In what some have already dubbed this year’s royal wedding, Sofia Richie and Elliot Grainge exchanged vows at Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc in Antibes on Saturday. Celebrities including Cameron Diaz, Benji Madden, Paris Hilton, Nicole Richie, and Joel Madden descended upon the iconic hotel in the South of France for the whirlwind wedding weekend, which took both Instagram and TikTok by storm.
The 24-year-old model and designer, who is also the youngest child of legendary singer Lionel Richie, became engaged to Elliot Grainge, a music executive and founder of 10K Projects, in April of 2022. (The Richie and the Grainge families have been friends for more than 20 years, as Lionel frequently collaborates with Elliot’s father, chairman and CEO of Universal Music Group Sir Lucian Grainge, and the couple was introduced through mutual friends.)
Elliot asked Sofia to marry him in Hawaii after a year of dating. “Elliot surprised me with a trip with all our best friends in April of 2022,” Sofia remembers. “He proposed at golden hour—it was magical.” “Forever isn’t long enough” is how she captioned the Instagram post from the day.
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.”
A few weeks before the wedding—and ahead of debuting her new last name on TikTok—the bride went to the Chanel haute couture salons in Paris, accompanied by her mother-in-law, Lady Caroline Grainge, and her best friend, Ali Meller, for her final dress fittings. “Working with Chanel was not only an honour but a true dream of mine,” Sofia says. “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.”
A trio of dresses was created by Chanel for her three major wedding-weekend events: the rehearsal dinner, which took place on Friday night at a private estate; the ceremony; and the after-party. “It has always been a dream of mine to have Chanel design my wedding dress,” Sofia says. “At my first fitting at the Chanel salons in Paris, I immediately envisioned the dress I wanted to get married in: a beautiful lace-embroidered halter gown with a long train. Within the dress are subtle details, including an embroidered heart to represent the love that Elliot and I share, as well as a blue embroidered S&E on the inside of the dress above my heart.” Sofia wanted to do something unique for her veil, so she worked with the Chanel team to create a glistening piece adorned with resin water droplets that sparkled when she walked.
For the other two looks, Sofia collaborated closely with her stylist, Liat Baruch, and Douchez to scour through Chanel couture shows of the past and choose the references that she loved. When it came to the rehearsal-dinner look, the team worked to re-create a gown 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.
All the bride’s other jewellery pieces were by Fred Leighton. “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.”
Elliot wore a Ralph Lauren suit at the rehearsal dinner and a Tom Ford tuxedo for the wedding day itself, while the seven bridesmaids were in all black. “It was very important to me that all my bridesmaids were comfortable, so the only requirement I had was that they wear all black,” Sofia explains. “Each girl chose her own dress, ranging from YSL to Rodarte.”
The night before the wedding, Sofia slept in a villa on the property with her bridesmaids. “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.”
Breakfast ended at around 11 a.m., and the group went straight into hair and makeup. “It was a revolving door of glam,” Sofia explains. “There were four makeup artists and four hairstylists, who all flew in from London, and God bless them, they were fantastic!” The bride got her hair and makeup done with her friends and decided to keep things classic. “The makeup for the entire weekend was super simple and clean,” Sofia says. “I just wanted it to feel timeless: I don’t want to look back in like 20 years and be like, She’s a glamazon.” Her beauty came courtesy of makeup artist to the stars Pati Dubroff. “I always dreamed of her doing my makeup on my wedding day,” Sofia says. Kathleen Riley, who has been doing her hair for years, was on duty as well. “Not only was she a wedding guest, but she’s a good friend and an amazing hairstylist, and it meant a lot to me to have a friend there,” Sofia says.
Once hair and makeup were done, it was off to the races. First, there was a private Ketubah signing in the mother of the bride’s hotel room, where both families met and acted as witnesses. “Then we lined up and did the darn thing!” Sofia laughs.
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.”
As the bride made her way down the aisle, she began to hear her favourite song, “Until I Found You” by Stephen Sanchez playing but with the lyrics changed to her 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.”
Rabbi Thomas Solomon officiated a traditional Jewish wedding that paid homage to the iconic surroundings of Hotel du Cap. “It was very important to Elliot’s family and to me, now that I’ve converted, that it be a traditional Jewish ceremony,” Sofia says. “Legally we had to get married in the States beforehand, so right before [we left for France], we got married at home with just our parents. We read our vows then because we felt it was very personal, something for just our families to hear and experience in the privacy of our home.”
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!”
Following dinner, Sofia changed into a fun, flirty Claudia Schiffer–inspired Chanel look. “We re-created the Claudia Schiffer corset dress from the early ’90s,” she explains. “Then I was ready to dance until the sun rose with my loved ones.” With that in mind, the father of the bride performed two of his daughter’s favourite songs at the wedding. “My favourites have always been ‘Hello’ and ‘Stuck on You,’” Sofia says. “I always said it would be a dream to do our first dance to ‘Stuck on You’—‘Hello’ was a surprise, and the whole 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. “I did, obviously, because they’re family,” she notes, referring to Nicole’s husband, the band’s lead vocalist Joel Madden. “Elliot was such a big Good Charlotte fan when he was a kid, and Joel and Elliot have become like brothers. Anyway, they haven’t performed in, like, five years, and they brought their band out from Nashville and LA, and it was one of the most fun nights of my life. They are true rock stars. Between my dad and Good Charlotte, it was unbelievable. And most importantly, it really felt like family, which is exactly how we wanted the wedding to feel.”
Family and friends danced until 3 a.m., before the newlyweds—along with their bridesmaids and groomsmen—ended up back in the same villa where it had all started earlier that day. “We recapped the night and ordered big bowls of pasta along with every French food you could imagine,” Sofia says. “We just sat around recapping until the morning. It was great!” For Sofia, it served as the ultimate reflection of how she approached the celebration as a whole. “One piece of advice I received that I have carried throughout the wedding weekend was to look around and really take in all the love around us—because it is so rare and so special to have all of your loved ones in one place.”
Photo: Norman & Blake1/96Family and friends stayed at the iconic Hotel du Cap in the South of France for the whirlwind wedding weekend, which began with a rehearsal dinner on Friday night.
Photo: Norman & Blake2/96Sofia collaborated closely with her stylist, Liat Baruch, and Madame Olivia Douchez, première of haute couture salons at Chanel, to scour through couture shows of the past and choose the references that she loved. When it came to the rehearsal-dinner look, the team worked to re-create a gown worn by Stella Tennant in the 1997 Chanel couture fall show.
Photo: Norman & Blake3/96“It is entirely hand-beaded,” Sofia says. “To me, it embodies the classic elegance and femininity that Karl Lagerfeld was such a genius at.”
Photo: Norman & Blake4/96“At my first fitting at the Chanel salons in Paris, I immediately envisioned the dress I wanted to get married in: a beautiful lace-embroidered halter gown with a long train,” Sofia says.
Photo: German Larkin6/96“Within the dress are subtle details, including an embroidered heart to represent the love that Elliot and I share,” Sofia adds. “As well as a blue embroidered S&E on the inside of the dress above my heart.”
Photo: German Larkin8/96“The makeup for the entire weekend is super-simple and clean,” Sofia says. “I just want it to feel timeless: I don’t want to look back in like 20 years and be like, She’s a glamazon.” Her beauty came courtesy of makeup artist to the stars Pati Dubroff. “I always dreamed of her doing my makeup on my wedding day,” Sofia says.
