Olivia Culpo got married this weekend in Rhode Island. She married Christian McCaffrey, a football player who currently plays for the 49ers. He’s 28, and Olivia is 32 years old. This is the first marriage for both. Olivia has weird taste in men, and it honestly feels like Christian is a subplot to the larger story of “Olivia Culpo got married!” Still, I love looking at wedding photos and I love talking about wedding gowns, so here we are. Of course Olivia gave Vogue an exclusive on the dress! She wore a custom Dolce & Gabbana ballgown.
Olivia Culpo holds the following belief about marriage: “It’s a covenant. It’s the beginning of the rest of your life—and it’s the union and bond of two people forever,” the model and former Miss Universe tells Vogue. So when it came to designing her wedding dress with Dolce & Gabbana, there was one note she stressed to the atelier above all. “I wanted something that felt as serious as that commitment,” she says.
For months, she and the Italian house worked together to translate that emotional ideal into a physical dress. And on Saturday, June 29, Culpo walked down the chapel aisle in Watch Hill, Rhode Island to marry San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey in a long-sleeve crepe crew neck ball gown with a voluminous skirt and button-lined back.
“I didn’t want it to exude sex in any way, shape, or form,” she says of the dress, which she wore with a 16-foot lace veil. “I wanted it to feel effortless and as if it’s complimenting me, not overpowering me. There’s so much beauty and simplicity.” (This ethos also extended to her beauty: Culpo tells Vogue she wore little makeup, forgoing mascara and eyebrow gel in favor of a pared-back look.)
“When I think about Christian and what he loves and the moments that he thinks that I’m most beautiful, it’s absolutely in something like this: timeless, covered, and elegant,” she adds.
Olivia also tells Vogue that her biggest priority was getting married in a church, which she says as explanation for why she’s so covered up. Which is weird because tons of brides show some skin when they’re getting married in a church. It’s quite common for bridal gowns to be backless or strapless or show some cleavage and it’s not the end of the world. I guess she’s saying she wanted to go super-conservative and churchy, which is fine. The dress is pretty, elegant and simple… and kind of plain. Still, I prefer this to a lot of the gowns which are, frankly, doing too much. “I didn’t want it to exude sex in any way, shape, or form.” That’s fine!
Olivia Culpo is married! Here, discover the story behind the model and former Miss Universe's traditional Dolce & Gabbana ballgown for her Rhode Island wedding: https://t.co/cjJXR00oZz pic.twitter.com/W5x2Z3LCHA
— Vogue Runway (@VogueRunway) June 29, 2024
Instagrams courtesy of Vogue.
Bland but fine. Absolutely nothing about it screams Dolce & Gabbana to me, not sure why you’d need to fly to Milan for something that looks like probably anyone could design and execute.
That’s what I thought. Why do you need that basic a look custom-designed?
The people I know who have been in pageants have a really hard time finding their wedding dress style. Often they’ve already worn quite a few white formal gowns! I see this as the total opposite of that.
Just for the designer name recognition. But what an unfortunate name, to mean racist, misogynist.
I mean…eh? She’s a beautiful woman and the photos are lovely, but the idea of wearing that dress in the summer is suffocating me.
Exactly! That dress I’d beautifully tailored and would have been perfect for a winter wedding. I’m having a hot flash just thinking about wearing it in the summer!
Agreed! If the top part of the bodice and sleeves were lace, it would have made sense. They had to have made the church uncomfortably cold for the guests for her to be comfortable.
Notice how women who aren’t virgins wear these dresses that cover them from neck to toe to come off virginal? Especially when they have been around the block? Nicky Hilton, Miranda Kerr, Paris Hilton, Kim Kardashian, Kitty Spencer even Grace Kelly all wore these very covered up wedding dresses. Plus, it was a very hot and humid day on the East Coast so why wear a dress that is so suffocating in the summer? The only memorable thing about her dress was how big it was and how much it covered her. I saw her Vogue article and her rehearsal dress was beautiful, her reception dress was meh and her after hours party dress was a weird choice. This is what happens when your wedding is one long Instagram post/Vogue feature.
It’s beautiful but she must have been sweating up a storm in the church (unless churches are air conditioned in the US?). Absolutely love the simple, fresh makeup.
Was shocked this is her first marriage, there is someone that I obviously always thought was also Olivia Culpo lol! It is another brunette fashion girlie, got married in a cute cropped sweater???
You’re thinking of Olivia Palermo. Her wedding look will be one of my forever favourites, so simple and elegant. I had a knitted sweater as part of my party outfit at my own weddingg ggd because of her! 🙂
Watch Hill Chapel has air conditioning and the weather was pretty nice on Saturday.
