Inside Tabitha Simmons and Topper Mortimer’s Simply Stylish Upper East Side Wedding

Inside Tabitha Simmons and Topper Mortimer’s Simply Stylish Upper East Side Wedding

“I was playing Candy Crush in my pajamas, and he knelt down at the end of the bed,” remembers Tabitha Simmons of the unexpected, down-to-earth way in which her now-husband, Robert Livingston Mortimer, aka “Topper,” proposed. The Vogue editor, stylist, and designer of whimsically feminine shoes met the financier—who some had dubbed “one of the most eligible bachelors in New York City”—nearly two and half years earlier in East Hampton. Post-proposal, Tory Burch and Lauren Santo Domingo threw them an engagement party at Tory’s Southampton home in August. And, after that, Tabitha gave birth to their daughter, Violet Elizabeth, on January 29. Somewhere in the midst of this whirlwind romance and the arrival of a new addition, a wedding needed to be planned. “I had just given birth,” says Tabitha, “so we knew we wanted to do it somewhere in New York, close to family and friends.”

For both Tabitha and Topper, this was a second marriage (she was previously with photographer Craig McDean, and he was with Real Housewives of New York star Tinsley Mortimer), so the two set out to plan a relatively low-key wedding that felt untraditional and, above all, personal. This translated into a ceremony at the Church of the Resurrection followed by a reception at the Brook Club on the Upper East Side.

Trees that the couple plans to replant were the only decor inside the Episcopal church and, as a result, female guests were asked to wear floral dresses on a bright, sunny June Saturday of what felt like the first summer weekend in New York City. Friends, family, and the fashion industry—including Tory, Liv Tyler, Karen Elson, Lily Aldridge, Brooke Shields, Alejandro and Charlotte Santo Domingo, Dasha Zhukova and Stavros Niarchos, Lauren and Andrés Santo Domingo, Georgina Chapman, Theo Wenner, Katie Grand, Hamish Bowles, Sienna Miller, Bronson van Wyck, Gigi Mortimer, and Fabiola Beracasa Beckman—happily came out to support the couple along with Topper’s half-brother, Peter Davis; his sister, Minnie Mortimer; and his mother.

The bride wore a long-sleeved Chantilly lace Victorian-inspired Dolce & Gabbana Alta Moda dress and shoes of her own design. “I have a close working relationship with [Domenico] Dolce and [Stefano] Gabbana,” Tabitha explains. “There is no one else I would have wanted to wear for my special day. They also designed suits for my boys, who walked me down the aisle.”

Escorted by Dylan, age 12, and Elliott, age 14, Tabitha walked up the aisle at the Church of the Resurrection and exchanged vows with Topper. After the union was sealed with a kiss, everyone decamped for the Brook Club on 54th Street. There, a seated lunch was forgone in favor of caviar, raw bars, and Brook’s specialty—chicken hash and poached salmon—served buffet-style for a more casual, intimate feel.

After lunch, everyone headed to Topper’s favorite Upper East Side college bar, Dorrian’s, a bastion of preppiness from a bygone era, for the after-party. Guests danced, the Carvel cake was cut, and the bride debuted her second look of the day—a short eyelet Saloni dress—along with a Miss America–style sash that read “Just Married” and a kitschy veil and headband, complete with a unicorn horn . . . the perfect accessory—worn by a woman who surely knows a thing or two about accessories—for when you’ve truly found your one and only.