This Designer Made Her Dream Butter-Yellow Gown for Her Wedding At A Historic French Villa
Susan Alexandra Korn and Andy Nahman officially met in March 2023 at writer Naomi Fry’s birthday party in Brooklyn. But as it happens, Susan actually caught Andy’s eye more than a year earlier, when he attended the October 2021 opening of her Lower East Side store selling her namesake jewellery and accessories.
“I walked into this magical polychromatic dream world, well over capacity, with her family, friends, colleagues and collaborators,” says Andy, who was invited to the party by his sister, writer and editor Haley Nahman. “Susan’s energy was palpable, not only because it was like standing inside her mind’s eye, but in the community surrounding her. I remember going home feeling in awe of her magnetic energy and vision.” But it was at that birthday party, held at artist Al Freeman’s home, where they really “clicked,” says Susan.
Andy proposed to Susan in September 2025 on a trip to the South of France. He had a plan: “Take a short drive from our hotel to the Matisse chapel, surprise Susan with my proposal, and subsequently toast to our future with some bubbles,” says Andy, who is a VP of data science at Disney. But when they arrived at the chapel, it was closed – and the fluted glasses had broken in the car trunk. “Andy improvised quickly,” Susan says, “and proposed on the curb outside of the chapel as a few people looked on quizzically from a bus stop.”
The mishap only made it all the more special. “I think we will equally remember my kneeling proposal alongside the scene in the trunk: exploded flowers, broken flutes and rapidly melting ice. Luckily, the bottle was still intact, and we opened it,” Andy says.
Susan and Andy were married on 29 August at Villa Magnan in Biarritz. They chose the historic venue because, as Susan says, “it’s dripping with rustic charm and special touches. Hector the Donkey ambling around the lawn while two elder dogs lazily bark from their sun spots. It’s beautiful and old but very inviting.”
From the beginning, when envisioning the celebration, Susan – who is known for her candy-coloured creations – zeroed in on the floral design. “I am obsessive about flowers and about only using flowers in season,” she says. She envisioned a “cake of flowers” – a living sculpture of sorts. The family who owns the villa pulled it off, along with a flower-covered chuppah for the ceremony. In addition to the villa’s in-house team, Susan and Andy worked with event producers Mathilde and Ann Charlotte of Sauce to bring it all together.
Festivities began on Friday, when they had their guests board a “ to a secret location,” says Susan. “The train zigzagged through Biarritz and dropped us at the lighthouse. We drank Champagne as the sun dipped into the ocean.” From there, they took buses to the nearby town of Saint-Jean-de-Luz, where they rented out a restaurant called Denen Kanttua for a welcome dinner of classic Basque cuisine: pâté, eggs with roe, tuna crudo, mussels, financiers and lots of wine.
The cherry on top? “We commissioned a local artisan to sculpt our Chihuahua, Pigeon, out of French salted butter,” Susan says. “He was delicious, served with radishes and hunks of bread.”
For the Friday night event, Susan wore a nude tulle and paillette-embellished dress by Jenny Packham, sourced from Vinted. “Everyone asked if I designed the dress because it was so quintessentially me,” Susan says. She paired it with vintage Beverly Feldman Lucite heels. Andy wore a natural linen suit and shirt from Stoffa and chocolate suede loafers from Morjas.
As a designer, Susan always knew she would make her own wedding dress. She worked with her director of production to bring it to life. “Over the course of six months, Melissa and I worked with a patternmaker, a couturier and master of embellishments to create The Dress and the after-party gown.”
For her ceremony, Susan designed a gown made from a butter-yellow duchesse satin. “The silhouette was based on a gown from the ’30s. We gussied up the dress with rhinestone flowers and cherubs holding roses. The cherubs represented Andy and me, and the roses represented our ever-growing love,” she says. She accessorised with a pair of Art Deco–inspired pearl drop and enamel pansy earrings of her own design, a borrowed diamond tennis necklace and golden Manolo Blahnik kitten heels from The Real Real. She also carried a floral sequined purse with her and Andy’s names embroidered in pink on the inside.
Andy wore a custom suit from Saman Amel in a deep earthy brown with an RRL shirt and a vintage Hermès tie emblazoned with tiny carrots and radishes that Susan gave him for his birthday, plus loafers from Our Legacy. Susan’s after-party dress was custom-made by the artisans who make Susan Alexandra jewellery and bags. It was “a sequined manifestation of the future I want,” Susan says. “It featured a house surrounded by an abundant garden and Pigeon embroidered on the tush.”
Alison Roman, who is a close friend of the couple, officiated the ceremony. They walked down the villa staircase to a gentle live piano rendition of “Avril 14th” by Aphex Twin. “Alison read a heartfelt speech about observing Andy and me in our natural states, coexisting in harmony, holding different parts of the coin of life. Alison said that in marriage, the colours grow deeper and richer with time. It was so tender and so loving. It is a special person who can officiate a wedding with such ease and grace, and she is that special person,” says Susan.
In Andy’s vows, “he promised to never let me go too long without flowers and to always fill my cup, both with coffee and love,” Susan says. “Both our vows had so much overlap, so much hope for our future, and so much love. Many mentions of Pigeon were made, which made me cry,” she adds.
“I am not drawn to public speaking and had anticipated nerves around sharing our vows,” Andy adds, reflecting on the ceremony. “What I learned is that it is extremely comfortable to speak publicly when what you are saying is your truth from the heart.”
For dessert, the newlyweds decided on a “pavlova the size of a small country,” shares Susan. “Every guest grabbed a spoon, and we dug in and ate it communally, leaving plates untouched.” Susan’s sister, Janie Korn, made them a custom cake topper of miniature versions of themselves.
After dinner and dessert, the couple and their guests danced to a set by DJ Alex Chapman, followed by a special impromptu DJ set by Jason Stewart (AKA Them Jeans), who was a guest at the wedding. “We danced, drank, ate sandwiches and talked until the moon began to set,” Susan says.
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