The bride and groom say “I do”
No such connections played into having Jones make her hat. “I literally called him up and asked him if he would do it,” recalls Sarafpour, who had never worked with or met the milliner before. “I had always seen hats he had done for couture and really loved them, but I’ve never had an opportunity or reason to use those kind of hats, so this seemed like the perfect time.” Jones didn’t disappoint. His creation reflected Sarafpour’s Bermuda-inspired nautical theme, using the signature bows that often appear in her collections, an old-fashioned, Fifties-style headband decked with lace netting that veiled her eyes, and an oversize grosgrain bow. “It was a little abstract,” says Sarafpour. “It was a little Isabella Blow–ish, but very beautiful.”
Only after her accessories were determined did Sarafpour start on the dress—an item that had been on her mind long before her engagement. “Just being a fashion person, I’d play this game with my best friend,” she explains. “Every season he would say, ‘Okay, if you were getting married this season, what would you wear?’” Her answers changed with the trends. One season it was a pantsuit, another it was a tank top and a slip—ideas as unconventional as her final decision: a minidress. “I wanted something that was a balance between glamorous and sporty,” says Sarafpour. “I didn’t want to have the most traditional wedding. And it was outdoors in Bermuda, so taking all those factors into consideration, I wanted something very summery and light.”
Sarafpour’s platinum and gold Tiffany engagement ring.
Sarafpour went straight to the top for her frills. She enlisted Lemarié, one of Chanel’s stable of specialty ateliers that works with couture ruffles, feathers and lace, to embellish her ivory dress. After sifting through piles of plumes and various lace and ruffle combinations, she decided on layered silk organza, crepe de chine and ruffled lace to trim the shoulders and skirt. The pieces were handmade in France and shipped back to Sarafpour for final construction—after a last-minute change. “Originally I chose this very Art Deco 1920s lace,” she explains. “At the end I decided that I preferred something with a cleaner look, so we took the Deco lace and ripped it out of all the ruffles and replaced it with point d’esprit.” She put the finishing touches on the dress several days before the wedding.
It all came together in the end, but the collaborations weren’t always smooth sailing. When Tiffany tried to lure Sarafpour to a surprise presentation of the finished ring the day of the Costume Institute gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, she opted out. “I’m not really a big fan of surprises,” she says. “It’s best just to tell me what’s going on. They said, ‘Can you come up to Tiffany?’ and I said, ‘I’m sorry. I’m really busy today.’” She picked up the ring later that week. The timing was also off when it came to her hat. Sarafpour made a special trip to London to meet with Jones, who ended up leaving the city unexpectedly to attend the funeral of Galliano and Dior studio head Steven Robinson in Paris.
