This Bride Wore Giambattista Valli to Wed at the Fairest Castle in All the Land—The Palace of Versailles
When Kim Kardashian and Kanye West attempted to book the Palace of Versailles for their wedding, they were squarely turned down via a press statement and relegated to having their rehearsal dinner (complete with a private tour) there the night before their big day. Such was not the case for well-connected, under-the-radar swimwear designer Leslie Cohen Amon and Ronen Chichportich, who are based in Paris and Geneva and threw a tour de force of a wedding at the heritage site this past May.
Photo: Stephanie Fishwick1/59For the invitation, we were really inspired by a Louis XVI–meets–Garden of Eden–meets–L’Orangerie. Outside of these general themes, I gave my calligrapher, Stephanie Fishwick, carte blanche. The invitations were meant to give guests the feeling that they were about to enter a different world. For the logo, I wanted to use Erté, so Stephanie created a fun collage with deco dancers surrounding the initials “L” and “R.”
Photo: Giambattista Valli2/59This was my last fitting at the atelier. I’m pictured here with Giambattista Valli’s first assistant and good friend of mine, Elia Quadri. We were figuring out how long my train should be to ensure that it flowed properly, so I walked around trying out different lengths. We tried four or five different measurements until we reached the right one.
Photo: Giambattista Valli3/59Giambattista took this selfie at my last fitting to memorialize the occasion. Also pictured are Elia, his first assistant; Claire Birman, the head of couture; and two talented couturiers from his team.
Photo: Gérard Uféras4/59In planning the kickoff festivities, Ronen proposed the concept of showing our friends and family the “best of Paris” over the course of the weekend. The Friday night welcome dinner was held at Café de Flore, our beloved canteen.
Photo: German Larkin5/59A “Studio 54” dress code was issued for the welcome dinner and late-night dancing at club Le Montana, so I had Michael Halpern of Halpern Studio custom-design my dress for the evening. I wanted something off the shoulder with detachable sleeves, based on one of his original designs. Michael sketched four or five different concepts for me with varying color propositions and I settled on this one. It’s made entirely of sequins but very light!
Photo: Gérard Uféras6/59We wanted to recreate the convivial ambiance that is always at the café, so we had accordion players, singers serenading with French music, newspaper/magazine distributors, and someone who gives out little tchotchke toys—all the usual suspects.
Photo: Gérard Uféras7/59As previously mentioned, if you go on any given day to the café, they have someone whose sole job is to hand you the day’s newspaper, so I made spoof covers of tabloids and political magazines with pictures of Ronen and me and had the man distribute those as a joke!
Photo: German Larkin8/59Surrounded at Café de Flore by friends and family who joined us from all over the world.
Photo: German Larkin9/59Gossip and tabloids! Pictured left to right is my Parisian friend Victoria Botana, cousin Natasha Amon, and Swiss friend Laura Vourc’h.
Photo: Gérard Uféras10/59On Saturday evening, we held a garden party at Musée Rodin that felt like a mini carnival. The idea was simply to sit down, relax, and hang with friends.
Photo: Gérard Uféras11/59Guests were invited to peruse the museum at leisure, as the property was privatized for the event. This is one of my friends analyzing one of the many incredible sculptures with a loupe.
Photo: German Larkin12/59Greeting Theodora, the daughter of one of my bridesmaids.
Photo: Gérard Uféras13/59My friend Nathan Moy, a handbag designer at Louis Vuitton, loves to pose and planned his Céline outfit months in advance!
Photo: German Larkin14/59Pictured here is Ronen playing croquet with friends.
Photo: German Larkin15/59Everyone took the “Floral Hangover” dress code very seriously! Pictured here are my friends Vassili Gorelov and Jacopo Durazzani, posing with carnival balloons that I found on Amazon!
Photo: Gérard Uféras16/59Our friend Denis Calmis, wearing Gucci.
Photo: Gérard Uféras17/59Stylist Stephanie Stola and her plus one for the evening.
