Elizabeth Reaser Wore a Danielle Frankel Dress to Elope Under the Olive Trees in Italy

When it came to her wardrobe, Elizabeth wanted to maintain a similarly relaxed approach. “I was trying desperately to be chill about it, but I couldn’t find anything that felt like me,” she says. “To be fair, I never actually went to a store because I am allergic to trying clothes on. I don’t like fittings because of my acting life so I was trying to avoid that process.” After ordering a number of dresses online to try and then returning them, Megan sent her a photo of a Danielle Frankel look. “I think that’s when I turned into a ‘bride’ because suddenly I needed that dress,” Elizabeth says. “It wasn’t going to be coming out until 2024, but thankfully Sarah reached out to the designer personally and fairy godmothered the whole situation. It wouldn’t have happened without her. Danielle did Zoom fittings with us because we couldn’t get to New York in time. I was so scared to touch it! She was wonderful.”

Because of her career, Elizabeth was keen not to feel like she was in a costume or going to a premiere, so she went with minimal hair and makeup. “That being said, I had the most genius hair and makeup artists who happened to be on the Amalfi Coast together,” Elizabeth remembers. “One of them, Jillian Halouska, had done my hair in Paris once and kindly agreed to come. She brought with her a makeup artist I had never met named Nicole Blais who ended up being an actual angel. I can’t believe how lucky I am that they were willing to do it. They are so brilliant and kind and cool. It’s such an emotional day, and they made me feel so good.”

The bride didn’t think about jewelry at all until a week before the wedding, as the dress was sparkly on its own. She ended up wearing a pair of earrings that her friends Megan, Sarah Paulson, and Holland Taylor gave her as a wedding gift. And, as a final touch, Danielle Frankel gifted Elizabeth a ribbon to wear around her neck. “It felt ’90s and naughty and perfect,” Elizabeth remembers.

The ceremony started at 5 p.m. in Hotel Caruso’s Wagner Garden, which overlooks the Amalfi Coast. There were just three guests—Megan, Nico, and Sarah—with Holland officiating. “Bruce reached out to two musicians—a mandolin player and a guitarist—that we had fallen in love with the year before at Il San Pietro, and we exited to their rendition of ‘Oh Baby’ by LCD Soundsystem that Bruce asked them to arrange in advance,” Elizabeth says. “It was so beautiful that we stopped at the end of the aisle and had an impromptu first dance. I think it may have been the purest moment of happiness in my life.”

Some say nothing really changes after getting married, but Elizabeth felt the complete opposite. “It was the most intense experience,” she explains. “Something happened to us when we said the vows. It did change everything. I was trying not to cry the whole time except for when I was laughing.”

After the service, the small group kicked their shoes off and had an aperitivo, followed by dinner under the olive trees. “We mostly drank Champagne,” Elizabeth says. “And gave toasts. Our actual first dance was to an arrangement of Caetano Veloso’s ‘Cucurrucucu Paloma’ that Bruce had the musicians prepare. I want to do it all over again! Truly. I feel so lucky.”