I Need To Talk About The $59 Million Wedding That Won’t Leave Me Alone
I’m currently planning my wedding (which is still weird to say out loud) and that means that every algorithm is showing me as many bouquets, bridesmaids entrances and bridal ‘looks’ as it possibly can. Most of which is actually helpful in forcing me to figure out what I do and don’t want for my own big day.
But there’s one wedding that is now stalking me.
The nuptials of two American people who spent $59 million on their wedding day are coming for me on every platform that I’m convinced I could name their entire bridal party – first, middle and last name – and what Chanel purse they carried to the welcomed drinks. I KNOW TOO MUCH ABOUT IT. And because I don’t know what to do with my feelings other than plonking them on the internet, you’re about to know too much about it too.
So please allow me to cordially invite you to the recap of Madelaine Brockway and Jacob LaGrone’s wedding.
Madelaine and Jacob’s wedding promo pics. Image credit: Instagram
First up, who are these rather rich individuals? Madelaine Brockway is a 26-year-old originally from Miami, Florida but now lives in Fort Worth, Texas, with her longterm partner, Jacob. Madelaine is the daughter of a ‘car dealership tycoon’ and while that sounds terribly shady as a title, it must be a prosperous job as no expense was spared on the wedding that I can only assume Maddie’s parents chipped in for.
Madelaine seemed to be a fairly average girlie™ prior to dating Jacob. Sure, she was still clearly a wealthy lass, but she posted the same cheugy holidays pictures and snaps from her mate’s baby showers as we all do.
But when the wedding festivities started, things really ramped up.
Suddenly there was a ‘Bachelorette Week’ that spanned across America and was cohosted by elite wedding planning companies. There were colour themes, custom cocktails, drone shots and professional videos being pumped out of every party.
She had a ‘Maddie in Paris’ themed Bridal Shower where they brought “Paris to Fort Worth” and handed out passports, baguettes and brie to guests and took pictures under a replica Eiffel Tower. Then there was a Valentino Pink-themed Bachelorette party in Utah, where guests had an intimate poolside dinner party in the middle of the desert while burlesque dancers boogied around them.
@madelainebrockway Night One of my dream bachelorette- Pretty In Pink 💕 follow along for the rest! #amangiri #lovesatheme #bachelorette #prettyinpink #pinknight #pink #wedding #bridesmaids #themeparty #partythemes ♬ original sound – Madelaine Brockway LaGrone
Then there was a second Bachelorette party that adopted the theme ‘Aliens Among Us’ where Maddie donned an all-green outfit and wig, the guests ate an extraterrestrial feast and dancers flocked to the venue to perform routines holding green orbs. It looked pretty fucking weird, but I have to credit Madelaine for going against the classy grain and choosing a kooky theme.
You’d think three Bachelorette parties would be enough, but Madelaine decided to whip out another for good measure. The theme this time? Marie Antoinette. So think stacks of cakes piled up on tables and absolutely everyone in fully-fledged period costumes with giant white wigs and beauty spots.
Nothing about this theme was half-arsed. And before you start to relax, it’s all about to ramp up, because the couple are about to start their wedding countdown.
Madelaine and Jacob and a countless number of their besties then jetted off to Paris. The real one, not the weird town in Texas. Of course, a private plane was involved and on arrival, guests received a baguette in a leather case. I had no idea that rich people ate baked goods in leather jackets. Learning so much from Maddie and Jacob.
5 days before the wedding.
What else does one do five days before their wedding other than hanging out at the Chanel Haute Couture Suite? Maddie had her girlies scoot over to the private store and make custom Chanel bags just as a cute activity. Of course, she was in head-to-toe Chanel for the occasion too.
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While everything about this event was over the top, the thing that shook me the most was just how many photographers and videographers were there to capture every second. It looked like there were at least photographers and two videographers with cameras, and then on further stalking, I discovered Maddie also hired a ‘content creator’ specialist who was capturing more footage and editing it up for TikTok edits. So that’s at least seven employees who I’m guessing were flown from the US to Paris. I’ve just started getting quotes back for photographers for my wedding and the price they’ve said for six hours of shooting and a staff dinner was enough to make me feel queasy, so I dread to think what this entire crew cost.
4 days before the wedding.
An evening soiree was on the cards for four days out, where Maddie and Jacob hosted a dinner at… wait for it… THE FLIPPIN’ PALACE OF VERSAILLES. Yep, guests had a private tour of the royal residences and then a certainly-not-casual candlelit dinner in one of the grand ballrooms.
