The Bride Wore Monique Lhuillier for a Whimsical Wedding at Her Family Home in California
Corinne Foxx and Joseph “Joe” Hooten’s first encounter sounds like the beginnings of a rom-com—they met at a homecoming party while both were students at the University of Southern California. Back then, Joe, who is now a TV executive and producer, was living with a high school friend of Corinne’s. “Even though we didn’t know each other well, I always had a big crush on Joe,” Corinne, an actor, writer, and producer, admits. It wasn’t until years later that they reconnected on social media. “I liked an old photo of Joe’s on Instagram and he DMed me right away,” she remembers. “Our first date was on a sailboat, where Joe was living at the time.”
After five years of dating, Joe started planning an elaborate proposal in Ireland in the spring of 2023. “However, when my dad [Jamie Foxx] got sick, our plans changed, and we ended up spending our summer in Chicago while he recovered,” Corinne explains. “Little did I know that Joe had changed his plans so he could still propose on the same day—just in a different city. He found a park in Chicago that had cherry blossoms in bloom and proposed there.” For the proposal, Joe made sure to include the whole Foxx clan. “He flew in my mom from Los Angeles and had my aunts hiding in a bush FaceTiming my dad the entire time. He even planned a very special post-engagement party in my dad’s room [at a physical rehabilitation center] in Chicago. It was a small celebration, but it was so intimate and meaningful.”
The couple’s wedding was held on September 21, 2024, at Corinne’s father’s home in Thousand Oaks, CA. “It was never a question. We always knew we’d get married in my dad’s backyard,” the bride says. “He has the most gorgeous property. It already looks like a wedding venue. We couldn’t think of anywhere more special than a home wedding. It just felt right.”
“The day after we got engaged, we asked Jamie if we could do the wedding at his house,” Joe says. “The home is very special to the whole family, and it felt like a no-brainer.” The Foxx family then devoted their summer to preparing the house for the wedding, including new paint, landscaping, and furniture. “Even though my dad has lived there for almost 20 years, the house felt brand new,” Corinne notes.
Since their wedding was going to be in their home state of California, the couple knew that the guest list was going to be an extensive one. “We wanted to find wedding planners that would be able to tackle our large wedding, while also making it personal and intimate, and we hit the jackpot with Debbie Geller and Paige Blatt at Geller Events,” Corinne says. “Luckily, one of the hardest parts was already done: finding a venue.”
Because of that, they got to focus on some of the more fun elements, like the band and catering, from the start. “I come from a musical family, so I knew finding the right band would be an important element for the night,” Corinne says. “When we watched videos of The Midnight Special, I knew they were up to par. They also played a lot of old-school R&B, which I knew would be a hit with my family.”
When it came to making decisions regarding her wardrobe, at first, Corinne was fairly confident she would go the custom route—but before committing to that path, she wanted to try on dresses to see what she was most drawn to. “I quickly realized that having a Pinterest board and trying dresses on in real life are totally different things,” Corinne admits. “Neither of my parents have been married, so I didn’t feel tied to anything traditional with my wedding, and that started with my dress. I didn’t want anything that felt too rigid or formal. I knew I wanted something that had a playful element to it, while still being classic.”
With that in mind, she went to Monique Lhuiller by herself one day and fell in love with what ultimately became her wedding dress. “It was light, breezy, and playful but still felt elegant,” Corinne says of the high-low printed dress she selected. “The shoes were also incredibly important as they were going to be seen in every photo,” the bride explains. “That is when I brought in my stylists, Dani & Emma, to help with final touches. They found these beautiful pearl-strapped Jimmy Choos that were just enough to be eye-catching, but not take away from the dress.”
From there, they tried to have a cohesive style throughout all of the bride’s welcome party and after-party looks. “But I ended up loving my welcome party look, and it didn’t match my wedding dress at all, Corinne admits. “[At that point,] we just said, ‘Who cares?!’ So, I ended up having three totally different looks throughout my wedding weekend, and I’m so happy about it. We went with what we liked, instead of trying to tell a fashion story.”
On the day of the wedding, Corinne’s dad walked her down the aisle. “It was incredibly special, considering his health scare last year,” she says. “I walked down to a strings version of ‘Georgia On My Mind’ by Ray Charles. My dad won his Oscar for playing [Ray] in 2005. At 10 years old, I was his plus one and got to share that special moment with him. There wasn’t a dry eye in the house when we came down the aisle.”
