The Bride Wore Custom Alexander McQueen for Her Spring Wedding on the Chesapeake Bay
When Luke Kelly saw Hanna Siverling’s photo on Hinge in late 2019, he thought—in his words—that she was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. “At the beginning of our conversation, she used a madcap opening line that elaborated on her life of crime and murder leading her to be on the run in London,” Luke, who ran the literary estate of his grandfather Roald Dahl for about a decade before it was acquired by Netflix, remembers. “It sold me on her immediately.” Then, at the wedding, Luke found out from a speech by one of Hanna’s friends that the line was actually stolen from a man who had previously used it on the same app. “Everything is built on lies,” he jokes. “I am filing for divorce!”
Having first connected online, the couple’s relationship accelerated quickly once the pandemic hit, and they were “forced” to move in together in London—at first, only temporarily. “Our friend Jenna, who I had been living with prior, accidentally flooded our house in Brixton, an incident we very lovingly now refer to as ‘the Great Flood,’” Hanna says. “Jenna takes full credit for fast-tracking our relationship.”
The two ultimately became engaged while on a road trip up the East Coast of the U.S. visiting family during the holidays. “We stopped in New York City, and he proposed in Central Park after several attempts over the preceding two days were inadvertently squashed by me, completely unaware of what he was doing!” Hanna remembers.
“She was a nightmare,” Luke says. “For days, every time I tried to propose, she would unknowingly throw a wrench in the gears with changes to plans, like an unscheduled nap, headaches, hangovers, or films. Eventually, I had to move to the backup plan’s backup plan: a little walk in Central Park as the sun set and the park’s night creatures started to come out of the shadows to greet our newly engaged life in a giant rat-and-cockroach-themed musical number.”
Their wedding was held at the Inn at Perry Cabin in St. Michaels, Maryland, where Hanna’s parents have spent many wedding anniversaries over the years. “It’s also very close to where I grew up in Maryland,” she adds. “And where Wedding Crashers was filmed!”
The rehearsal dinner at the Chesapeake Maritime Museum kicked off the weekend’s festivities. Guests, with cocktails in hand, took boat shuttles over from the Inn at Perry Cabin to a picturesque old boat barn overlooking the water. For this—and the welcome party that followed—Hanna wore a slip made from an antique pattern at Jane Bourvis in Notting Hill that her sister-in-law Sophie Dahl helped choose, and she accessorized with vintage pearl drop clip-on earrings that belong to her grandmother.
The next day, the wedding was held on the bay at the Inn. The couple’s planning process wasn’t the easiest—as they live in London, they had to do most of it from afar. But Brooke and Nicole of Brooke Keegan Special Events executed their perfect weekend, despite the challenges posed by the distances between them.
“Wedding planning was largely my purview: I take all credit. The planners were barely involved,” Luke deadpans. “Joking aside, they were amazing. On the day, all the things they had anticipated and explained the necessity of—and then again explained the necessity of once more—were of course completely necessary and everything was perfect. They killed it. I hate them for it, but they might even know what they are doing with this wedding planning gig more than me.”
Hanna was equally well-prepared when it came to her wedding day wardrobe, despite the fact that she didn’t initially know exactly what she was looking for. “I went to Alexander McQueen’s atelier in London and worked with Sarah Burton, and because of she and her wonderful team’s kindness, patience, guidance, and unmatched skillfulness, I ended up with a dress that exceeded any dream.” Luke’s lifelong friend Bee Carrozzini suggested Hanna try on the dress that her wedding day look ended up being based on, and immediately, she knew that it was exactly what she wanted. “Watching Sarah and her team work was incredible,” Hanna adds. “The attention to detail and kindness that they brought every step of the way was so humbling and made the experience so special.”
Within the train of the dress, Burton and the McQueen team hid hand-embroidered images and personal messages, including the couple’s wedding date, images of their two dogs and cat, and some illustrated characters from James and the Giant Peach as a nod to Luke and his family. “Seeing the embroidery for the first time was a moment I’ll never forget,” Hanna recalls. For jewelry, she wore vintage diamond earrings from S. J. Phillips that were a gift from Luke.
