Dear ITG,
My husband, Cody, and I met at a public swimming pool in Australia when we were 12 years old. Australians are very sun-smart because the sun is so strong. I knew a friend who was with Cody and I wanted to go talk to them, but I was wearing a rash vest and asked my dad if I could take it off. He said yes, as long as I put on sunscreen. He told me he’d be watching, and that he’d come over if I didn’t. I thought that would be the most embarrassing thing in the world, so I lathered it on. Cody ended up asking to borrow my sunscreen. We didn’t start dating until we were 15, but we’ve been together ever since.
We got married in 2020 in London, where we were living at the time. It was a courthouse wedding—no witnesses, no guests, just us. It was during COVID, but honestly, it was exactly how we would’ve wanted it anyway. Very fun and very chill. I bought my dress off the rack at Alexander Wang, we got ready together, ate hash browns, and then went back to The Rosewood Hotel to drink champagne and eat our wedding cake.
At the end of last year, we decided to renew our vows. In the five years since we got married, we’ve moved to Los Angeles and built businesses, and we wanted to celebrate those milestones. But if I’m being honest, I also just wanted to have a fun wedding experience all over again.
Our first wedding was very much an ode to London. We stayed at an iconic hotel and got married at Marylebone Town Hall, which feels quite landmark-y. So for the renewal, I wanted everything to feel very LA. We renewed our vows at a private estate in Beverly Hills, stayed at Chateau Marmont, got a Rolls-Royce, and drove along Sunset Boulevard.
I didn’t do a ton of prep. I got a facial and Botox a couple of weeks before with Christie Kidd. Other than that, I just stuck to my regular skincare routine. I know people go all out—if you Google wedding prep, you’ll find timelines starting a year in advance with suggestions including teeth whitening—but I really just wanted to enjoy the time with my husband and not feel like a character.
I grew up modeling and have had my makeup done every possible way, but I didn’t want anything too glam or heavy for my vow renewal. I still wanted to feel like me. Terezka Fraz did my makeup and hair—we’ve worked with her a lot for Heaven Mayhem, so she really understood my vision. We left my hair down for the first look and then slicked it back later, since I wished I’d worn it up for my first wedding. Neither look was super bridal, just very me. And then I wore Rosa Carnivora by Dries Van Noten as my scent. A friend gave it to me, and it’s very special. It smells like rose and vetiver, and the bottle is exactly my aesthetic: half zebra print, half pink.
One of the best parts of wedding planning was deciding on multiple outfits that balanced traditional and modern—that’s why some of them were nude-y brown rather than white. In total, I had five outfits. The first was a white dress from Albus Lumen, an amazing Australian designer, with tiny pearls. I did my hair and makeup in that dress and just sat there looking pretty. Then I wore a Magda Butrym dress for portraits. Once I saw it, I knew it had to be part of the day. The main dress was from Kyha, another Australian designer. It was custom, and I worked on it with my stylist Georgina Downe. I didn’t wear a veil the first time around, so I definitely wanted one this time. Then I changed into a vintage blush Balenciaga Museum Re-Edition 1960s dress with YSL satin mules. The final dress was vintage Cavalli, which I wore for dinner and drinks with a few friends at the Chateau.
Of course, I had to incorporate Heaven Mayhem. I wore some demi-fine, unreleased pieces—coming in this month—paired with real diamonds from Australian jeweler C Heinrich. I also wore a few pairs of shoes—one from Jude and a couple from Jimmy Choo. We actually ended up dyeing one of the pairs of the Jimmy Choos with tea to match the color of my dress.
Cody wore a Tom Ford suit, after years of saying he’s “not that guy.” I was happy. Oh! And I have to tell you about the cake because it was friggin delicious. Chocolate with crunchy hazelnut bits throughout. Basia Bieniek made it—she’s from Poland but living in LA at the moment—and I will be thinking about it for a very, very long time.
With love,
Pia Mance
—as told to Daise Bedolla
Photographs by Logan Mock and Emma Howie