“I didn’t expect to cry up there, but the moment I saw Corinne and Jamie, who was also emotional, walking down that aisle, all bets were off,” Joe remembers. “I was in awe of her beauty and inspired by Jamie’s example of fatherhood. During Jamie’s health scare, the whole family went through and overcame so much. Seeing all of us make it to this moment just opened the floodgates. It was beautiful and unlike anything I could have imagined.”
The couple were very intentional about the look and feel of the ceremony. “We often used the words, ‘secret garden’ as a reference for the ceremony,” Corinne says. “I always envisioned a curved aisle, and we wanted a whimsical feel.” As Corinne and Joe describe themselves as more spiritual than religious, it allowed them the freedom to create traditions of their own— one of which was a tree-watering ceremony. “Each person in our wedding party walked down the aisle and watered a small plant at the end,” Corinne explains. “The plant was meant to represent our new life together and the watering signified all the people who have poured their love into our budding new chapter together.”
Reverend Michael Beckwith officiated the wedding, and the couple decided to write their own vows. “We are both writers so we took a lot of time and care with our vows,” Corinne says. “We told stories of how we fell in love with each other and how we knew we were each other’s person. It was deeply personal. I could see my parents, family, and friends crying the entire ceremony.”
“When it came time to read the vows, I was already a mess, so I just embraced it,” Joe says. “The periodic comedic relief from Jamie every time he yelled, ‘Take your time, Joe,’ helped. The truth is, I already felt like Corinne and I were family, but something about reflecting on everything we’ve overcome together, professing our love for and commitment to one another, and going through this ceremony together, made it official in a way that felt so special to all of us.”
Towards the end of the service, Reverend Michael asked the guests to engage in community vows, then performed a rose ceremony. “He gave us each a rose and asked us to exchange them,” Corinne says. “In this exchange, he told us that our first gift of marriage was one that signified purity, beauty, and unity. Instead of ‘husband and wife,’ Reverend Michael pronounced us as a ‘team,’ which we loved.” The newlyweds then walked back down the aisle to “This Will Be (An Everlasting Love)” as guests danced and clapped in unison.
After the ceremony, cocktail hour took place on the lower lawn while a string quartet played modern songs. “We thought it would be a fun Easter egg for the younger guests to hear Kendrick Lamar and Drake over the strings,” Corinne says. After cocktail hour was finished, guests then moved up to the backyard, which had been transformed into a reception venue. “My dad has had many parties at his house over the years, but this one took the cake,” Corinne says. “I have never seen a transformation this dramatic. There is no wedding venue we could’ve found that would have topped how our reception looked.”
Since Corinne and Joe got married on September 21, they felt they needed to be introduced to “September” by Earth Wind and Fire. “It was an absolute must,” Corinne says. “We followed up our grand entrance with our first dance. Over the years, I have transformed Joe into a Swiftie. We even went to the Eras Tour together and I got him to dress up and wear friendship bracelets. Therefore, our first dance was to ‘Lover’ by Taylor Swift.” After that, close friends and Corinne’s dad gave their speeches. “My dad gave a 22-minute improvised speech,” Corinne says. “It was half comedy special and half speech—people were falling out of their chairs laughing.” Afterwards, they did their father daughter dance to a song that Jamie wrote for Corinne called “Heaven.” “I always knew we’d dance to ‘Heaven’ together at my wedding,” Corinne says. “It is such a special song for us.”
The transition to the after-party was accompanied by a shift in the vibe—from whimsical fairytale to late-night club. “We transformed the inside of my dad’s house into a lounge,” Corinne says. “This is where design really makes such a dramatic difference. We had one side of the house for dancing and the other side for lounging, eating, playing pool, and smoking cigars. Because we were at my family’s home, we had no curfew—so we stayed up dancing until 4 a.m.”
Photo: Victoria Gold1/74We picked Calamigos as our welcome party venue because it felt like being up in Northern California. We loved the large redwood trees that lined the entrance.
Photo: Victoria Gold2/74We were really able to let loose at the rehearsal and shake off some of our nervous energy.
Photo: Victoria Gold3/74The rehearsal was the first time a lot of our family members met. Luckily, they got along famously.
Photo: Victoria Gold4/74I think my dad and I were both nervous to rehearse walking down the aisle together. There were a lot of jokes happening the entire time.
Photo: Victoria Gold5/74We loved seeing our families gathering for the first time.
