Bride Alix Creel Wore Three Custom Carolina Herrera Looks to Marry Brando Brandolini d’Adda in Paris
Sometimes mother really does know best. This was undoubtedly the case when Alix Creel and Brando Brandolini d’Adda were set up. “I met Brando’s mother, Muriel Brandolini, when I was having coffee with my mom at Sant Ambroeus uptown,” Alix, who works in marketing for a luxury travel company, remembers. “I was very intrigued by her work, as I was interested in getting into the interior design world.” After they met, Muriel was adamant that Alix meet her son Brando. “She invited my mother and I to a Christmas dinner at their home in December of 2019,” Alix recalls. “And the rest is history.”
By September of 2023, the couple was living together in New York City, and Alix had just returned home from a work trip to LA. Jet-lagged and disoriented, she walked out of her bedroom and into the living room to start her day. “Brando asked me to come into the kitchen and give him a hug,” Alix says. “He had just returned from getting us coffee, and I was still in a robe. But he got down on one knee [right there] and asked me to marry him. It couldn’t have been more organic or more ‘us.’” They celebrated later that night at the Lowell Hotel with Champagne—and fittingly, their mothers came to meet them for a glass of wine.
The wedding took place in Paris on the weekend of October 12. On Thursday, there was a gathering at Alix’s uncle’s apartment on rue de Seine. “It was family only, and it was so nice to be able to have Brando’s extended family meet mine,” Alix says. “Then, we had our welcome dinner on Friday, which was at the iconic La Coupole Brasserie. We really wanted our guests to feel like they were in Paris—and what better way to start the weekend off than at an iconic French brasserie. The evening was filled with music, dancers, classic French food, and ended with dancing.”
On Saturday, the ceremony was held at St. Clotilde Church in the 7th arrondissement. “We had so much fun planning our wedding,” Alix remembers. “Brando has lots of trust in me and knows that planning and organizing is where I thrive—and working with Victoria Botana de Beauvau and her team at Concept Haroue was an absolute dream. We automatically clicked and loved all of their ideas. We would do it all over again and again—but wouldn’t change a thing!”
The bride always knew that she wanted to do a custom wedding dress, so she approached Wes Gordon shortly after she got engaged. He was excited to work together—but he told her to first go look at wedding dresses to see what she liked and didn't like so they could go from there. Alix went to Dior in Paris, Reem Acra, Bergdorf’s, Vera Wang, Oscar de la Renta, and Monique Lhuillier, and she ended up going with something completely different than what she had originally envisioned.
“I was so happy to have the guidance from the amazing team at Carolina—Wes, Andrea, and of course, Melisa,” Alix says. While the vision for her wedding dress was relatively easy to land on, the bride struggled with choosing her other looks. “There are so many choices out there,” she says. “I was very adamant on wearing something different and unique, but classic, so I ended up asking Wes and the team to design my two other outfits off some inspiration that I had.”
On Friday, she wore a halter midi dress with custom embellishments all along the bottom, which were also replicated onto a sheer organza cape that the bride wore while she welcomed guests and then shed once dinner started. For her wedding dress, Alix remembers showing Wes a few pictures—and then falling in love with his very first drawing. “We had so much fun picking out the lace and working on the entire dress from start to finish,” the bride says. “It was a full ‘Carolina moment,’ which was so fun for me, as I grew up always borrowing all of my mom’s Carolina Herrera pieces—many of which she still has—so this was my time to have my very own, and all custom—which I am so grateful for and will cherish forever.”
As for jewelry, Alix has always kept her lineup simple and classic. “But my great-grandmother left some incredible pieces that my father and uncle have from her, and it was such an honor to wear them during our wedding weekend,” the bride notes. “On Friday, I wore a diamond necklace of hers that now belongs to my mother—and on Saturday, I wore a pair of her sapphire earrings with diamonds surrounding them. Then, I wore her diamond and aquamarine necklace with a pair of diamond studs that my mother gave me as a wedding gift.”
The ceremony at St. Clotilde represented a full-circle moment for the bride and groom. “Fun fact, I went to the American University in Paris for four years and lived directly behind the church,” Alix explains. “Brando’s parents also have an apartment that looks directly at the front of the church. We always knew this was where we wanted to get married.”
The bride’s mother Jennifer Creel; her brother, Lion Creel; and the groom’s sister Filippa Brandolini all read scriptures that the couple chose during the ceremony. “Our guests of honor were Brando’s grandmother, Countess Cristiana Brandolini d’Adda, who came from Venice, my step-grandfather John Colgate, and my grandmother’s twin Russella Travers, who were all in attendance.”
Alix describes the moment of walking down the aisle as the most nerve-wracking, but also the most special. “Being with my dad, then seeing Brando standing at the altar was a moment I will never forget,” she says. “My dad plays such a huge role in my life, and it was an incredibly emotional moment—I felt so proud and lucky to have him.” The two processed while the French boys choir Les Petits Chanteurs de France sang “Ave Maria.” “Brando and I were sitting with our backs facing our guests, and I would intermittently take a look behind to see all of our loved ones,” the bride continues. “It really was an out-of-body feeling, to have everyone we love—all gathered in one place.”
After the ceremony, the newlyweds exited the church and were greeted by guests and onlookers from the neighborhood. “We felt like celebrities and also so loved,” Alix says. “Brando and I got into the car and drove away with our photographer John Dolan—who happens to also be my maid of honor’s dad—who asked us where our favorite spot was in Paris. We then drove to Place Vendôme, and John had us get out of the car, take a couple of deep breaths, and we took some amazing pictures just of the two of us, in the middle of what was a normal day for everyone else, in one of the most iconic and beautiful squares of Paris.”
The reception was always going to be at the Opéra-Comique—the couple fell in love with the location the moment they stepped inside. The event was held in three connected rooms throughout the theater. “We were so lucky that we got to utilize all the different spaces in the venue,” the bride says. “We had a tent right in front in the square of the opera, to host cocktails and music, then entered for dinner in the spaces surrounding the theatre. As soon as dinner was finished, Thomas Roussel and his team played a mix of beautiful songs as our guests went down the staircase to the first level of the opera house, where Brando and I were presented with our beautiful wedding cake.”
The cake was so delicious that guests were coming back to it all night long. “They loved it and the yummy midnight snacks like crepes and mini croque monsieurs that were being served up,” Alix says. After dessert, the bride and the groom each threw back a shot of tequila on the steps; Alix changed into a custom Carolina Herrera mini for dancing, and the two headed to the disco after-party where DJ Clark Winter kept the party going until 4 a.m.
Photo: John Dolan1/73Brando and I moments before walking into La Couple to welcome all of our guests. Nervous and excited!
Photo: John Dolan2/73Nervous laughs.
Photo: Sophie Lin Berard3/73“Alix & Brando’s bar” at La Coupole.
Photo: John Dolan4/73Brando and I with his mother, Muriel Brandolini.
Photo: John Dolan5/73Some of our loved ones at during dinner.
