With the most important day of her life just weeks away, it only makes sense that Ellie Kemper is feeling a little frazzled.
“I was always like, ‘I’m going to be the cool bride! I’m going to be laid-back about everything!’ But… I’m not,” The Office star, engaged to Conan writer Michael Koman, told Us Weekly June 12 while shooting a web series for Nescafe Memento. “It turns out I’m not.”
The actress, who announced her engagement on Conan in December 2011, joked that she’s “become bossy and commanding” as her wedding day approaches.
“Especially with Michael, my fiance, I’ve been like, ‘Why don’t you contribute?'” Kemper laughed. “So then he contributes an idea and I’m like, ‘That is a terrible idea! Stop contributing!'”
Finding the perfect dress, however, was “relatively painless” for Kemper, 32. “I went to a great store in St. Louis and it was the fourth dress I tried on,” she told Us. “I loved it!”
Choosing the right look for her bridesmaids, on the other hand, presented a new set of challenges. “The wedding industry does a good job in making you believe you should get what you want,” Kemper explained. “My bridesmaids were like, ‘What shoes do we wear?’ And at first I was like, ‘Any shoes! I’m cool!’ And now I’m like, ‘Oh, no! What if their shoes look weird with the dress?’ So now I am telling them all to wear nude shoes. It’s weird. It’s like an anthropological study.”
Prepping for her own wedding also made Kemper appreciate her role in 2011’s Bridesmaids (also starring Kristen Wiig, 38, Maya Rudolph, 39, and Melissa McCarthy, 41). “Now I really understand why a movie about this topic was made!” she said. “Everything I said about being really flexible and loose about everything is NOT happening.”
Kemper and Koman will tie the knot in New York City, the place they first met. “We love New York and we want to live there one day,” she explained.
Should something go wrong before then, Kemper isn’t worried. “You know what? I decided I’m going to just be happy the week of,” the actress told Us. “And whatever happens, happens.”
