A Destination Wedding in Giverny, Where Monet Painted His Water Lilies
Actress and writer Alexandra Kyle immediately swiped right when she saw TV and film producer Jon Cohen petting a goat and flashing the world’s brightest smile on the dating app Raya in 2018. Their first date was at L&E Oyster bar in Silverlake, CA. “We had oysters and hot toddies, and the date lasted over four hours,” she remembers. “Apparently, Jon called his friend as soon as the date was over to say, ‘I think I just met the woman I’m going to marry.’”
All of September 2020, the two talked about how badly they needed a break from dinners at home. “Somehow Jon tricked me into thinking it was my idea to dress up for a date-night out of the house even though he’d already had the whole thing planned,” Alexandra remembers. “I still don’t know how he incepted me. But at some point, I said ‘let’s go out; surprise me.’ He took me to L&E, where we’d first met, and because it was so close to our home, I thought nothing of it. He led me to the restaurant’s second floor, and there was no one there but us.” Alexandra followed Jon to the balcony where there was a single table draped in flowers and candles. “After his speech, when he finally asked, ‘Will you marry me?’ I said ‘thank you’ instead of yes,” Alexandra remembers. “It’s fitting because I’m truly thankful for him every day. The full moon rose over us as we Facetimed our families and friends who were waiting for our calls.”
The two then set a date: April 2, 2022–Alexandra’s grandmother’s birthday—and a location: Giverny, France. “We can’t remember the moment when we decided to have our wedding in France or whose idea it was. It’s like it just always was. And it was so right for us; Jon’s grandfather was from France, and Paris is my favorite city. And we’d had a European trip canceled in 2020 and were itching to go,” Alexandra says.
They knew from the start that they wouldn’t be able to visit a venue before booking it because of the pandemic. “I found it very freeing to decide early into wedding planning that I was going to let go of as much control as possible,” Alexandra says. “It was the only way to keep from stressing over all the uncertainty that is planning a destination wedding during a pandemic. As much fun as I had day dreaming about wedding day details and having all our loved ones together in Europe, I made sure my motto was: As long as Jon’s there, it’ll be the best day.”
Three French wedding planners were interviewed via zoom, and Julie Mazzoleni of L’amour L’amour Paris was ultimately the one. “Before knowing us she seemed even more excited about our wedding than we were,” Alexandra says. “We felt like, ‘every logistical thing could go wrong but that is the energy we want for our wedding.’ All our guests still rave about her to us. My only regret is not getting a photo with her.”
In the lead up to the wedding, Alexandra had no idea what type of dress she wanted to wear. That said, “Instagram and Pinterest figured out pretty quickly that I was planning a wedding, and I couldn’t go online without being overwhelmed by ads and wedding photos,” she says. “After a few months, I saw Danielle Frankel’s Leona dress and booked an appointment at LoHo Bride to try it on. Christy and her team were the best. They had a playlist of my favorite band going while I tried on 11 different dresses. I still left with the Leona dress. Once I had solidified the dress, the rest of the look seemed obvious to me. I cut 6 inches of hair off, so I could have a little flip to show off the shoulders, and sent a photo of Audrey Hepburn’s bouquet in Funny Face to our wedding planner.” She also scoured eBay and Poshmark for the right shoes until she found pearl-studded Oscar de la Rentas in her size.
