Days after Bianca Betancourt documented the lavish engagement party of Madison Utendahl. Harper’s Bazaar, she was preparing for her own big day: her wedding! The culture editor married her fiancé, DJ Ben Stepnowski, in October. The couple married at The Big Easy, six years after their first date and a year after getting engaged at the same hotel. This weekend was a glittering celebration of dancing, NOLA, and of course, love. Let Bianca take it away.
Dear ITG
I’m a wife! I married her husband Ben on October 20th in New Orleans.
Ben and I met at the end of 2017. That was before I became culture editor. Harper’s Bazaar—When I lived in Chicago. Funny thing is, he was my ex-boyfriend’s roommate, so it’s always a fun conversation starter. At the time, I was running an indie art magazine called “”. circusThen, when I learned that he was a DJ, I asked him to appear at a gallery event sponsored by a magazine. He was a real DJ who played in clubs and I asked him to do this little event there because he needed a DJ and I liked him. We spent a few weeks together and the night of the party he asked me to be his girlfriend.
The first trip we took together was to New Orleans to celebrate Ben’s birthday. I had been to her NOLA by myself earlier that year and loved everything about it: the food, the music, the people. And I knew Ben would love it too. After that first trip, we went on a trip every year, whether it was for birthdays, anniversaries, or just a weekend getaway, until the pandemic hit.
Last year on our 5th anniversary, Ben surprised me. Hotel St. VincentAnd he proposed on one of the balconies with dinner and flowers. He considered several other venues when he was early planning his wedding, but ultimately landed on HSV. Not only was it luxurious, but I loved the food, drinks, and staff. That was natural.
The color scheme for the wedding was cream and black. There was also a pop of silver, the photo booth had fun metal fringe, and there was also a disco ball. So before we even knew what it was going to be like, it had a Beyoncé club renaissance feel to it.
At first I wanted a princess dress. Don’t get me wrong, those gowns are beautiful, but when I actually started trying them on, there was too much fabric. In the end, I found the perfect Eva Rendell dress. It has a very beautiful off-the-shoulder neckline, a not-too-long train, and a slightly sexy leg slit. It’s also off-white. I didn’t want a true white because it was too white for my skin. She wore Magda Butrim strappy sandals for the ceremony, then changed into Loeffler Randall kitten mules and kept walking throughout the second row, cocktail hour, and first dance. As the dance floor heated up, I changed into a baby blue strapless dress from 16Arlington and silver kitten heels from Larroudé.
I worked with a makeup artist molly gross for my makeup. We met in Chicago and moved to New York around the same time, so we’ve been friends for almost 10 years. In fact she already knew what I wanted to experiment with and what I didn’t want to experiment with and what would work for my face. My two main inspirations were Zendaya, specifically her work. Raul Alejandre, Beyoncé. I think her makeup during the Renaissance tour was very good. It was festive, but not overdone. So I wanted a little bit of Renaissance shine and that fresh, glowing look that is Zendaya’s signature.
Molly used a lot of Charlotte Tilbury, Rare Beauty, and Saie on me for both the rehearsal dinner and the actual wedding. For my dinner lip look, she used the following combination: charlotte tilbury lip cheat liner in symbolic nude and Pillow talk 3 richplus a little Rare Beauty Lip Souffle Matte Cream Lipstick in courage in the center of the lips, charlotte tilbury lip luster gloss in Pillow talk The next day, we kept the Charlotte Tilbury combo, but we swapped combos. Rare Beauty Lip Souffle Matte Lip Cream in With confidence And that Saie Glossy Bounce Lip Gloss Oil in kiss.
My updo was very 90s and Pamela Anderson inspired. Now that I think about it, it definitely has a Selena Quintanilla vibe to it. Selena, everything is always embedded in my brain. In the end, my look consisted of her two processes. I went to my regular hairstylist, Mickyla Mbatha, for a trim and my first hair extensions to add volume. To be honest, I was scared. I thought they might seem crazy. But no one knew I had them unless I told them.Then in New Orleans, my hair stylist courtney bradberry from paris parker. She’s basically NOLA’s hair queen. She’s been doing this work for 15 years, so if you want a great special event hairstyle, you should go to her. She wore her hair in side bangs for the rehearsal dinner and in beautiful, voluminous waves for the ceremony. For the after-party, she undone in just her 15 minutes. she is magic
I went to a really cute salon on Magazine Street. Southern Swings Nail Spa, for a classic French mani where you literally sit on a swing, I didn’t want to think too hard. For the toes, I chose a really nice pinky nude. my vampire is buff From OPI. Ben also got a mani-pedi.
Choosing a perfume over the weekend was very important.I ended up wearing more than one layer. Pururu’s father figure and Dauphinette’s 369. Father Figure is a very fig scent with a touch of bergamot, which is a big thumbs up for me. What I wore the night before was Pururu’s missing persona warm and spicy scent mixed with citrus scents. Reduox’s Paradise Service.
We are very much looking forward to our honeymoon next year. We’ll probably be heading to the Amalfi Coast in the spring, but we spent a few days here for a little celebration. Delamar Hotel After the wedding in Southport, CT. During the fall, Ben laughed because I kept saying it was like an episode of Gilmore Girls, but it really was!
—As told by Dice Vedra
Photo by Mollie Gloss and JP Calubaquib.Provided by Bianca Betancourt
