The Bride Wore Schiaparelli, Ines Di Santo, and Dior by John Galliano for Her Romantic Garden Wedding in Paris
Nicole Beatty and Joe Brown first met in the summer of 2019, at a rooftop party hosted by mutual friends. “Looking back, it’s funny that we didn’t cross paths sooner considering how many friends we already had in common,” Nicole, who is the head of talent strategy at a sports management agency, says. “At the party, I noticed someone smiling at me from across the rooftop and thought he was handsome. Joe came over and introduced himself, but I left the party without thinking much of it.”
A year later, Nicole was visiting one of her best friends, Rachel, in Washington, D.C., and she posted a photo of the two of them on her Instagram story. Joe—who hadn’t seen Nicole since that rooftop party—replied, saying he remembered her and asked Rachel to make the introduction.
Rachel had a feeling they might hit it off, so she made Nicole promise to at least go on one date with Joe. “Fittingly, our first date was also on a rooftop—this time at the 1 Hotel in Brooklyn,” Nicole recalls. “When Joe arrived, he reminded me that we had actually met the summer before. That’s when I finally realized who the cute guy was smiling at me across the rooftop the summer before.”
Four years later, Joe proposed on May 25, 2024, during a sunset walk on the beach at Kamalame Cay in the Bahamas. “He would like to think he surprised me, but a ‘spontaneous’ trip to a gorgeous island only slightly gave it away,” Nicole jokes. “The proposal was like something out of a movie. He suddenly stopped walking, stood in front of me, and got down on one knee with a rainbow forming behind him as it had just stopped raining. We were the only two on the beach—apart from a photographer—so it was extremely intimate.” They spent the rest of the trip celebrating and planning the start of their next chapter together.
The wedding was held a little over a year later, on June 14, 2025, in Paris—a place that’s always been special to Nicole and Joe. “From the beginning, the one thing we were sure of was that we wanted to get married in Paris. Our individual love for the city has led us to visit many times together, whether for work or pleasure, and we’ve created so many memories there as a couple,” Nicole explains. “Paris is also a dream destination for our families. Neither of our parents—and some of my grandparents—had ever been, but whenever asked where they’d most like to go, the answer has always been Paris. It became important to us to give them a reason to finally take the trip, one they might not take otherwise.”
The couple wanted their wedding day to feel intimate, with a smaller group of people who’ve been part of their journey as a couple—and since they were asking guests to travel internationally, they kept the guest list for Paris tight. They also made a point of not getting caught up in typical wedding traditions or trends. “Instead of doing things a certain way just because we were ‘supposed to,’ we focused on personal details that felt right for us,” Nicole says. “Paris is such a magical place, and we wanted our guests to experience all the things we love about it—the food, the atmosphere, hidden treasures, and gardens. And, most of all, we wanted the wedding to feel deeply romantic—not just in the setting, but in the energy. It was important to us that our guests could really feel how much we love each other. And we hoped that by the end of it all, they’d leave Paris feeling just as in love with the city as we are.”
The couple worked with Angie Amzallag, Joanna Ascher, and Lisa Cohen at Social Studio Events to plan the weekend. “They immediately understood our vision,” Nicole says. “They brought such a fresh, creative approach that helped us build a day that felt original and totally our own.”
Nicole took a similar approach when it came to choosing looks for her wedding wardrobe. “What I wore was deeply personal,” she says. “Coming from a background in fashion, I had a clear vision of what I wanted—and I was lucky to have a good friend, stylist Eric McNeal, be by both my and Joe’s side to help bring it to life. Every look we chose told a story and held meaning.”
For the Friday night welcome party, the couple hosted a cruise on the Seine, where the dress code called for “summer cocktail.” To this, the bride wore an archival John Galliano for Christian Dior knit dress, sourced from Happy Isles in New York. “I’ve always admired that era of Galliano’s work—the detail, the romance,” Nicole says. “I paired it with my mom’s beaded purse from her own wedding day, Jimmy Choo sandals, and jewelry by Parisian designer Sylvia Toledano.”
Even though Nicole had a clear vision of what she wanted, finding her wedding dress wasn’t as easy as she’d hoped. After visiting several bridal salons in New York and feeling overwhelmed by the process, she went to Mark Ingram. “Supporting a Black-owned bridal atelier was important to me, and working with Mark and his incredible team made the experience even more meaningful,” she explains. “When they brought out the Isolde gown by Ines Di Santo, I knew instantly it was the one. It felt timeless, regal, and graceful.”
Nicole also wanted to incorporate a bit of home into her wedding day, so she had her veil custom-made by a seamstress in her hometown of Raleigh, North Carolina. It was cathedral length and lined with French Chantilly lace that she hand-selected. She also tied a handkerchief that belonged to her late grandmother around her bouquet. “I suppose that was my ‘something old,’” Nicole says. “But more than anything, it was a way to keep her close and feel her presence with me on a day I know she would’ve loved.”
On Saturday, the day began bright and early, with the bride and groom getting ready at Château Voltaire in separate suites. “We decided not to do a first look because I wanted everyone to experience the moment Joe saw me in my dress,” Nicole remembers. “Instead, I did a first look with my dad. I gave him a note and a photo of me dressed as a bride for Halloween when I was about three years old—a little reminder of how far we’ve come, and that I’ll always be his little girl.”
The ceremony began at 1 p.m. at the Maison de l’Amérique Latine. Guests entered through a private, grand stone courtyard and made their way through a Parisian townhome that opened into the museum’s gardens—a hidden sanctuary tucked away in the heart of Saint-Germain.