The funny thing about this is – The Watch Hill Chapel is non-denominational. It’s a small BYO Priest seaside chapel. It’s not like she was in a Catholic Church and ordered to cover up.
Makes me wonder if she has connections to the area bc it’s hard to get a Saturday wedding unless you can prove connections (I know from experience).
@bananapanda – You’re right about the chapel. I just think she had an image in her mind of how she wanted her wedding to be and maybe she was brought up with some family ideas of what’s proper attire in a church. In my Greek Orthodox church people still dress up every Sunday – nothing grand, just suits and office-type outfits. It’s not just about respect for the church, but also that it’s a community event and an opportunity to look better than if you’d only been going to the town dump.
About connections, Olivia’s from Cranston and it’s kind of big deal to have a Miss Universe from RI – I think that was connection enough.
Her family is in the restaurant business and has one in Westerly (Watch Hill is just a section of the town, albeit a very wealthy section). The owners of Ocean House have several other businesses in town and are pretty active locally so I’m guessing there is a connection that helped secure the venue. Also, not many people can afford Ocean House….I’ve heard in order to book you also have to guarantee a big number of hotel rooms which, even in the offseason, are crazy expensive.
It was humid free here this weekend and Watch Hill has air conditioning.
Churches have air conditioning. I like her dress and she looks beautiful. I’m sick of the naked bride look.
I do like it’s simplicity. It feels like a dress from the fifties or something, kind of retro? But saying that her husband likes her best when she’s covered up is a big ick.
That struck me as well – her short statement refers to being covered up twice. And from the pics that they post, I’m a little skeptical. But I guess that’s the brand she wants to adopt now. I’m just always skeptical of someone who has to advertise modesty.
I’m getting Handmaid vibes from the “covered” comment, ngl. Hopefully they are not rabid extremists and just preferred this look. She’s beautiful.
Ideally, he would like her best dressed as she preferers. I was trying, and failed, to find a closeup of her in her wedding gown, but I did come across quite a few pics of the two of them and it doesn’t seem like she dresses overly modestly for him. So, the comment might have been something like ‘honey, pick between backless and covered up’, but I admittedly don’t know anything about him. I was more stuck by no mascara.
Her husband thinks she is more beautiful when she puts more clothes on?? It is when she is in public, he wants her to cover up, right? At home can she relax or does she think she needs to continue dressing for her husband’s comfort? It is really embarrassing to see what women put up with to get a guy.
She seems genuinely delighted with all of the designs D&G came up with so it’s a win for her. I don’t like any of them but the wedding dress is especially plain, and yet, it still strikes me as massive and overdone, if that makes any sense.
No mascara?!? I consider that brave but you do you, Livvy!
I hope it was a great day for her and her new hubby and their married life lasts as least as long in years as the length of that veil.
There is a real backlash online about super sexy (or just sexy) skin baring wedding dresses which have been in vogue for quite a while now so she’s part of that trend (poor eva amurri, susan sarandon’s daughter who is an influencer is receiving wedding dress shame big time). This dress is very elegant but should have some delicate lace which would give it more interest.
No mascara means just lash extensions lol
*googles* she used to date Tim Tebow and Nick Jonas.
I guess she’s a longtime, hardcore evangelical Christian. The overwrought “covenant” language, the emphasis on modesty and covering, the boring virginal dress … it all makes sense.
interesting. it’s all good for her to want a certain kind of man but I did snicker at the whole covered-up thing only for her to strike the sexy, mouth-open pose in her wedding dress of all things.
I don’t know about her, but McCaffrey is very religious and done some missions in Africa.
This. In a couple of months she will start making/promoting conservative Christian content as some sort of quasi trad wife.
I see. I was like, why do we know her again? Thought she dated Justin Bieber but it was a Jonas Bro…
We also know her as Miss Universe 2012
I feel that I was born without the “wedding gene.” Never once in my life have I dreamt about getting married, let alone the perfect wedding and the perfect dress, etc., etc.
But she looks very beautiful and Old World Italian.
Ooh I need deets on the location. I’m guessing Newport mansion? I’m going to check out the vogue link. If you’ve never been the cliff walk there is amazing and you can visit it virtually and jog to the scenery in one of the jogging apps.
Oh update: it’s not Newport, it’s Watch Hill. Interesting. Do either of them have family ties there? Beautiful area, gorgeous beaches.
