Elizabeth Reaser Wore a Danielle Frankel Dress to Elope Under the Olive Trees in Italy
In 2017, Elizabeth Reaser was hosting a dog playdate in the backyard at her house in Silver Lake. “My friend saw Bruce [Gilbert] walking his dogs by and called out his name, inviting him up the driveway to the front yard,” the actor, who is best known for her roles in Twilight and Grey’s Anatomy, remembers. “She asked if we knew each other and the answer was yes, only because we met briefly eight years prior at another friend’s party.” Despite living within walking distance of each other in the same neighborhood, they hadn’t seen each other since. “In fact, Bruce said until that day he had never walked down my street,” Elizabeth continues. “The following day he asked my friend for my number and the rest is history. We owe our dogs everything! And our pal, who called him over.”
Bruce proposed in Italy during the summer of 2022 at Hotel Il San Pietro di Positano—Elizabeth’s favorite place in the world. “I was completely shocked!” recalls the actress of how she felt when the music supervisor asked her to marry him. “He secretly filmed it by shoving his iPhone in a lattice on the balcony, and we watched it almost immediately after as I was in complete disbelief! Then he played Beyoncé’s ‘Summer Renaissance,’ and we danced.”
After the proposal, the couple set a date—August 2023—and began the process of planning a wedding in Italy. “Originally, we were making these huge lists of people to invite but we realized pretty quickly it didn’t feel right for us,” Elizabeth notes. “So, we decided to elope instead, with a couple of friends as witnesses.”
They forwent having a wedding planner, and instead, worked directly with the team at Hotel Caruso in Ravello on the Amalfi Coast instead. They connected the couple with floral designer Armando Malafronte and helped with menus and every little detail in between. Elizabeth’s friend Megan Ferguson suggested her wedding photographer, Shawn Connell, and he ended up being available. “We loved him so much,” Elizabeth says. “I don't normally enjoy being photographed, and I thought I would be self-conscious, but he has such a special way about him. And since we met Megan and Nico [Evers-Swindell] after they were married, in a way, it was like we got to be connected to their wedding by having him photograph ours.”
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.”
Photo: Shawn Connell1/53The day before the wedding we took everyone on a boat trip along the Amalfi Coast—one of my favorite things in the world to do and the best way to see the area. The dress I’m wearing was a gift from Sarah.
