Hilary Swank and Philip Schneider’s Wedding in the Redwoods Was an Ode to Burning Man
Hilary Swank has always seemed like the kind of actress who you could actually kick back with in real life, and her recent wedding to social venture entrepreneur Philip Schneider confirmed that. The pair tied the knot this past Saturday on August 18 in the Redwoods and it was full of personal quirks.
For one, the pair apparently exited the wedding on “Burning Man”-style bikes. Allow Swank to recount it, as she did to Vogue: “We ended the night riding back to our rooms on bicycles decorated Burning Man–style with LED lights and streamers by our friend’s children. They weren’t pretty, but they sure made a statement!”
That came after the silent disco, which all of the attendees did amid 800-year-old-plus trees. “Everyone was having so much fun and didn’t want the party to end, so we actually had to start dancing to wireless headphones into the wee hours of the next day, so the distant neighbors wouldn’t be kept up by the sound system,” she said.
Notably, their wedding music also included the couple walking down the aisle as wife and husband to Sigur Rós’s “Hoppípolla” and, later, doing a tap dance routine in lieu of a traditional first dance. For the occasion, they were outfitted in custom Dior designs by Maria Grazia Chiuri and custom tap dance shoes by Christian Louboutin. “She designed an exquisite dance dress that perfectly reflected the look I was after,” Swank said. “She also custom-made a Dior suit for my ‘Fred Astaire.’ He looked so dapper.”
Incredibly, they did their “Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers-style” tap dance routine to Moby’s “In My Heart.” “I doubt we completely pulled off the modern-day version of Fred and Ginger, but we had fun, and our family and friends seemed to enjoy it,” Swank said. “We prepared for it with the stellar and unparalleled Chloe Arnold and shocked ourselves and our guests by not stepping on each other’s toes!” Or clothes.
One thing Swank was traditional about was the white wedding gown she wore for the ceremony, designed custom by Elie Saab and created in over 150 hours. “I wanted something romantic that felt as timeless as the redwood grove where we were to be married, and he delivered—designing something that far surpassed my greatest expectations,” she said. “It was everything I imagined and more.”
It was also more than Mariska Hargitay imagined, as the maid of honor later took to Instagram to share her reflections on the weekend.
“Some photos from our adventure up and down the Northern California Coast,” she wrote. “Went to see the Redwoods. Speechless.” Presumably, not as speechless as the rest of the wedding attendees.
