Joey King and Steven Piet’s Mallorca Wedding Channeled The Great Gatsby, With a Spanish Twist
Actor Joey King and director Steven Piet’s relationship began after she made the first move. The two met on the set of the Hulu series The Act, and a friendship quickly formed. “We worked so well together,” remembers Joey, who is known for her role as Ramona Quimby in Ramona and Beezus and has since gained even wider recognition for The Kissing Booth. “There was such an immediate ease. I had a very big crush but waited until the wrap party to ask him out. I worked up the courage and took him aside to tell him how I felt. It was the best decision of my life!”
The couple had been dating for three years when Steven proposed on a trip to Joshua Tree to celebrate their anniversary. “We went on a walk in the freezing-cold weather, and Steven described the surroundings as ‘perfectly imperfect,’” Joey remembers. “We stopped to take some photos together, and before I knew it, I was getting a tug on my jacket. I turned around, and Steven was on one knee. He said some of the most beautiful things, and we were both crying. We kept the news to ourselves for one day, just absorbing it together before we shared it with anyone.”
After the engagement, the couple turned their attention to wedding planning. Both Joey and Steven knew they wanted to tie the knot overseas, but they didn’t know exactly where. “We were looking for something unique and private and that felt grand yet intimate at the same time,” Joey explains. “We found La Fortaleza in Mallorca, and it feels like the Spanish version of The Great Gatsby. It’s historic without being dated. It felt timeless, the same way we feel about our love for each other. And finding it was all thanks to our wonderful wedding planners Alison Bryan Destinations—they nailed it and found us the venue of our dreams.” The fortress turned villa was built in 1628 and featured prominently in the BBC TV series The Night Manager.
To complement the location, Joey knew she wanted to wear a dress that felt classic but also had a few unique touches. For months, she went to bridal shops and tried on dress after dress with little luck. Eventually, her stylist Jared Eng stepped in and showed her Oscar de la Renta’s bridal collection, and the bride ultimately ended up choosing four looks to wear throughout the course of the wedding weekend. “I knew instantly they were perfect,” she says. “We flew to New York, had a fitting with Fernando [Garcia, co-creative director of Oscar de la Renta], and the rest is history.”
Since the wedding dress—with its dramatic strapless neckline and large fabric flower-petal paillettes—was such a statement, Joey decided to keep the glam simple. “Because it was so windy during the ceremony, we did add a bit of texture,” she explains. As for beauty, the bride wanted some sparkle but also to make sure she looked like herself. For nails, she wanted to incorporate elements of the dress, so they included scalloped detailing to match the flower-petal paillettes on the gown. “I’m so lucky to have my team that I’ve been working with for so many years be part of this day,” Joey says. “It means the world!”
The ceremony, which took place atop the lower-terrace swimming pool, was, in Joey’s words, “absolute perfection.” The couple’s friend Erik officiated, and Sabrina Carpenter sang her down the aisle. “Looking out from the altar at all of our friends and family was an unforgettable moment,” Joey says. “We truly felt so perfectly present, and soaking in every detail was pure magic.” Steven’s nieces and nephew and Joey’s grandmother all did readings. “Between that and hearing Steven’s vows and being able to read mine to him…. Nothing could’ve made this moment better,” she adds. “Also might I add, it was raining heavily right before the ceremony, and somehow the sun shone right as guests arrived. We were truly the luckiest people.”
After the service, guests made their way to a palatial party tent pitched alongside the main house. There, Joey’s mother and sisters and Steven’s brother all delivered hilarious and heartwarming speeches. “There were tears everywhere,” Joey says. “And then the food and drinks—oh, God, the food and drinks. It was unreal! The Jesse James’s Usual—named after our beloved dog—was the most delicious spicy marg, and the beef cheeks were truly a highlight for me.”
The newlyweds shared their first dance to Cat Power’s “Sea of Love.” “It was magical,” Joey says. “Looking at my perfect husband while dancing to this perfect song was a dream.” From that point on, however, the party ramped up. “We danced so hard that we looked like we had taken showers because we were so sweaty,” Joey jokes. “The best part was seeing all our friends who didn’t know each other just melting into one another and instantly connecting. We are surrounded by the best people, and seeing them all together was infectiously joyous.”
Photo: Norman Blake1/80There’s really nothing like the beaches in Mallorca.
Photo: Norman Blake2/80The mark of the eternal—the rings