Photo: German Larkin18/59We all took turns posing like the Rodin sculptures on view. I wore a custom Dolce & Gabbana Alta Moda outfit and paired it with a Mercedes Salazar bag, gifted by my dear friend Cloclo Echavarria.
Photo: Gérard Uféras19/59A giant foosball table was one of the many games on hand for the evening.
Photo: German Larkin20/59We brought in food trucks, cotton candy and popcorn machines, a yogurt stand, photo booth . . . and detox concoctions from vegan juice bar Wild & The Moon, which came in handy for those who were still hungover from the night before!
Photo: Gérard Uféras21/59Photo ops galore! This is my friend Sonia Diop.
Photo: Gérard Uféras22/59Lots of dancing to cap off the evening!
Photo: Leslie Cohen Amon23/59One of my best friends, Mich Dulce, stayed with me at the Ritz Paris the night before my wedding day. We woke up at 9:00 a.m., applied detox face masks, and ate a healthy breakfast!
Photo: Gérard Uféras24/59Angloma has done my makeup many times. I requested a natural look with glow-y skin and asked him to make me look fresh . . . i.e., not tired!
Photo: Gérard Uféras25/59I did not want to feel stressed and overwhelmed seeing everyone during my wedding prep, so Angloma and my hairstylist, Marc Orsatelli (pictured here), were the only ones in the suite with me. Everyone else got ready at Plaza Athénée.
Photo: Gérard Uféras26/59I took Fabrizio Viti’s Take a Bow ankle boots with matte rubber bows and customized them with the designer. The toe was made of satin, the heel and knots were rubber, and the body of the shoe incorporated the same lace fabric that was used for my dress. When we did the fitting, Fabrizio had some crystal daisies lying around and—as he is known for accessorizing with this flower—we decided to add them to the ribbon knots for a touch of fun.
Photo: Gérard Uféras27/59I designed these earrings with Ronen for my “something blue.” They’re made with aquamarine stones, emeralds, and diamonds.
Photo: Gérard Uféras28/59I did not want “stiff” pictures, so we took a bunch of fun ones at the Ritz before I left for Versailles.
Photo: Gérard Uféras29/59We privatized all of Versailles. Guests arrived at the main entrance and walked to L’Orangerie for the festivities.
Photo: Gérard Uféras30/59Guests descend upon L’Orangerie for the ceremony. It was a 20-minute walk from the front entrance on an extremely hot day!
Photo: Gérard Uféras31/59In France, it’s illegal to hold a wedding in any public space, so we couldn’t tent outside. Instead, we brought the outside in and created our vision of a “Garden of Eden” for the symbolic ceremony.
Photo: Gérard Uféras32/59Everyone is awaiting the arrival of the bridal party. It was one of the hottest days we’ve ever had, so everyone was fanning themselves because air conditioning wasn’t permitted inside.
Photo: Gérard Uféras33/59We love Sébastien Tellier and had him perform throughout the ceremony. It was only his voice and the piano, and he created a special composition for us.
Photo: Gérard Uféras34/59Though you can’t see my face here, it was a very emotional ceremony.
Photo: Gérard Uféras35/59For my “something borrowed and old,” family friend Maria Cristina Buccellati loaned me a vintage diamond bracelet. Customization on my Giambattista Valli haute couture dress included a 17th-century French boiserie–inspired needle-and-thread embroidery design on silk organza, subsequently embroidered with a Swarovski crystal ramage de fleurs d’oranger motif on the bodice.
Photo: German Larkin36/59Originally, I wanted to carry orchids for my bouquet, but Giamba told me to carry roses because Versailles is all about roses. Ronen wore an Alexander McQueen black velvet jacket with Zardozi embroidery and gold bullion embroidered sunflowers from the Spring ’17 men’s ready-to-wear collectsion, paired with Berluti shoes.
Photo: German Larkin37/59Taking in Versailles at dusk. It was incredible.
Photo: Gérard Uféras38/59After the ceremony, we were supposed to do family and wedding party photos on top of L’Orangerie, but no one came up like we told them to, so we just did photos by ourselves.
