You don’t click on Vogue wedding coverage to get a taste of reality. Much like with their Beauty Secrets video series, the point is to see what rich, beautiful people are up to in their sick little worlds. Yes, we are just on our way to coming out of a pandemic that has killed 5 million people worldwide. But, if you’re an heiress to a billion-dollar oil fortune, there’s no better time to celebrate than right now.
I don’t know what I was expecting with Ivy Getty, great-granddaughter of J. Paul Getty — the billionaire oil tycoon once portrayed by Kevin Spacey (whoops) who famously refused to pay the ransom of his own son’s kidnapping — but this surpassed all my wildest expectations. Nancy Pelosi officiating the wedding? Check. Earth, Wind and Fire performing? Check. A rescue dog being the ring bearer? Obviously. Anya Taylor-Joy as the maid of honor? She did what she had to do. Vogue’s coverage of the making of her dress and the party itself are written as though this wedding will be the greatest accomplishment of Ivy’s entire life (she’s 26), which it will be until she joins the Real Housewives of District 1 in a few short decades. Here are some highlights.
On the mood board she put together for John Galliano:
Galliano asked her to put a mood board together to give him an idea of what she was thinking. She did it—pulling references like butterflies, animals, walnuts, guitars, and dancing elephants to symbolize the important people in her life.
I too tear up every time I order a Waldorf salad, as walnuts remind me of the important people in my life.
On how it all felt “like a dream”:
Each fitting felt like a dream. I constantly had to remind myself this was actually happening in real life.
If you’re the heiress to a billion-dollar oil fortune, is this really that incredible? Isn’t a wedding like this a given?
On Ivy supplying the rings to Nancy Pelosi:
Ivy’s rescue Chihuahua mix, Blue, supplied the rings at the request of Speaker Pelosi.
Nancy said, “Get me the dog or I walk.” I need to know if there is rehearsal footage.
On how the bride didn’t need Pinterest:
Art and panels from the house were incorporated into the save-the-dates and invitations. “Growing up in that house and being around great parties my whole life, I never had to turn to Pinterest for inspiration,” Getty says.
Her inspiration? Generational wealth.
On how John Galliano broke his own rules:
Normally, I don’t do bridesmaids dresses because bridal gowns alone take up so much of my time,” Galliano says. “But as I was so bewitched by Ivy and her stories of these women she had grown up with—her bridesmaids—made an exception. Before I knew it, the bridesmaids numbers reached fourteen!
I am also inspired by powerful stories of female friendship, which in this case I imagine to be along the lines of “we both love to ski.”
On how this was just like a normal wedding:
Expressing how grateful they are and remembering those loved ones who are no longer with us—that felt like a typical family wedding at home, complete with eccentric cousins and all.
All weddings are the same in the end. Just you, your eccentric cousins, and your collective billions and billions of dollars.
On how this wedding was full of rebels:
“It was exciting to see the collision of rather grand San Francisco society and all the couple’s contemporaries—beautiful, free spirited rebels being their authentic selves in that amazingly operatic setting,” [Hamish] Bowles says.
It’s amazing that the spirit of San Francisco was alive at this wedding. All the punks and rebels like Nancy Pelosi just being themselves. I’m just glad they felt safe enough to be their authentic selves.
On how even Getty herself didn’t think this wedding would be possible:
“It’s just like everything I could have dreamed of and more,” Getty says. “So it’s wild when something so magical comes true because you’ve thought about it but didn’t actually think it would.” Miracles happen.
I’m glad she got her miracle.
