The Bride Wore A Pearl-Embellished Gown – And Matching Tabi Flats – For Her Wine Country Wedding
Zoé Chrissos and Colton Orr first met in 2014, as freshmen at Kenyon College. They were immediately struck by all the things they had in common – including their shared love of period films and the Belgian rapper Stromae. But for months, they remained just friends – until Zoé took it upon herself to convince Colton otherwise. They’ve been together ever since.
Colton proposed to Zoé, now an interior designer at Nicole Gordon Studio, eight years later during a trip to the Komodo Islands in Indonesia. The couple and Zoé’s family went on a sunrise hike on Padar Island – except gradually, Colton led Zoé away from the group until they were alone on the highest point of the mountain. Then he got down on one knee and pulled out a ring with a dual setting of both a diamond and emerald stone. “The round diamond was my maternal grandmother’s engagement ring, and the emerald was sourced to match. Colton loved the symbolism of the stones leaning on one another for strength and support – just as we do in life,” says Zoé. “I was incredibly close to my grandparents. Especially my grandfather, Papa Oscar Oca, who had recently passed – so having their story woven into ours means the world.”
The two wed on 14 September 2024, at The Madrona in Healdsburg, California, in an affair planned by Ashley Smith Events. It was the perfect setting for the couple: Zoé, who is Filipino and Greek, liked the Mediterranean climate and feel of the Sonoma town. Meanwhile Colton, who worked for a food and spirits company before moving into the transportation technology sector, has long held an affinity for wine country. An added bonus? There’s a direct flight from Manila, where much of Zoé’s family lives, to San Francisco.
The bride wore a custom dress by Paula Nadal. They worked in tandem for over a year on a deeply personal design, which featured freshwater pearls from the Philippines as an ode to her mother, and detailing inspired by the work of her great-great-grandfather. “My maternal great-great-grandfather was an engraver and watchmaker for Cartier, so on our first meeting, I brought his sketches for her to use as inspiration for the embroidery,” Zoé says. The London-based designer was struck by the beauty of his 1920s creations: in the bodice’s centre, Nadal crafted an intricate chandelier of crystals and pearls interwoven between Art Nouveau-style embroidery. “What she came up with was spectacular,” she says.
The bride also put plenty of thought into her meaningful accessories, including a 17th-century French lace veil, and moonstone and pearl earrings made by her family jeweller in Ann Arbor, Chris Petersen. Even her shoes – a pair of Maison Margiela Tabis – featured embellishments by Nadal.
Zoé met Colton, who wore a Dries Van Noten tuxedo, under a pillar of orange tulips and Queen Anne’s lace as a string quartet played “Merry-Go-Round of Life” from Hayao Miyazaki’s Howl’s Moving Castle – the first film they watched together in college. Her bridal party watched on in jewel-tone dresses inspired by the colours of Mexican architect Luis Barragán.
The bride describes their ceremony as peaceful and full of bliss. “I was so focused on Colton that I lost track of time,” she says. An emotional pinnacle came when their friend Alex read out a poem read by the couple’s favourite professor from Kenyon. “As undergrads, Colton and I had only taken one class together – titled ‘Meanings of Death’, taught by poet and religious studies Professor Royal Rhodes. It was our last class at Kenyon, and meant the world to both of us,” Zoé says.
Afterward, they held a cocktail hour on the lawn of The Madrona before dinner in the citrus grove. Guests entered through a curtained entrance by artist Karina Puente, which revealed six long tables adorned in pink florals and hurricane candles. Their stationer, Gates Paper Co., created place cards inspired by her great-great-grandfather’s Cartier watch designs. “Everything felt
cinematic but also deeply personal,” Zoé says of her reception. “We loved that about working with Ashley’s team – they knew how to dramatise and elevate the performative nature of the wedding without the artifice and grandiosity.” The emotional pinnacle came when Zoé’s bridesmaid, the Broadway actress Maya Boyd, performed an acoustic version of “Simply the Best”. It brought the bride – and many of the guests – to tears.
As the night grew later, it was time to party. Which they did: friends and family danced under a disco ball on The Madrona’s terrace as the bride changed into her second dress by Paula Nadal. Then, they went inside the Victorian mansion for late-night snacks, which included fried lumpia and brick oven pizza.
Just over six months on, the couple describes their wedding as surreal. “It felt like a waking dream. There were family squabbles (as there always are), new friends meeting old ones, barefoot dancing, outfit changes upstairs in the mansion with my best friends – it was all so us,” Zoé says. “We are so grateful.”
Photo: AJ Tamari1/44The dress had a personality all its own – Paula brought something to life that was beyond my wildest dreams, seamlessly weaving together family history and fashion.
Photo: AJ Tamari2/44We collaborated with Gates Paper Co. on our custom stationery – Isabel was an absolute dream to work with.
Photo: AJ Tamari3/44I have always loved Margiela’s Tabi shoes but when I put them on with my dress at my final fitting with Paula, something felt unfinished. I asked if she could embellish them with the same bows and pearls from my dress – I’m waiting for the next Maison Margiela guest designer to be Paula! I haven’t taken the bows off since. The earrings and wedding ring and band were custom made by my hometown jeweller, Chris Petersen.
Photo: AJ Tamari4/44This was right before I went up to change. AJ, our photographer, wanted one last photo in the ceremony dress.
