On April 22, 2023, Sofia Richie and Elliot Grainge tied the knot at the Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc in Antibes in what some have already dubbed the best royal wedding of the year.
For the frantic wedding weekend that took both Instagram and TikTok by storm, a number of famous people, including Cameron Diaz, Benji Madden, Paris Hilton, Nicole Richie, Joel Madden, and others, descended upon the iconic hotel in the South of France.
In April of 2022, the 24-year-old model and designer, who is also the youngest child of legendary singer Lionel Richie, got engaged to music executive Elliot Grainge, founder of 10K Projects.
The Richie and the Grainge families have been companions for over 20 years, as Lionel regularly teams up with Elliot’s dad, Chairman and CEo of Universal Music Group Sir Lucian Grainge, and the couple was introduced through shared friendship.
After a year of dating, Elliot asked Sofia to marry him in Hawaii.
Sofia remembers:
“Elliot surprised me with a trip with all our best friends in April of 2022. He proposed at golden hour—it was magical. Forever isn’t long enough”
From there, the wedding planning quickly commenced. “It was a full-time job, but we had a great time,” Sofia says. “It took us about a year working with Banana Split, who have been fantastic.”
The bride went to the Chanel haute couture salons in Paris with her mother-in-law, Lady Caroline Grainge, and her best friend, Ali Meller, a few weeks before the wedding and before she used her new last name on TikTok. There, she got her final dress fittings.
Chanel designed three dresses for her three major wedding-weekend events: the Friday night rehearsal dinner that was held on a private estate; the function; and the party afterward.
According to Sofia,
“Working with Chanel was not only an honour but a true dream of mine. Having the opportunity to create this dress and work so closely with Madame Olivia Douchez, première of haute couture salons, and observing their art and immaculate attention to detail was truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience.”
Sofia needed to accomplish something remarkable for her shroud, so she worked with the Chanel group to make a flickering piece enhanced with pitch water drops that shone when she strolled.
Sofia worked closely with her stylist, Liat Baruch, and Douchez to select her favorite references from previous Chanel couture shows for the other two looks. At the point when it came to the practice supper look, the group worked to re-make an outfit worn by Stella Tennant in the 1997 Chanel couture fall show.
“It is entirely hand-beaded,” Sofia says. “To me, it embodies the classic elegance and femininity that Karl Lagerfeld was such a genius at.” The bride’s sister, Nicole Richie, designed a pair of diamond earrings to complement the rehearsal dinner dress. “It was so incredibly special to wear her design during the most important time of my life,” Sofia says.
Meanwhile, Fred Leighton designed every other piece of jewelry the bride wore.
“I’ve always loved his timeless pieces,” Sofia adds. “For the reception, I wore drop-diamond earrings by Kwiat, Fred Leighton’s parent company, and for the party, my chandelier aquamarine stone earrings were by Fred Leighton and served as my something blue.”
While the seven bridesmaids were all dressed in black, Elliot wore a Ralph Lauren suit to the rehearsal dinner and a Tom Ford tuxedo on the wedding day. “The only requirement I had was that they wear all black because it was very important to me that all of my bridesmaids were comfortable,” Sofia explains. From YSL to Rodarte, each girl chose her own outfit.
Sofia and her bridesmaids slept in a villa on the property the night before the wedding.
She acknowledges,
“We stayed up laughing all night,” she admits. “The next morning, I woke up with all of my bridesmaids and my sister and we went to an 8 a.m. rehearsal. We were all in our pyjamas and had a lot of fun and then that led into breakfast. They surprised me with balloons and all of my favourite breakfast foods—we were like giddy little girls getting excited for the day to come.”
The ceremony started at 6 p.m., and the bride was escorted by her father down the aisle, which was lined with a clear glass marquee and adorned with an abundance of white and cream florals by Roni Floral Design.
“It was a seven-and-a-half-minute walk down the allée for each of us,” Sofia notes. “We had it all timed, and it felt like someone was looking out for us up above because it was a very cloudy day and then the clouds parted.”
Walking down the aisle with her father was something Sofia had always dreamed about. “I was watching one by one each bridesmaid and groomsman walk down the aisle, and we were inching closer to the front, and I couldn’t believe it was happening,” she says.
“My father has always been the most comforting figure in my life, and he’s kept me grounded. I was really nervous before walking down the aisle—it was like I had stage fright, my adrenaline was so high. We had over seven minutes to chat, though, and he said: ‘You’re the love of my life, and I’m so happy for you.’ It was very emotional, and I feel so lucky that I have my parents. I’m very grateful.”
The bride began to hear her favorite Stephen Sanchez song, “Until I Found You,” playing as she made her way down the aisle. However, the lyrics had been changed to include the bride’s name. “I’ve been dreaming of meeting Stephen Sanchez and had asked my fiancé several times if we could go to one of his gigs,” Sofia explains. “When our planners, Banana Split, asked me what song I wanted to walk down the aisle to, it was a no-brainer. And when I heard a few words changed to my name, I thought it was so sweet of him to think of me and change my name like that. But when I got closer to the aisle, I looked up and thought: Is that Stephen Sanchez?!” Sofia recalls being stunned. “It was so surreal, and it was such a meaningful [wedding gift from Elliot],” she says. “And not only that, but we got to party with him all night.”
A traditional Jewish wedding was officiated by Rabbi Thomas Solomon, who paid homage to the Hotel du Cap’s iconic surroundings. It was vital to Elliot’s family and to me, now that I’ve changed over, that it be a conventional Jewish function,” Sofia says.
“Legitimately we needed to get married in the States ahead of time, so just before [we left for France], we got married at home with only our folks. We felt that reading our vows was very personal and something that only our families could hear and experience in the privacy of our home at the time”.
Afterward, guests gathered for cocktails, dinner, and speeches, with the bride’s sister Nicole emceeing the entire evening. “It was hysterical,” Sofia says. “It was filled with comedy. My dad, Elliot’s dad, and Elliot’s best friend, Jack, gave incredible speeches. It was very sweet—truly unbelievable!”
At the wedding, the bride’s father, Lionel Richie, performed two of his daughter’s favorite songs. “Hello” and “Stuck on You” have always been my favorites, according to Sofia. I’ve always said that doing our first dance to “Stuck on You” would be a dream come true. “Hello” was a surprise, and everyone in the room was singing along.”
The after-party, which had a nightclub-inspired vibe, featured a performance from Good Charlotte, who both Sofia and Elliot grew up listening to.
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