Madelaine wore a white cape dress and humungous Valentino heels for the dinner, and I just have questions about who hooked up these guys to this venue, because I don’t even think Kim Kardashian was able to host a dinner at Versailles.
@madelainebrockway Four days before our wedding staying at the Palace of Versailles. #wedding #bride #bridal #bridetobe #2023bride #chanel #fashion #bridalfashion #madelainebrockway #oliviaandlivingeventcontent #palaceofversailles ♬ Calm (Lofi) – Faneo sound
3 days before the wedding.
Maddie and Jacob squeezed in some sightseeing three days out from their wedding, scooting around Paris and taking pictures with the Eiffel Tower. While this felt like a low-key day for the pair, there was still a full hair and makeup team involved and custom-designed all-white outfits for the bride-to-be.
AKA if anyone else had a day like this before their wedding, you’d think they were full on.
2 days before the wedding.
We’re getting close folks! For 48 hours before walking down the aisle, Maddie scheduled in a wedding dress reveal at Dior and her official ‘Welcome Party’. If I was a guest at their wedding, I personally would have felt very warmly welcomed already, but sure, chuck some more welcomingness at it, Mads.
She took her bridal party to Dior to snoop her custom wedding dress and then she got ready for the welcome party by slipping into a custom Oscar de la Renta mini-dress covered in 3D butterflies. The welcome party actually looked like a high-end wedding, with a pasta station, dancefloor, speeches and so many bottles of champagne being poured by fancy waiters.
@madelainebrockway Wedding dress reveal at Dior and our Welcome Party. #wedding #bride #bridal #bridetobe #weddingdress #dior #diorweddingdress #madelainebrockway #lagronewedding #oliviaandliving #oliviaandlivingeventcontent ♬ Moonlight – Villano
The day before the wedding.
Oh my god, we’re 1000 words deep and still not at the wedding day. But one day out, there is still lots to report!
Maddie had her final Bachelorette-adjacent event, hosting a ‘Bridal Luncheon’ (not a thing) at Dior. She and her bridesmaids had Dior-branded food and sipped on yet more champagne. The bride-to-be was in a lacey two-piece suit with a white boater hat and veil, which I can only assume was Dior.
Madelaine and Jacob then hosted a rehearsal dinner the night before their wedding, but as you may have guessed this deep into the recap, this was not your bog-standard rehearsal dinner. Instead, they took over the Opera de Paris building.
There was a full fancy dinner, guests were in ballgowns (how many frocks would these people had to have packed for this wedding?!), orchestras played throughout the night and there were so. many. flowers. A standard Aussie wedding usually features about $4,000 worth of flowers – making up the bridal bouquets, boutonnieres and a few bunches scattered around the tables and ceremony space. Maddie and Jacob had hundreds of thousands of flowers draped over the grand staircase, at every place setting, hanging from the goddamn roof!
My prediction is at least a million dollars were spent on the flowers at this party alone.
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OKAY, WE’RE AT THE WEDDING FAM. STRAP IN.
Madelaine and Jacob’s wedding was at Chateau de Villette, a very expensive private residence that looks like an incredibly well-kept castle. They had their ceremony outside in the stately gardens and added millions more flowers into the mix, somehow topping their Opera flower quota.
There were flowers covering the entire ceremony space as well as the whole building – as in, the bricks were smothered in pricey petals. It looked beautiful but my god think about the budget.
Maddie wore her custom Dior gown,an off-the-shoulder silk satin princess dress with lace appliques dotted over her arms and skin. She paired it with a cathedral-length veil and customised Dior shoes with her new married name embellished in what I hope weren’t actual diamonds. But who really knows at this point…
I hate to say it, but after the mayhem of the pre-wedding festivities, I’m a little underwhelmed by the big day. Don’t get me wrong, it was beautiful, and if they had just done the wedding I’d be like, ‘that’s a very fancy wedding’, but amongst the 17 other parties I was just expecting something insane. Instead it was a classy affair that looked like a very expensive version of a normal wedding day.
The only thing that took me by surprise was that she had about 40 bridesmaids and they were all in white. Some had some purple-y embellishments on their dresses, but other than that it looked like an army of brides.
I don’t know about you, but I am EXHAUSTED from just watching all the wedding content, let alone attending the damn thing.
Image credit: @madelainebrockway Instagram + TikTok