition of the veil complicated Masters' ranking of her favorite looks. "This is everything I wanted in a gown," she said while taking in her reflection.

The longer she looked at the new dress, the more emotional she got. "I can't believe this is me," she mused. "With my prosthetic legs, I never felt pretty, but I do in this dress."

As boxes of tissues made their rounds through the group, we turned to the athlete's phone, where her mom still watched from FaceTime. "Mom, could you walk next to me in this dress?" Masters asked, referencing the moment her mother will walk her down the aisle. "I could walk next to you in anything," she answered.

Photo: Jess Kane for The Knot

Pugliese sourced yet another perfect headpiece for the gown, which confirmed one thing: Masters now had two vastly different dresses vying for her heart. "It's hitting me," the Olympian said as the appointment wound down. "It's the way it makes me feel."

With time for just one more, Masters put on a lace dress for fun, which she styled with her brand new gold medals. (Because they make the perfect accessory, of course!) "I haven't even processed what happened in Paris," she said as she held them up for the store to see. "I can't believe these medals are here."

Although Masters left the appointment empty-handed, she has two favorites to pick from—and we'll all be waiting with bated breath to see which one she selects for her big day a year from now. But even without the dress in tow, she still traveled home triumphantly: "This is what I dreamed about, but I never thought this would be my life."