Alexandra “Allie” Michler and Will Kopelman met at a dinner party in New York City, and after a year and a half of dating, the fine art advisor proposed to Vogue’s director of fashion initiatives. “Will planned an afternoon around New York City, visiting all of the spots that were significant in our relationship, ending at our favorite bridge in Central Park, where he proposed at dusk,” Allie remembers. “I practically skipped home—I was so happy.”
When she arrived back at the apartment, she was surprised to find her and Will’s parents waiting with champagne and Rao’s catering. “It was so meaningful,” Allie says. “I will never forget the feeling of elation and calm being together with my favorite people.”
Will proposed again a few days later in front of his two daughters, Olive and Frankie. “They were so sweet and excited for our wedding and had been suggesting ‘jewelry shops they knew of’ for a few months ahead of our engagement, as they were growing impatient for Will to propose!” Allie remembers. “I feel very lucky to have them in my life.”
Soon after, the couple started planning their wedding for August 28th on the island of Nantucket. “Both Will and I have spent summers on Nantucket our whole lives,” Allie explains. “So it is an incredibly significant place for both of us. It is also where we spent the first few months of the pandemic together and grew closer as a couple and to each of our families.”
From the get-go, Allie and Will knew they wanted to convey a sense of classic Nantucket to their guests—many of whom had never visited the island before. “It was important that our paper suite reflect this,” Allie says. “I had the idea of sourcing vintage Nantucket postcards to use as our save-the-dates and reply cards, and Will and I had fun scouring the web for the best postcards. I then worked with Jill Baumeister of J. Papers in Greenwich. Jill was a perfectionist about every last detail, and I share her love of ephemera. She understood every reference and always could capture the quality and character I was looking for.”
David Handy, Katie Hughes, and Donald Dallaire of Handy & Dallaire Events, based on Nantucket, helped with everything from decor to logistics, while Jen and Marco of Stone Kelly created the florals for the occasion. “They are incredibly talented and suggest such innovative and inspiring twists to make an event special,” Allie notes. The mother of the bride also served as a constant guiding force throughout the entirety of the planning process. “She helped me follow through with every last detail, and she put everything together with such grace and calm,” Allie says. “I trust her implicitly, and I will always look back on this happy time planning my wedding together and the joy of the final outcome. We had so much fun dreaming about the day together. She really hit it out of the park!”
Given her career in fashion, Allie immediately knew the direction she wanted to take with her wedding day look. Her dress needed to be classic and timeless as well as appropriate for an island setting. She decided on Chanel for her welcome party, bridal lunch, and Sunday brunch, with Oscar de la Renta for her wedding gown. “For my wedding gown, I knew Fernando [Garcia] and Laura [Kim] could achieve understated elegance perfectly. The entire team at Oscar is so gracious and lovely. Design Director Simon de la Beaupeaure, Public Relations Director Rebekah Kohan, and the atelier masters put the utmost care and beautiful handwork into my gown.”
As a first step, Allie tried on dresses with her mother in the Oscar store, and there, she gravitated towards simple silhouettes. Still, she wanted a bit of drama for the ceremony at Sankaty Beach Club to complement the beautiful backdrop of the Atlantic Ocean. She sent some inspiration photos to Fernando, and he began sketching. She then turned to the dressmaking master, Bill Bull, for his impeccable eye and to guide her through the fit and proportion of it all. “I love helping people find gorgeous gowns to wear in my day job, but finding one’s own wedding dress somehow can prove challenging and you need another expert opinion! I was so lucky to work with Bill. Simple gowns are almost more difficult to perfect, as each detail has to be so well tailored. I truly could not have done this without Bill,” Allie says.
Bill Bull also made the bride’s veil (with the Oscar de la Renta team) as well as created a drop-waist gown for Allie’s mother out of a Giambattista Valli blouse and skirt set. Manolo Blahnik custom-made Hangisi ballet flats in the fabric of the bride’s wedding dress.
“Given my father-in-law Arie Kopelman’s amazing history with Chanel [he was the president and COO from 1986 until 2004], I was lucky enough to work with the Chanel team on my dresses for all other wedding events,” Allie explains. “The craftsmanship on these pieces is unparalleled.” Allie wanted a hat to complement her bridal lunch dress, and friend Gigi Burris delivered, graciously making a version of a classic boater hat for her. “We had so much fun during our fitting at her atelier,” Allie recalls. “I also wore a dress that Danielle Frankel kindly made for me for our family boat lunch on Thursday.”
For her something borrowed, Allie’s mother had a pair of diamonds that her father had bought for her in Antwerp years ago into special pieces. “We made them into beautiful pearl and diamond drop studs with the help of Greenwich jeweler Betteridge,” Allie says. “We sourced the pearls through the fabulous Betteridge team. The freshwater pearls felt perfect for Nantucket.”
Will wore a custom light blue suit from J. Crew with a custom Ralph Lauren shirt and tie, and Laura Vassar—the co-founder of Brock Collection—designed Allie’s sisters’ dresses. “Laura has an impeccable eye and knows my taste so well,” Allie explains. “We immediately started chatting about the vision for their dresses once I was engaged.” Dressmaker Patricia Voto and Laura worked with the Brock team in Italy to create a custom print inspired by a Spring 2020 Brock Collection dress. They then layered the linen with a sheer piece of tulle to give the dress an antique quality. “I loved how the color complemented the vintage postcards from our save the dates,” Allie says.
Laura also created dresses for the couple’s five flower girls: Olive Kopelman, Frankie Kopelman, Laine Clinton, Sloane Zeller, and Goldie Kaplan, and they were all visions in their custom Brock. “Patricia sewed each girl’s initials into their dresses,” Allie says, “making a memento that they can keep for a lifetime.”
The weather on Nantucket is notoriously unpredictable, and the bride found herself growing a bit panicky a few weeks out from the wedding given the reception and ceremony were outdoors for COVID safety (in addition to all guests and event staff being fully vaccinated). The forecast was predicting hurricanes at the end of August. “A friend on Nantucket told us to bury a bottle of bourbon upside down to ensure good weather, and I swear it worked,” she says. “We had the most glorious, sunny days from Thursday to Sunday of our weekend—I couldn’t believe it. We have since dug up the bottle and will sip it on our first anniversary.”
On the day of the wedding, the bride woke up to clear blue skies and felt an overwhelming sense of calm. She went for a walk on the beach before the preparations began. When everyone was ready, the flower girls, bridal party and Allie walked down the shell pathway from her family’s house to the beach club for the ceremony. During the service the wind picked up, making for dramatic photos. “It was a miracle my veil did not fly off into the sea,” Allie says. “All thanks to Alexa Rodulfo for somehow affixing it naturally yet securely!”
Reverend Robert F. Naylor, the Michlers’ retired minister from Second Congregational Church in Greenwich, came in from Cape Cod to officiate. “To see this beautiful day come together, and to see Will beaming at the end of the aisle, with everyone I love on either side—it’s something I won’t ever forget,” Allie says.
After the ceremony, the newlyweds exited the club to cheers and white rose petals and then drove to Sesachacha Pond together before family photos. “Our getaway car was actually Will’s 1977 Jeep Wagoneer ‘Rosie’ that he keeps on island,” Allie says. “It was made the same month and year he was born, and he lovingly restored it to a functional, fun summer car we all enjoy rolling around in. I will never forget this drive for the rest of my life. The golden light, cruising around with my husband, created an emotion impossible to put into words. It really felt out of a dream—looking at my veil streaming out of the window with the perfect Nantucket light beaming through it. Neither of us had our phones—but it is a memory that will live on in our minds. I can picture it perfectly.”
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