This Minimalist Bride Wore a Custom Vera Wang Dress Inspired by Donald Judd for Her Marfa Wedding
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Nine years ago, William Jess Laird reached the register at Columbia University’s library café, put his hand into his pocket, and panicked. He’d forgotten cash—the only payment they accepted—and, therefore, had no way to pay for his lunch. Embarrassed, he asked the person in line behind him for money. As it turns out, that was Sarah Levine. “She kindly agreed, and we’ve been together ever since,” William says.
In August 2021, William, now a photographer, and Sarah, the global director of marketing and communications at Lehmann Maupin, were about to depart for vacation to Hydra, Greece, where William had an elaborate plan to propose. Twenty-four hours before their flight, however, they tested positive for COVID-19. What was supposed to be two-week vacation turned into a far-less glamorous two-week quarantine in their Brooklyn apartment. William fixated on the ring the whole time: “It was so hard to keep my mouth shut,” he said.
So, on day 15—and unwilling to wait any longer—William suggested they fly spur-of-the-moment to Rome. On their final night in the city, William got on one knee in a quiet piazza. “In the end, the proposal was exactly as it was meant to be,” he says.
In October 2022, the two wed in Marfa, Texas. The remote town—made famous by minimalist artist Donald Judd, who permanently installed his work in a former military fort now known as the Chinati Foundation—holds a special meaning to the couple, as they often visited William’s family home there throughout their relationship.
It was important to them that they plan their wedding around Marfa, rather than the other way around. They set up private tours of the Chinati Foundation, the Judd Foundation, and Ballroom Marfa and worked with mostly local vendors. Then, finally, they just… didn’t add much. "We always tried to work with the resources that the town has, instead of trying to overproduce. Marfa is at its best when you just get out of the way and let things be,” William says.
On Friday night, they hosted a welcome barbecue at the home of acclaimed photographer and fellow Marfa resident Douglas Friedman. Overlooking thousands of acres of ranch land, guests ate pulled pork and brisket around a bonfire as the sun set. “We got lucky with an electric sunset that wowed our guests,” Sarah says. “The high desert landscape is truly one of the most striking in the world.”
On Saturday, they wed in the Arena at the Chinati Foundation. Previously a gymnasium for WWII soldiers, Judd restored the building in the 1980s into a minimalist gathering space defined by concrete and gravel. “It’s shockingly beautiful in its simplicity,” explains Sarah.
She wore a custom Vera Wang dress of silk faille inspired by Judd’s clean lines and his philosophy of form, along with a custom tulle cape. “Over seven months, Vera and her remarkable team were so gracious to help me make it into the wedding dress that fit the spirit of the location,” she says. One of its most unusual features? A raw edge at the bottom. “Since I knew I’d be walking on gravel in the Arena and on the Chinati grounds, I liked the idea that I could simply cut off the bottom of the dress afterwards." Meanwhile, William wore a dark suit and crisp white shirt by Jil Sander. For shoes, he donned the same pair of white Maison Margiela sneakers that he wears every day.
The bride walked down the gravel aisle arm-in-arm with her mother and father to “Wish You Were Here” by Pink Floyd, just as the beams of light from the windows shone on the crowd below. Then, the couple recited their own vows. At one point, William got so emotional that he “had to take a moment to blow my nose,” he admits. Sarah found herself equally as overwhelmed. “In retrospect, I felt simultaneously like I was in the moment and above the moment,” she describes. “Something about the combination of the light hitting exactly as we’d imagined, including across William’s face—I was sure he’d get a sunburn—the faces of all of our family and friends staring up at us, and the sincerity of the tears from William’s eyes. I remember being in disbelief when it ended because I had thought surely the ceremony had been too quick.”
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