The Rain Came Just as the Brides Were Pronounced Married at the Prospect Park Boathouse
The former president played a role in bringing together actor Molly Bernard—who’s best known for playing Lauren Heller on Younger and currently starring in the independent film Milkwater—and criminal defense attorney Hannah Lieberman. “My friend Arielle, who lived in my Fort Greene apartment building at the time, got an advance copy of the Trump exposé, Fire and Fury,” Molly remembers. “We each invited five people to come and drink wine and have cheese and read aloud from the book. Hannah was one of Arielle’s invites. I noticed Hannah’s understated Blundstone boots and her sweet voice and when she left I walked her outside and—nervously—asked for her number.”
The two eventually started dating, and right before the pandemic, Hannah proposed to Molly between rehearsal for a play in New York, a facial appointment, and a “decoy” dinner with friends. “I had been planning our engagement for months and knew Molly would want it to be just us, so we could soak in the moment,” Hannah says. “I surprised her in our home, filled with flowers and votives and asked her if she would share her life with me. I had put a little bow on our dog Henry that said ‘Second Parent Adoption?,’ and at that Molly squealed.” The next day Molly was off from rehearsals so they went to the Aire Ancient Baths in Tribeca. Afterwards, Hannah surprised Molly with dinner with both of her moms at her favorite restaurant, The Odeon, in Tribeca.
The couple then started planning, booking their venue just weeks before the pandemic shut everything down. “Needless to say, it was impossible to think about gathering our closest friends and family together for a huge party for a long time,” Molly says. “In the spring of 2021, we finally started to feel safe enough to begin to plan [again].” This gave them just a few months to pull everything together. They moved their wedding date, but the only available days in 2021 were Thursdays. “We figured we would do a backwards wedding,” Molly explains. “With the ceremony and reception before the rehearsal dinner. It led to a very fun and ecstatic celebration. Many of us hadn’t been together in over 18 months. There was such electricity before the ceremony even started.”
They decided to forgo working with a wedding planner and orchestrated the entire event themselves with help from family and friends. “We really should have had one!” Molly jokes. “It ended up being a huge collaboration—from organizing COVID vaccination forms and rapid testing, to the rain plan, it was a big adventure!”
The wedding was on Thursday, September 23rd at the Boathouse in Prospect Park, Brooklyn. “I knew I wanted my pal Wray Serna, of Wray to design my dress,” Molly says. “I love her aesthetic and trusted that she would make something magical. We had a couple of meetings and endless text image sharing. My operative words were, adult French toddler. I wanted to be chic, but also playful. I became obsessed with the idea of a puff sleeve organza shrug that could come on and off.”
Molly and Wray ultimately decided on a structured sleeveless bodice with a pleated skirt and a sweet organza shrug. She wore a pair of Loeffler Randall gold pleated shoes and a bow from Untamed Petals in her hair.
“My friend and makeup artist Megan Lanoux and I did a test run of hair and makeup, and initially we thought I’d wear my hair down, but on the day, we decided to do a low pony with some bend and let the dress and the bow to the work,” Molly says. Megan and Molly both agreed that the makeup needed to be beautiful, glowy, and natural.
“I wore the necklace my sweet friend Hilary Duff gave me that carries my goddaughter Banks’s birth stone,” Molly says. Her rings were a collaboration with Michelle Hisae of M. Hisae. “The stones from my grandmother’s cocktail ring were repurposed in an asymmetrical arch,” Molly explains. “I paired them with two thin squiggle bands, one solid gold, the other with pave diamonds from Marrow Fine. I’m enchanted by my little stack.”
For years Hannah has known—and coveted—the custom queer suiting company Bindle and Keep. “Our wedding was the perfect opportunity for me to get a very special three piece suit from there,” she says. “My brother measured me for my Zoom fitting thanks to the pandemic, and I picked out the perfect blue-green fabric from many options. I wore the same tie from Dazi as my grandfather, father, brother, brother-in-law and my nephew! My engagement ring—now worn on my right hand—was a specially designed ring with M. Hisae, just like Molly’s. Knowing I didn’t want stones on the outside, they perfectly tucked a secret diamond from Molly’s grandmother’s ring on the underside of the band. Genius. My wedding ring was my grandma Sharron’s, given to me this summer by my mom.”
The ceremony was guided by close friend Sepideh Moafi. “She, along with our rabbi, Rolando Matalon, created a gorgeous, emotional, artistic, Jewish, and very queer ceremony,” Molly says. “The rabbi has pretty cosmic connections with both our families over many generations. He opened the ceremony by saying that our union was therefore a miracle.” The tears didn’t stop flowing for the rest of the night.
