Welcome to Who What Wear Weddings, the destination for style-minded weddings. Expect insightful tips straight from the newlyweds, shoppable elements, and plenty of must-save imagery as we share the nuptials of our favorite fashion people getting married. For upcoming features, share your submissions here.
“We met at a restaurant, of course!” gallery director Line Dalgaard shares as she recalls her first encounter with her restaurateur husband Alexander Olsen. “I celebrated my birthday with some friends when Alexander and his friend—now best man—came over. As it turned out, they knew one of the girls. A few months later, he invited me out for dinner, and many drinks after, we ended up on the dance floor. This became the beginning of a partnership that involves so much humor, caring, traveling, and embracing each other’s differences. We share the same values to create the lives we want to live, which became clear very quickly.”
Early moments spent together over dinner and dancing turned into a beautiful partnership. “After six years together, I became pregnant with our daughter,” Dalgaard shares. “One cold December evening when I felt nauseous [and was] trying to distract myself with wrapping Christmas gifts, Alex all of sudden came over and said, ‘You’re really good at that.’ I immediately knew something was up. He nervously started telling me what I meant to him. He went on one knee and proposed. It was very low-key, very intimate, and just the two of us—as it should be in my book.
Once engaged, the couple started to discuss ideas for their wedding and settled on Bornholm, an island between Denmark and Sweden. There, the couple brought over 100 of their closest family members and friends. They celebrated their love against the backdrop of the charming island in the Baltic Sea with a ’90s-inspired wedding dress, a layered raspberry cake, and a bouquet inspired by one carried by the bride’s mother.
The dress, it was an important element to me after 10 years in fashion and, therefore, it being such a big part of me. It felt so overwhelming because there are a million different directions you can go. I immediately allied myself with my former boss—Uffe Buchard, editor in chief of Dansk magazine and founder of The Darling—first of all because he knows my style better than anyone and because he is truly a fashion lexicon with all his references, from ’90s Prada to today’s Balenciaga. He was the one [who suggested] Freya Dalsjø, and it only took one meeting to get it confirmed that Freya and her team (Mikkel Schou and her mother Karis Dalsjø) were the ones to create my dress.”
“We had ’90s references that made it timeless. I really wanted the modern twist, and Freya was the perfect choice for that. During the first talk, I remember saying that I didn’t want to look like a princess for a day, and Freya responded, ‘No worries. I’m not even capable of doing princess.’ That was it for me.”
“We tested silhouettes, discussed materials, and referred to Gwyneth and Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy.”
“Friday night before the wedding, we invited everyone for a low-key barbecue at the local brewery Penyllan at Tejn harbor. Local buses transported all of us back and forth, which created this camp/school vibe.”
“The harbor has a touch of the old fishing environment and is both a bit industrial yet cozy and nice.”
“People had the chance to meet, catch up, and kick off the weekend at Bornholm together. A couple of the speeches were held during the evening, and we went through the next day’s ceremony with the priest, Alex’s best man, and my father—of course over a couple of beers. I wore a crisp white shirtdress from Off-White paired with red vintage Manolo flats.”
“Uffe Buchard and Kolbrun, the hair and makeup artist, were the first ones to arrive. We didn’t want the morning to be stressful, so they came right after breakfast. Our room had the most beautiful view over the sea, which had this calming effect on me. I could also see some of the guests jumping in the water. Some had a morning yoga session, and I could faintly hear people talking and having a good time. This made me so happy.”
“My ‘something blue’ was a pair of panties from my dear friend’s brand Teira 1996—it made it so personal and added some humor to it that I loved!”
“Later that morning, my mother, sister, and friend came to help finalize and toast in champagne.”
“When getting into the dress, we FaceTimed the designer, Freya Dalsjø. It was a cute little moment to wrap up the very personal process of creating it.”
“We chose to do our wedding on Bornholm, an island between Denmark and Sweden. Bornholm became the perfect location. [It’s] only a three-hour travel from Copenhagen yet still distant enough to get that getaway feeling.
