The Bride Wore Custom Vivienne Westwood to Her Lush Garden Wedding Overlooking the Tuscan Hills
Grace Soldatos and Devin Brown like to joke that they found love in the club. “Around six years ago, we were individually invited to a club in downtown Manhattan by a mutual friend,” Grace, who works in digital content, remembers of how she met her now-husband, a private equity investor. “We both have varying stories about [exactly what transpired] that evening, but we ended up dating shortly thereafter.”
In February 2019, Devin proposed in front of Grace’s childhood home in London. “Naturally, Devin wanted to surprise me, so our trip to London was ostensibly for my annual birthday trip so I wouldn’t be suspicious,” Grace recalls. “As we walked by my old house, Devin got down on one knee. He knew that being in London and at my childhood home was so important to me so the proposal was extremely sentimental. I was overcome by emotions, and we met up with my family and friends to celebrate afterwards. Then, we decided to travel to Paris the day after and spend some quality time together as a newly engaged couple.”
The couple’s wedding was originally supposed to take place in June 2020 at Borgo Santo Pietro in Tuscany, Italy, where they had taken their first trip together in the summer of 2017. “When we arrived then, there was a mix-up and the driver had a sign for ‘Mr. and Mrs. Brown’—given we had only dated for less than a year, we laughed it off,” Grace admits. “Now I like to think it was a sign of what was to come!” While on the trip, they fell in love with the remote location, farm-to-table food, and picturesque gardens. “As we made our way down a small winding road 90 mins outside of Florence, it felt like we stumbled on a hidden gem,” Grace says. “When we started thinking about wedding venues, Borgo Santo Pietro was the only option we considered.”
Like so many other couples, Grace and Devin had to postpone their 2020 wedding due to the pandemic. “Additionally, two months before the wedding was supposed to take place my mother passed away,” Grace explains. “With restrictions constantly changing, we postponed at least four times to finally land on the date of May 14, 2022. The date was also special to us as May 14 is my mom and dad’s wedding anniversary. We wanted nothing more than to be married, so in October of 2020, we had a micro ceremony at my father’s house in Kiawah Island, South Carolina.” Soon after, they began planning to continue with the original wedding at Borgo Santo Pietro. “We wanted to see through what we, and in particular my mother, had always envisioned surrounded by our friends and family,” Grace explains. “We never gave up on our dream wedding and when May 14 arrived it felt even more meaningful to us. A full circle moment in many ways!”
A month into being engaged, and before they’d realized they were going to need to postpone, Grace and her mother had jumped head-first into planning mode, beginning what would ultimately become their final project together. To get the ball rolling, the two enlisted the help of expert international planners Matthew Robbins of Matthew Robbins Design and Luis Otoya of Robbins Otoya.
“A wedding of the scale Devin and I wanted to produce had never taken place at Borgo Santo Pietro, which was both exciting, and at times challenging,” Grace says. “We had the hotel all to ourselves for our wedding weekend, so the first step was mapping out where each wedding event would take place.” While the couple had taken many site visits before 2020 with Grace’s mom and their wedding planners, given so much time had passed, they decided to go back for another planning trip in October 2021. “At the time, there were strict protocols in Italy, and my mother was no longer with us,” Grace remembers. “As we drove through the Borgo Santo Pietro gates, I was flooded by emotion. As usual, I leaned on Devin for support. Our days were filled with tastings, walking the grounds, and fine-tuning decisions we had made previously. Devin—always logical and thoughtful—highlighted the importance of making sure the events felt intimate for our guests. My focus was on the flowers as I wanted the environment to feel lush and vibrant. Matthew and Luis walked us through the possibilities of what we could create, and we returned to New York feeling accomplished.”
Once back in the City, Grace and Devin would regularly go over planning updates after work, and if she ever got stressed, he would keep her calm by reminding her of the big picture. “My father also thoughtfully lent his opinion in my mother’s absence,” Grace says. “I don’t think either of us ever thought we would go into details about floral arrangements or seating charts, but I very much appreciated his point of view. After three years of planning, it was beautiful to watch everything come together.”
Just as Borgo Santo Pietro was the only option for the wedding venue, Vivienne Westwood was the only option the bride ever considered for her wedding dress. “Having worked in fashion my whole life, my wedding looks were of utmost importance to me,” Grace says. “I wanted to stay true to myself and I have always loved Vivienne’s corsets, especially those from the ’90s.”
In 2019, Grace, along with her friend and trusted fashion advisor Martin, had an appointment at the Vivienne Westwood store in New York. “It was clear after a few hours I wanted a completely custom dress, created to my measurements, and was put in touch with the Vivienne Westwood couture studio in London,” she says. “My mom also thought it was a great excuse to make frequent trips to London where my best friend Simon happened to live and would be on call for any appointments.”
After referencing vintage styles and some of Vivienne Westwood’s iconic silhouettes, the sketch of Grace’s dress was created in January 2020. “Due to my mother’s passing, she was never able to see the sketch come to life, but I’m thankful she got to see the vision and give her nod of approval,” Grace says. “When we finally landed on the new date for the wedding, I traveled to London frequently to meet with the Vivienne Westwood team for all my fittings. Simon had a wonderful idea of incorporating a lace train into my look for some added drama during the ceremony that could then be easily removed for dinner. The overall result was extremely romantic and one-of-a-kind, and when I finally picked up my dress the week of the wedding, it was bittersweet as I knew I would miss seeing everyone at the Vivienne Westwood studio. The dress is a work of art, and on the wedding day when the whole look came together, I looked in the mirror and felt like the best version of myself.”