When it came to beauty for the big day, Brit Cochran immediately understood the assignment. “Since we were outside, I wanted to keep it very simple,” the bride explains. “I wore my hair up in a windswept low bun for the ceremony and leaned as soft and glowy as possible with my makeup.” Luke wore a navy double-breasted bespoke tailored suit by Denis Frison. Meanwhile, the bridal party was in an array of spring floral dresses and dark navy lounge suits that they all picked out by themselves. “We wanted everyone to come into the day feeling like authentic versions of themselves,” Hanna says.
The couple’s friend Tommy Ross-Williams served as the officiant. “Our goal for the wedding service was to incorporate ceremonious elements without religion, as neither of us is religious,” Hanna explains. “Tommy did this seamlessly, and included a few things to give a sense of occasion: They wove in advice and words of wisdom from some of our long-married family members, including my parents and grandparents and Luke’s grandmother.”
The couple also included readings from the real-life love story of Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan read by Luke’s sister Sophie Dahl and Hanna’s friend Sarah Stacki, as well as a beautiful performance of the Beach Boys’ “God Only Knows” by Luke’s brother-in-law, the singer-songwriter Jamie Cullum. “Everything went together seamlessly and felt very true to us,” Hanna says. “The ceremony felt like it captured our personalities and felt so personal.” In keeping with their wishes to avoid anything that felt impersonal, Hanna and Luke read vows they’d written themselves. “As someone who is generally terrified of public speaking or being in front of a crowd, and as cheesy as it is, I just felt the sun on my face and kept looking at Luke and the rest of the world—nerves and all—fell away in that moment,” she says. “We were definitely emotional but equally just so overwhelmingly happy with where we were.”
“Time stood still for the ceremony,” Luke says. “It was sunny and I could see everyone beaming. Trying to plan a ceremony without religion but with a sense of occasion and solemnity was a risk, but the whole thing was utter perfection. Everyone—Tommy, Sophie, Jamie, Sarah—did the most stunning jobs with their roles. And Hanna’s vows were the perfect embodiment of her: full of grace and love and truth but not showy. I have never been so happy in my life. I peaked in joy right then and there. It’s downhill from here.”
After the ceremony, the newlyweds had a brief moment alone and then it was on to dinner, speeches, and dancing. “The love from our friends and family was so palpable that we never wanted the night to end,” Hanna says. “Our band was amazing, and Annie Mac DJ’ed the after-party, which ended in several people crowd surfing, including Annie Mac herself!” Luke describes lifting Annie Mac as a particular highlight, as well as an unexpected appearance from a superstar: “Our friend Sarah Duffy doing an incredible Cher impersonation act in full costume to close out the night,” he says.
For the after-party, Hanna changed into a shorter, tiered lace backless Alexander McQueen dress and took her hair down into loose waves. “Now that it’s all over, we’re still fizzing!” she says. “And I think we will be for a while, we really did have the time of our lives.”
“I just can’t believe how well it went and that I get to be married to Hanna for the rest of my life,” Luke adds. “It’s a cliche, but I am the luckiest person to ever take in a murderer on the run in and then find out that she was actually just a perfect person—who had barely murdered anyone at all.”
Photo: Jacqui Cole Photography1/52Our phenomenal stationer Anne Robin did the most beautiful job with our invitations, menus, and programs. A running theme throughout our wedding were anemone flowers and oyster shells.
Photo: Jacqui Cole Photography2/52Our walk to the boats for the rehearsal dinner was our first time seeing and greeting some of the guests who had just arrived.
Photo: Jacqui Cole Photography3/52The Maritime Museum kept several boats and artifacts in the boat shed where our rehearsal dinner was—including a large “crab picking machine” that we loved—and made the evening feel very Maryland.
Photo: Jacqui Cole Photography4/52The boat shed at the Maritime Museum just before everyone arrived. The shed was built directly over the water, so as the boats pulled up to drop off guests, they could step directly inside.
Photo: Jacqui Cole Photography5/52We all took boats over to the Maritime Museum for our rehearsal/welcome dinner, which was a plan that was added relatively last minute to the weekend—but with the insanely beautiful sunny-and-65-degree weather we had, it seemed like the perfect addition.
Photo: Jacqui Cole Photography7/52A quick squeeze from Luke’s nephew, Sam, when I was getting ready.
Photo: Jacqui Cole Photography8/52This is just a hint of the beautiful embroidery on the train of my wedding dress. Here you can see our wedding date and a few characters from James and the Giant Peach hidden in the lace.