“A common question that we were asked is, What is your relation to Bornholm? Really, there isn’t one. It was Alex who came up with the idea. We didn’t have a relation to Bornholm, but now, we had the chance to make our own.”
“The most formal part [of the wedding] was definitely when my father and I walked down the aisle. My dad was so nervous, and I think I was the one calming him down. Again, it helped me that the whole setup was so calm and cozy, and I would walk into a room where I would know each and everyone.
“As for the outfit, no one knew (besides Uffe) how my dress looked before I entered the church, which was kind of fun. Freya, the designer, had made the most beautiful veil that was covering my face. I loved the whole idea of the veil and the drama it created, but I thought it would be too old-fashioned if Alex was the one taking it off, so I did it myself.”
“We got married in a local church in Allinge, Bornholm—an old, yellow, cute church. We actually also brought the priest, Jacob, from Copenhagen. He baptized our daughter, and as the cherry on top, he is a former bartender from one of Alex’s family’s restaurants, Café Victor. He and his wife joined the whole wedding, including the dinner and the party, which was just great.”
“My bouquet was lilies of the valley, which is the same flower as my mother had in her bridal bouquet. [Alexander] had a tailored Italian double-breasted suit in navy for the ceremony and reception.”
“Even though we were 100+ people, the ceremony seemed so intimate—touching but not too heavy. Between the moving moments, I remember there were several times with laughter, and it was just perfect.”
“The charm about Bornholm is its beautiful, raw nature. This matched our wish for a nice but down-to-earth and relaxed atmosphere perfectly.”
“I’m truly a dessert person, so the cake was something huge and full of raspberries.”
WWW Weddings Tip: “If you have the opportunity, involve and trust the people you know. Getting help and advice from talented people in your circle makes it very personal and more memorable.”
“I never had this princess dream to get married, so we wanted to make the more traditional wedding stuff more personal and less formal.”
The couple with their daughter on their wedding day.
“I wore a white/ivory Alessandra Rich lace gown for the dinner. It was wild and had such a great amount of humor. As part of the table setting, we had big bows on the candleholders made by Nanna Reichstein-Henriksen, which complemented the dress perfectly.”
“[Alexander] changed into a black smoking suit for the dinner.”
“To emphasize the simplicity we wanted, I would only wear rings and earrings: exquisite diamond earrings, an ‘S’ ring representing our daughter Selma Bo by Sophie Bille Brahe, and, of course, my wedding rings by Orit Elhanati, who’s also a dear friend of the family.”
WWW Weddings Tip: “Start the dinner early so the party lasts longer!”
“Nanna Reichstein-Henriksen helped me create the table setting. We had white tablecloths with old embroidered cloth napkins. The flowers were sirens in the iconic vases by Tage Andersen. Nanna had also found small silver assiettes to make it more unique.
“The menu was created in dialogue with a chef close to the family, Claus Christensen, who joined us at Bornholm. It was important for us to serve food that reflected the season, and most importantly, it was tasty—summer greens, pasta, turbot, and, of course, profiteroles.”
Guests at the reception.
“Alex and I have been together for nine years, so many (almost everyone) knew each other quite well.”
Guests at the wedding.
“It was not planned that I was going for three dresses—I promise. The thing was that I needed a dress for dancing the whole night, so I went for the white Cecilie Bahnsen dress with a pair of my old Asics sneakers and a cute little Antipast sock, and that was so me. This dress was actually the first one I bought, and I kind of knew that I wanted to incorporate Cecilie’s design in my wedding.”
Photographers: Madeleine Carstensen and Souleymane Alexandre Said
Videographer: Cecilie Juel Olsen
Planner: Frederikke Emma Rubow
Hair and Makeup Artist: Kolbrun Ran Kristjansdottir
Venue: Nordlandet
Set Designer: Nanna Reichstein-Henriksen
DJ: Fedty
Invitation Designer: L.A.
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