Benjamin Millepied and Natalie Portman
Patrick McMullan/Sipa USA
The wedding between Natalie Portman and Benjamin Millepied reflected not just the bride’s Jewish faith and the groom’s French nationality, but also the couple’s outlook on the world.
Instead of having flowers flown in, the ceremony featured wildflowers indigenous to the Big Sur coast where the ceremony took place, and instead of “fish or steak” the menu was strictly vegan in keeping with the bride’s diet.
Portman, 31, chose a traditional white gown from Rodarte, the same house that made the purple dress that Portman wore to the 2010 Oscars, and wore a crown of white wildflowers in her hair. The groom, 35, wore a midnight blue tux.
The 45-minute ceremony, said to be designed and coordinated by LA-based wedding planers Yifat Oren and Stefanie Cove, took place on a bluff overlooking the ocean and under a rustic Jewish chuppah made of twigs. They were surrounded by family – including 14-month-old son Aleph – and friends, including Ivanka Trump and Macaulay Culkin.
During the ceremony, the couple were wrapped in a tallits, a Jewish prayer shawl, and in keeping with custom, things ended with Millepied smashing a glass to shouts of “Mazel Tov!”
The reception was held under a tent at a private residence, and featured a Klezmer band. The newly married couple kicked the dancing off with a 20-minute hora dance before being lifted up in chairs by guests.
Eschewing the traditional wedding cake, the couple opted for French macarons.
When things wrapped up around 2 a.m., the approximately 100 guests took home packets of wildflower seeds as party favors. The packets were inscribed with a single word: “Merci.”
