Jorden Bickham and Soraya Zaman’s Rockaway Wedding Was a Joyful Celebration of Family and Friendship
“I think the big thing for us was that we wanted everyone to feel like they were stepping into our world—and I feel like we did that,” says stylist and Vogue editor Jorden Bickham of what it was like to marry photographer Soraya Zaman at a small ceremony in Broad Channel, New York, last month. On a quiet day earlier this year in February, the couple decided to spend the rest of their lives together, and on a warm Saturday in August, they made it official with friends and family gathering from all corners of the globe—Australia, Dubai, Los Angeles—to celebrate and help make it happen.
“By planning the night ourselves, we were sort of able to put our stamp on every little detail,” Jorden says of the hand-rolled napkins and silverware sealed with star stickers; the 40 cake plates hand-painted by her nine-year-old, Max; and the digital “come as you are” invitations she and Soraya designed in Photoshop. “There is no way that a professional could have executed such intimate details for us,” she says. “However, when it came to enlisting our community of friends to help, the collaboration was effortless and so meaningful.”
First, there was the venue, which Fabiana Faria and Helena Barquet (two of Jordan’s friends, who founded the store Coming Soon) offered with their ethereal home and garden just off of Rockaway Beach. “It is the most magical spot,” says Jorden, adding that Fabiana and Helena were “instrumental in the planning.” The couple wanted to keep things informal, low-key, and “really fun,” says Helena. “We used a lot of what we already had, like the dinnerware, the glasses, the tablecloths, but made it special by adding more lights and candles and sparklers.” Phil Bucknell, fresh from Dubai, and Cameron Bird “spent most of Saturday helping us set up,” Jorden says. Heavy lifting included “picking up a last-minute six-foot table (that LEV served the food on) from the Coming Soon warehouse—we could not have done it without them.”
Just a few hours later, arrivals were directed to a waterside garden lit by the setting sun for a celebration of vows that felt like an actual party. Sean Bennett, or Yozart, played as guests dipped Mamo’s glassware into a hand-sculpted white mezcal negroni fountain created by Arley Marks (with the help of Arley’s father, Graham Marks). On newspaper-topped trays, LEV’s Loren Abramovitch piled sticks of deep-fried whitefish with lemon. The couple hung out, dressed and ready, and mingled before the ceremony. Soraya wore “Bode sequin pants that I found while shopping for a job at the Nordstrom 57th Street store,” Jorden says.
Hillary Taymour, another of Soraya’s longtime friends (who “immediately hit it off” when she met Jorden a few years ago), helped design Jorden’s and Max’s looks. “We wanted color, nothing white, something fun, something you can party in, something chic, and something unexpected,” says Hillary. “The process and direction given to me was ‘pink, the more bows and rhinestones the better.’ I think we accomplished that,” she adds with a smile.
For Jorden’s ensemble, Hillary “wanted it to feel formal but not stuffy.” With studio-found materials like metallic silk chiffon for the top (“from my spring 2022 show, I literally tried to get more and they discontinued it and it can never be re-created,” Hillary explains), deadstock satin and organza for pants, she started the process in June before scheduling a couple of essential fittings. “The first fitting, I was scared it was not going to come out as chic or photograph as well as I hoped for,” Hillary admits, noting that by the second, and with the help of the Collina Strada team, things completely transformed. “It was perfect, I was shocked,” Hillary recalls. “It all came together and really brought the vision to life—what a chic, understated wedding, it was the perfect look.”
When it was time for the ceremony, Hayley Winter, Lilly Winter’s mother and one of the couple’s “nearest and dearest friends,” called everyone under a vine-laced pergola as she prepared to officiate the ceremony. Phones were silenced, original vows were exchanged, and Max joined Jorden and Soraya to represent their life moving forward as a family, “riding in a car wherever we go with the windows down for the rest of our lives.” Moments later, a chariot on the waves, outfitted with “just married” streamers, had guests cheering. “A real standout for us was the kayak after the ceremony,” says Jorden of hopping in with Soraya and paddling to the party’s edge as the sun touched the horizon.
Soon, Lilly and Jack Pompe were on the ones and twos (with the help of a playlist designed by Bardia Zeinali, who would go on to win the Golden Plate), and the ceremony benches transformed back into an outdoor dinner table for Loren’s delights. The burnt eggplant with tahini and spicy green sauce, the herby chicken skewers, and the tasty sabich all had people talking. And once Soraya swapped into a Bode shirt and shorts and Jorden pulled on their Bode pants with dreamy Dries, it was time for cake—shaped by Rockaway native Sweet Haze Cakes into a tribute to their own cat Millow (who sadly wasn’t invited). “I made all of these plates,” Max said from the head of the table as tiers were being cut and served on their paintings. “And you’re welcome to take them home.”
“You Can’t Hurry Love” played as everyone wrote wishes for the couple on pieces of paper before tucking them into frog figurines. “My wish for you is to never forget how you feel in this moment right now,” one read. Heart-shaped sparklers and buckets of mini-prosecco bottles—and more dancing (even the babies)—all melted into “a bit of a blur,” as Jorden describes it. Then when everything wound down, one of the best parts was just “sitting with Fabi and Helena at the edge of the garden having a big giggle recounting the night—just the four of us,” she says. “We keep saying that we want to go back and experience the night as guests.”
Photo: Yolanda Leaney1/52Sean Bennett (a.k.a. Yozart) played as guests arrived in the late afternoon for cocktails in the garden of Fabi and Helena, Broad Channel, before the ceremony.
Photo: Daniel Arnold2/52Guests gathered round and helped themselves to the ceramic mezcal negroni fountain designed by Arley and Graham Marks.