Photo: Gérard Uféras39/59This was my “Kendall Jenner” moment. We just threw the train in the wind and took a bunch of shots.
Photo: Gérard Uféras40/59Following cocktail hour on the L’Orangerie parterre, everyone moved into the second gallery for the reception. Virtually all interior decorations and accoutrements were custom-made for the occasion. The two long tables were inspired by a similar setup at a Chanel dinner that I had attended for the brand’s Paris-Bombay collectsion a while back.
Photo: Gérard Uféras41/59Dinner preparation before the guests arrived.
Photo: Gérard Uféras42/59Table art is really my passion. The plates, tablecloths, chair cushions—everything was made-to-measure by artisans. Decorative specialty foods were cherry-picked and brought in from all over France. Designer Stephanie Fishwick also integrated grapes, oranges, parrots, and butterflies into the menu design to evoke the themed tablescape.
Photo: Gérard Uféras43/59Every last item on the table was carefully selected to showcase the best of France. We really wanted guests to feel indulged, in keeping with the spirit of Versailles.
Photo: Gérard Uféras44/59We had the rug embroidered with the logo design that Stephanie had created for our invites!
Photo: German Larkin45/59Palm trees were brought in for an “Oriental-issime” touch and six enormous chandeliers provided ambient light to complement the tapered candles arranged on the tables.
Photo: Gérard Uféras46/59After guests were seated and served their first course, Vivaldi’s “The Four Seasons” unexpectedly began playing and the main doors of L’Orangerie opened to reveal a mock court of Versailles nobles in period costume, ushering us in—on horseback—for our grand entrance.
Photo: Gérard Uféras47/59The planner came up with the idea because we needed to be elevated so everyone could see us arrive. It reminded me of the iconic picture of Bianca Jagger at Studio 54! I sat sidesaddle to appear ladylike and wrapped the train around the bottom of my dress to prevent any mishaps. Hilariously, Ronen’s zipper split as he was mounting the horse, so we snuck backstage with Giambattista after dismounting and he fixed it at the same time he cut my train. That was the funniest part of the wedding!
Photo: Gérard Uféras48/59We purposely sat in the middle of the table with our close friends—not at the end—so we could enjoy their company and not be isolated.
Photo: Gérard Uféras49/59Ronen addressed his speech to everyone, but the last bit was directed toward me. The most memorable part was when he said we were the best team together.
Photo: Gérard Uféras50/59Following the dinner, courtiers led the entire dinner party outside via procession with a larger-than-life nine-layer mille-feuille wedding cake.
Photo: German Larkin51/59Once everyone arrived outdoors, a gorgeous gold fireworks display went off for five full minutes. I specifically chose gold fireworks because I hate colored ones!
Photo: Gérard Uféras52/59It was the hottest day of the year, so we were fanning ourselves nonstop!
Photo: Gérard Uféras53/59The fireworks were followed by an outdoor concert performance from Gilbert Montagné, the Ray Charles of France. Everyone—young and old—knows his music. He performed with his band and got everyone on their feet!
Photo: Gérard Uféras54/59Ronen and his friends enjoying the after-party.
Photo: Gérard Uféras55/59In France, you don’t typically have bridesmaids, but I wanted to do it the American way! This was an impromptu shot with three of the seven girls, who all wore Giambattista Valli. I chose their outfits because I don’t trust everyone’s taste!
Photo: Gérard Uféras56/59Do you see the holes in the flower wall? When it came time to throw my bouquet, I couldn’t find the original, so I composed one from the display! For dancing, I changed into Buffalo platform shoes with LED lights. I bought them on Amazon and had someone bring them from New York because they don’t ship overseas.
Photo: Gérard Uféras57/59All of the single ladies vying for my bouquet.
Photo: Gérard Uféras58/59A summer evening view of L’Orangerie’s facade.
Photo: Gérard Uféras59/59We partied until 4:00 a.m., when we were kicked out because Putin was meeting President Macron in the Château later that morning!
