A Custom Valentino Dress and Clandestine After-Party Made This Hamptons Wedding Uniquely Cool

A Custom Valentino Dress and Clandestine After-Party Made This Hamptons Wedding Uniquely Cool

Alexandra “Ali” McDonough—the cofounder of Kinlane, a company focused on women’s and children’s well-being—and Max Bandier, the cofounder of the music management and production company Three Point Nine, met as students at the University of Pennsylvania. “We had mutual friends, but we didn’t get to know each other until the end of our junior year, when we quickly hit it off,” she remembers. “While my initial crush on Max was admittedly due to his looks, I quickly fell in love with his quiet wisdom and kindness.”

After a long courtship, Ali and Max felt like they were already family, but she was still completely caught off guard when he proposed. “We had a long-standing trip to Europe planned for the Thanksgiving holiday, and I suspected he was going to propose then,” she says. “Instead, a few days before our trip, after a day spent out with our friends, I walked into a fully staged apartment.” Max had managed to sneak away from their day out and run back to the apartment to quickly set up. “I didn’t know how it happened. I thought his mom must have been hiding in the closet—she was not!” Max had printed hundreds of pictures of himself and Ali dating back to 2010 and scattered them, alongside flowers, all across the apartment. He surprised her again that evening with a dinner including both of their families.

Soon after, the two started wedding planning. Lucky for them, they didn’t need to scout a single venue. “Max hoped to get married at his home in Southampton, and I liked the idea,” Ali says. “We thought it would be meaningful because we had spent so many happy times there with family, friends, and one another.” They wanted their wedding to be as personal and intimate as possible and worked with Jennifer Zabinski and Shira Citron of JZ Events to achieve a dinner-party feel. Every table had a slightly different setup, and each was adorned with small deconstructed arrangements that included blue tweedia, myrtle topiaries, yellow peonies, and organic elements like lemons, grapes, and thyme plants.

Ali carried this level of personalization throughout her wardrobe as well. “I loved the simple sophistication of my Valentino dress,” she says. “It was elegant and classic, all the while feeing unique.” It felt like fate when she was able to schedule an appointment at the Valentino atelier in Milan while she was there on a trip with Max. “I actually brought Max with me!” she says. “I know it’s apparently bad luck, but it was a fun and memorable experience to have together, one that well outweighs any superstitions!”

Once the dress arrived in the United States a few months later, she began working with tailor Bill Bull (the go-to guy for anyone who wants to create a look that’s truly one-of-a-kind) and Cynthia Cook Smith to add even more unique details. For beauty, a romantic approach was in order, so she kept the makeup light and did her hair up in a loose low bun.

The ceremony’s officiating was kept in the family as Max’s sisters, Jenna and Ally, infused the services with their own personalities and flair. “They have treated me like a sister from day one,” Ali says. They interwove funny stories from the couple’s past together with musings on what Ali and Max mean to each other. “I was overwhelmed with happiness,” Ali remembers. “We started dating when I was just 20 years old and Max was 21; neither of us could have imagined ending up here…also, I was shocked that our very nervous dog, Wallace, actually made it down the aisle!”

At the reception, the newlyweds did their first dance to Elton John’s “Your Song” (“Max used to sing this song to me all the time when we first stated dating,” Ali reveals. “I’m not sure why he stopped!”)—but saved the real partying until after the food was served. “We also limited speeches to just two—our fathers,” Ali explains. “Their speeches set a really loving tone for the evening.”

Then, Next Town Down, the popular hip-hop group that Max manages, took the dance floor at the end of dinner and energized everyone for the after-party. The “adults” stayed in the main tent for a Sinatra-style band and extended dessert, while the “kids” were escorted to a surprise after-party modeled after the storied ’80s nightclub Palladium. (They’d been beckoned via secret invitations that had been hidden at their place settings.) For this final portion of the evening, Ali switched to a short gold dress that she designed, with the help of Bill Bull and Cynthia Cook Smith, specifically for dancing until dawn. “Palm-leaf wallpaper, table service, and zebra carpeting transported us back in time,” she says. “And it all set the tone for a party that went all night.”

Originally Appeared on Vogue