This Classics-Obsessed Bride Wore a Corset Dress and an Aeneid-Inspired Veil for Her Puglia Wedding
Jaime Johnson and Benjamin Shulman first matched on Raya in 2016, a dating app that Jaime admits “neither of us approached with much seriousness.” They exchanged a few lighthearted texts back and forth about mutual friends, as well as a few jokes. But it wasn’t until they ran into each other at a birthday party a few months later that an online flirtation turned into a real-life connection: “It was after that Ben asked me on a date…and the rest is history,” says Jaime.
Three years later, Benjamin proposed during a road trip through the Scottish Highlands. The two went on a hike through the moors, which ended at a waterfall. As Jaime sat on the edge, she heard a voice booming above the roaring water. It was Ben—asking her to marry him. “I was speechless… until I yelled back yes,” Jaime says. Afterward, they shared a pint together at The Fife Arms pub to celebrate.
From the beginning, Jaime and Benjamin wanted their nuptials to be a destination event. “We always knew we wanted to have our wedding overseas, and it was important for both of us to choose a location that offered more to our guests than just the wedding, especially considering that many would be traveling from so far away,” she explains. At first, they chose Umbria, Italy—but then the pandemic hit. When they picked the planning back up a few years later, they switched to Puglia, and asked David Stark to help plan their dream celebration.
In mid-July, the two married in Ostuni, Italy. The weekend began with welcome drinks and dinner at La Sommità Relais, a charming boutique hotel housed in a former 16th-century mansion. Jaime wore a delicate floral Acne Studios dress from its spring 2023 collection “that had this magical and diaphanous quality.”
Stylist Dani Michelle helped Jaime source her wedding looks. “I love fashion and spent a ton of time on the Vogue Runway app researching every possible collection,” Jaime says of her bridal trousseau. “It was so fun to work with Dani, and geek out over collections and pieces and bring some of these dreams to life.”
On Saturday, the two wed at a Puglian estate. The couple had a vision of marrying in a field of wildflowers—but, since they do not grow in the summer, Jaime came up with an idea to cover her ceremony site in handmade blooms. “David really ran with it and created these cool Warhol-inspired flowers,” the bride says. He then suggested another artistic statement: a striped aisle. “He proposed modeling the aisle after a Jacquemus runway,” she says. “The aisle was incredibly long, striped in bold pink and orange, and went from one end of the field to the other.”
Jaime met Ben under a trulli surrounded by cypress trees as “You’re So Cool” by Hans Zimmer from the True Romance soundtrack played. She wore a custom head-beaded corset gown by Jackson Wiederhoeft of Wiederhoeft. “The beads had a slippery look to them, like the scales of a fish, and there was an internal corset, the likes of which Marie Antoinette and her court would have approved,” Jaime says, laughing.
She found a close creative confidante in the designer, who like her, has a love of the classics. They connected on the idea of incorporating that into her wedding day veil: “The motifs on the veil are all symbols I found from the Odyssey and the Aeneid that Jackson then turned into this beautiful beaded pattern,” she says. Ben, meanwhile, wore custom Ralph Lauren.
After Jaime’s close friend, Succession actor Jeremy Strong read “Sonnet XVII” by Pablo Neruda, the two recited their vows in front of 160 guests. The couple’s officiant, Chris Kantrowitz, had both the crowd and the couple in joyful tears as he presided over their union. “It was all so surreal and emotional,” Jaime recalls. “First walking down the long aisle with my dad, a memory I will hold onto forever. Then, seeing Ben there, with watery eyes, and my own eyes watering up…that was such a powerful moment.”
An animated Brazilian marching band—“pied pipers,” as Jaime describes them—led everyone to the reception site, where tables adorned with eggplant, tomatoes, and other local produce lay between two ancient cork oak trees. Their friends, Acyde and Myles Hendrix, DJed the evening, as the couple did not want traditional wedding music. The bride changed into another Wiederhoeft corset dress—“in masochistic fashion,” she jokes. “Between the visible underwear, punk-rock grommeting, and lace-up corset, it felt wholly original and very me.”
At 3 a.m., Ben led the remaining guests down a hedged path where a secret-after party awaited, completed with a psychedelic multi-level dance floor, giant disco balls, and striped Italian sofas. At that point, Jaime admits, her ribs were “screaming for mercy.” So she changed into an Anna October mini so she could dance the rest of the night away.
Which she did: “A group of about 25 of us were up to watch the sunrise,” she says. “It was another truly unforgettable moment.
Considering the early morning end, the couple wisely decided against a brunch the next day. Instead, they invited everyone to a low-key beach party in the afternoon, held in an ancient cave at Lido Santo Stefano. For her final farewell look, Jaime wore a vintage lace Dolce Gabbana dress with a matching white bathing suit.
Each guest left the weekend with a special, scented memento: Jaime, who has studied perfumery, made a custom fragrance inspired by the Puglian countryside. Named “Fiore Legna,” it opened with a burst of Sicilian bergamot and grapefruit before morphing into a luscious orange blossom supported by cedar and sandalwoods.
Looking back at it all, Jaime says she couldn’t imagine a more heartful weekend. “Being surrounded by that much love, our closest friends in such a magical environment, and getting to create this celebration as one giant installation—wow,” she says. “Next stop: vow renewal!”
Corbin Gurkin1/86The town of Polignano a Mare.
Daisy Johnson2/86Getting ready with my daughter, Maeve.