The reception was at Ocean House. It was an old Victorian Hotel that was torn down and rebuilt in a similar fashion and now it’s super-luxury, 5-star. Olivia is from Cranston, RI.
She’s from Cranston, just south of Providence, and her family owns several restaurants and businesses between Providence and Westerly (Watch Hill is part of Westerly). Ocean House is beautiful, right on the Atlantic, smallish, gorgeous grounds, and great views of Taylor Swift’s mansion, which is maybe 5-6 houses down the road.
There is something about her that is so generic looking. If you had shown me these wedding photos and asked me who she is I would have no idea. For me, it’s like that with every photo of her.
I actually think it’s really beautiful – not very D&G at all who seem to always go for sexy bordering on raunchy with their wedding dress designs (see Kourtney K’s dress). As for her comments re church. A lot of women get married in church with their back and arms out but it’s actually considered a no-no. I learned this when a friend of mine got married. Everyone had to have their shoulders covered – including guests. And if Olivia is Catholic or Orthodox it would be an even bigger no-no.
I think both she and McCaffrey are Catholic.
That’s funny considering what her ex said about her. I doubt either of them are virgins, so why try so hard to come off as so righteous🙄it’s pathetic.
@Maggie – I don’t follow her, but she doesn’t sound righteous to me in this piece. She just saying what she wanted, not what everybody else should be doing. And it’s a matter of feeling comfortable. If I were getting married in my church, I wouldn’t feel comfortable with my boobs hanging out. At the same time, I wouldn’t want to be as covered up for a midsummer wedding. But it seems she had some vision in her heat that was important to her and that’s fine.
Definitely depends on the church. Except for 20 years ago in Italy, I have never been to a Catholic church that requires shoulders to be covered. It’s probably still true in some countries or select churches in the US, but I’ve been to Catholic churches in tons of different spots and have never encountered that rule in the US so no, it’s not some big “no-no.”
I got married in Italy in a Catholic Church and wore a simple mid calf length sleeveless dress, no problem at all, so I think it might depend on the country. Catholic Churches in the US might be different/stricter
Why go out of her way to choose highly-problematic D&G? One obvious possibility is that her version of Christianity supports an anti-LGBTQ+ agenda.
She voted with her money, as is her right. We’ve seen the signal that she sent.
This dress has been done much better thousands of times for much cheaper. I don’t like D&G or their wedding dresses. Her makeup is natural looking? Okay.
Too severe and austere for my tastes. Also, barf @ D&G. But I’ve given up on expecting people to hold fashion houses accountable after people have seemingly moved on re: D&G, Galliano, Balenciaga, Alexander Wang, etc. etc.
She’s a saint!
This dress is giving sister wife. I think now that she got married her brand shift is gonna be to more trad wife content.
Ollie messed up her jawline🤭she definitely doesn’t have the same face when she won Miss Universe.
I’m glad she liked it and happily got married in it. Good for her.
From a fashion perspective–ultimate letdown. Crewneck is nobody’s friend, with that thick fabric, topped with center-part boring hair. It’s especially dull considering what she wore to the fitting, and her other dresses for the party? Conservative is not her default setting so why such a boring main event?
It’s because she’s catholic. She has to be demure.
I’m thinking it’s onto a tradwife rebrand? The dress is so dull I hate it. And I dress modest myself! Modest doesn’t have to mean boring.
I think this dress is beautiful on her, and while It may look simple, the tailoring is exquisite.
Agree, beautiful dress.
I think so too, that veil is gorgeous
Absolutely gorgeous dress. This is the kind of fabric and tailoring I expected from the new Duchess of Westminster.
As an aside, I always cover up my shoulders to visit a church or any other place of worship, just out of respect. I may not believe in all that stuff, but I get that others do. So I appreciate what she is saying here.
I live in RI and what’s kind of funny is this wedding was bigger news everywhere but here, even in Cranston (her hometown) and the several towns where her family owns restaurants. A lot of people have no idea who either of them are and friend who lives in Watch Hill said it was ridiculous, it’s not even that bad (security, etc) when Taylor is in town.
BUT, Ocean House is beautiful (though good she had a tent as the ballroom is in the basement and the least impressive part of the property), the sleeping rooms are luxurious, and it was a gorgeous summer day Saturday, not super hot and not as humid, esp good being near the water. And while I thought her dress was an odd choice for a summer wedding, I did really like it.
It looks like a communion dress. I mean she spent a ton of money to look like a little kid to look like a little girl at her first communion? Is there something wrong with showing collarbone or your arms? Why would you marry someone who expects you to not be yourself and dress to make THEM and their insecurities happy?