The bride wore Vivienne Westwood for her wedding in the streets of SoHo, with Emily Ratajkowski as her bridesmaid
Time seemed to stand still, and all the sounds of New York City faded away when Katherine Mendenhall and Marcos Alvarado exchanged their vows at the corner of Howard and Crosby Street.
“It was absolutely love at first sight,” Katherine Mendenhall, the president of Emily Ratajkowski’s swimwear brand, Inamorata, recalls of the moment when she reconnected with her now husband Marcos Alvarado on a group trip to Sicily during the summer of 2019. “Between Marcos going to college with my sister and both of us living downtown, we had a lot of mutual friends in the city. Then 12 of us went on vacation to Sicily and stayed at a house in the south. Marcos and I have been inseparable since that trip. We just knew.”
With the help of their dog, Marcos surprises Katherine with a wedding ring
The two were engaged four years later, at home in the summer of 2023. “After a day taking our favorite hike and dinner at the same place where we’d had our first date, I came home to our apartment, and it had been filled with flowers, and the ring was on our eldest dog’s collar,” Katherine recalls. “Luckily, our Furbo dog cameras captured the whole proposal, including Marcos smiling to himself secretly setting it up—so sweet.”
Katherine is originally from Encinitas, California, but after living in New York for 14 years, she thinks of the city as her home. Even though Marcos is a born-and-raised New Yorker, friends and family assumed Katherine’s roots meant the couple would have a sunny Southern California wedding. But with the city at the center of their relationship, getting married on the actual streets of SoHo felt right.
A New York wedding, between Howard Street and Carrie Bradshaw
The wedding ceremony was held in May 2024 on Howard Street in the heart of the neighborhood, and afterward guests followed the newlyweds as they walked up Crosby Street to the reception at Balthazar. “Our planner, Layne Kula of Penny Layne, was an expert,” Katherine says. “I had many requests that I have no doubt were a logistical nightmare, but she made all my impossible ideas come true with seeming ease. I know there were a ton of obstacles—like…shutting down a very specific city block—but Layne absorbed every bit of stress, which allowed my experience to be pure creative fun. I couldn’t have imagined a more capable and pleasant person to work with throughout the wedding. Now that it’s over, I genuinely miss her!”
For her very New York City wedding, the bride wore Vivienne Westwood—just like Carrie in Sex and the City. “The Cocotte was the fifth dress I tried, and it felt so special and romantic from the moment I put it on,” Katherine says. “There was no question it was the dress. The fit was impeccable, and I then went to my girl Tatiana in the garment district for some fine-tuning to personalize it to me. She did a spectacular job.”
For jewelry, Katherine had planned on wearing some pieces she already owned. But on the morning of the wedding, her best friend surprised her with a stunning pair of earrings and offered her own necklace to be Katherine’s something borrowed. “It came together perfectly,” she says.
Stylist Jackie Seabrooke was her immediate go-to for hair. “I’ve known her for years and have always followed her work,” the bride explains. “Jackie has never failed to impress with showstopping hair. Shout-out for the best party pony anyone’s ever seen!” For makeup, a friend introduced Katherine to Markphong Tram. “I was blown away by his talent,” she says. “I felt like myself but way better.”
An unforgettable evening in the heart of the Big Apple
Katherine and Marcos chose not to have a wedding party. “But the whole crew really turned it out,” Katherine notes. “Everyone was giving glitzy old New York in the coolest way. We had gowns, updos, and crisp peak-lapel tuxedos.”
The couple’s main goal for the wedding was for it to feel like a normal but enhanced Saturday walking through the city streets and going out to dinner with friends. “The vision realized was far beyond any expectations,” Katherine says. First, they closed down Howard Street at Crosby Street and turned it into a floral wonderland. “I walked down with my dad, following my crew of tiny flower boys and ring bearers with a string band playing in the background. The scene awaiting us took my breath away. Wildflowers at all heights and rows of our people in black tie, all tucked into an iconic city block. It doesn’t get more special than that.”
Marcos burst into tears the moment he saw Katherine, which set the tone for the rest of the service. “We all laughed and cried, and I feel so lucky that we got to use our clear umbrellas for the light drizzle!” Katherine says. “They were a vibe, and apparently rain means forever, so we are stoked about that.”
Afterward, the couple couldn’t stop smiling. “It was an utter fairy-tale dream,” Katherine says. “Neither of us stopped happily weeping the entire ceremony. We had been so focused on the production of the wedding that standing there together telling each other our vows really hit us in the most beautiful way.” She adds that excitement got the better of the couple when they turned around to see all their guests following the ceremony, and they ended up stopping on a street corner to say hi to every single one. “It was unplanned, but we are so grateful it happened,” the bride says. “There were a lot of tearful and tight hugs.”
Once in the famed SoHo restaurant, the party started. “It was an absolute blast,” Katherine says. “Everyone slayed their speeches—we’ve never laughed harder—the service at Balthazar didn’t skip a beat, and the dance floor was raging. No kinks, no compromises—Layne Kula and her team absolutely crushed it.”
This article was previously published on Vogue US
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IMAGES: The Grand Wedding of Katherine Mendenhall and Marcos Alvarado
1/80Had to start with hand-illustrated seafood towers to hint at Balthazar for the save-the-dates. No one has to know I’m fully allergic.
2/80Our sweet girl Chippy at her daily lookout spot in our bedroom—and the Vivienne Westwood dream dress!
3/80For the invites, the pops of red mirrored the awnings at Balthazar, which sold the idea of a wedding at a New York institution.
4/80Something old-ish. These have been my go-to shoes for everything for the past year. No one wants to break in something new on wedding night!
5/80The view from our apartment that looks out at the first apartment we shared.
6/80Babs and Emily in their favorite corner in my house. Very them to be curled up together there doing something.
7/80Emily giving Babs a perfect winged liner—the girl knows her makeup.
8/80Sly probably asking his mom if we could turn on “Espresso”.
