The bride, meanwhile, turned to Danielle Frankel for her last-minute wedding look, gravitating towards the designer’s Mimi dress, which she accessorised with Manolo Blahnik Maysale bridal kitten mules and Cartier Trinity earrings. “I thought it would be impossible to get an appointment at Danielle’s atelier in time for the wedding,” Alex says. “Thanks to Baz, I found myself running across New York’s garment district up to their atelier on the 42nd floor at a moment’s notice. I didn’t even try on any other dress – partly because I didn’t have time to deliberate – but also because I knew. The luminous silk drape across the décolletage, combined with the mini length, made for the perfect contrast. Plus, the scarf drape train added a little drama.” For their rings, the couple headed to Tiffany & Co. on New Bond Street in London on a quiet Saturday morning to select a pair of classic matching gold wedding bands.
The wedding day began on 10 April at one of the couple’s favourite hotels in the city, Nine Orchard, where they were joined by their best friends James Birch and Lauren Roffle. (While Alex and Lauren got ready with make-up artist Gianpaolo Ceciliato and hair stylist Korey Fitzpatrick, Adam and James headed to Russ & Daughters for a bagel – the first of many classic NYC institutions that would feature throughout the day.) They did their first looks in the hotel’s Swan Room – “maybe the most beautiful bar in the city,” Alex says – where they sipped martinis and posed for their photographer Peter Fisher and his assistant, Laura Bregman. “Peter and Laura made up half of our wedding party, so it also helped that they were extremely fun,” Alex laughs.
The group then walked from the Lower East Side to City Hall, stopping at some of their favourite spots along the way, including Scarr’s Pizza for classic New York slices and prosecco, and the Grand Street basketball courts for Adam to shoot a few hoops. “It took a few warm-ups before anything went near the rim – he blames the tux,” Alex says. Eventually, they arrived at City Hall where they queued for Adam to hand over his Amex for the $25 city clerk fee, before browsing the merch stand and chatting to other couples waiting their turn. “The anticipation in the room was electric,” Alex recalls. “As the last few numbers before ours were called out, it became real.” Before they knew it, they were ushered into the chapel for their two-minute time slot with their celebrant, Deborah. “There’s no time for vows. There’s no room for choreography,” Alex says. “In that way, it’s as pure as a marriage ceremony can be: all you can do is be incredibly in the moment, and try to comprehend everything that led to this point.”
The couple notes that the gravity of the moment caught them off guard. “For months, we felt sad at the prospect of doing this without our families, so we had, at times, been downplaying it,” says Alex. “Adam had even been calling it our ‘administrative marriage ceremony’ and not ‘the wedding.’ But lo and behold, the ceremony was more powerful than we ever could have expected – it was an incredible day. We were humbled by the experience.” They exchanged vows – and, of course, a kiss – then high-tailed it to the Upper East Side for post-ceremony martinis with James and Lauren to the sound of live jazz piano. Next, they headed to The Grill (“Adam loved that the room held some GQ history,” Alex notes) for oysters, steak and pasta a la presse, as well as a surprise bottle of Champagne from Alex’s family in Australia.
