In an idyllic setting along the shores of the Baltic Sea, Tricia and Niklas tied the knot while surrounded by friends and family. Tricia, in true form, wore some incredible custom jewelry from ESQUELETO! Read all about it below!
Jessie: We know the wedding was in Sweden, but what was the venue like? Can you give us a little visual description?
Tricia: We rented out a secluded boutique hotel in the Stockholm Archipelago, it’s located on the Näcka nature preserve. The hotel faces the brackish waters of the Baltic Sea. The top floor of the hotel is the dining area/dance floor. The bottom floor has hotel rooms, a large sauna, and an outside deck. The style is very Scandinavian: clean, minimal lines with layers of sheep skin, fur, and coziness. It was nice to have several levels for everyone to hang out at. Everyone eventually got naked and jumped into the sea then ran back and forth into the sauna. There were still a bunch of people swimming while the sun was rising at dawn the next day.
JZ: Your wedding dress was SO chic and we love that you didn’t go with traditional white! Who made it? Did you have an idea of how you wanted it to look, or did you see it and know it was the one?
TG: Traditionally in Sweden, the bride and groom get ready together and walk down the aisle, so there’s no mystery on the dress the day of the wedding. Niklas really wanted to pick out the dress. We had already gone to a wedding dress boutique in San Francisco and tried on a bunch of white dresses and I just didn’t feel right in any of them. Let’s face it, I ain’t no virgin and this isn’t my first wedding. I booked a visit at Vera Wang, because I heard they had decent champagne there. When we arrived, Amy Mako, who was helping me asked us to start pulling dresses. But I had told her I wasn’t sure about a traditional looking dress and I didn’t want white. She asked if I would like to wear a black dress and she pulled out all these black gowns from the back. We narrowed it down to a gorgeous mermaid shaped dress and the one I eventually got. Niklas actually chose the dress!
JZ: Kaia’s feathered ensemble was also quite stunning, how did that come together? Did she feel like a spectacular rare bird wearing it?
TG: There’s a great designer, Tutu Du Monde. They have a bespoke division that you can create a dress. I asked Kaia to be my maid of honor and she accepted. So she designed her own dress. She even added that feather cape, which every lady coveted at the wedding. Our friend Chida, who married us, kept teasing Kaia that she was going steal it. She said she felt witchy and when she was taking her photo shots in the woods, you can tell she had inspiration from birds and nature posing.
JZ: Who/what is your style inspiration?
TG: The ocean is a big influence on me- I am drawn to oceanic colors, shark teeth, coral, pearls. I am also a big fan of McQueen’s Bjork years when he dressed her, and of Dries Van Noten’s patterns. And I love black, so I tend to be drawn to a more punk look. I like my rings and necklaces to double as weapons (just in case). I like objects that are sharp, pointy, and prehistoric!
JZ: What was the inspiration for your custom LWJ tiara? It looked so epic with the hair.
TG: Old Swedish tradition has the bride wearing a crown, but these old crowns are crazy tall. Niklas wanted to make me a crown but he didn’t have enough time since we had Ragnar. Naturally we went to Lauren for help! She came back with a design and it was beautiful, so I said DO IT. I think she did it that style because she was planning on making that crazy pearl collar necklace and wanted something a bit more subtle for the crown. I love her process too. She asked for pictures and videos of how the dress moved and how the veil was to be worn. I don’t think a lot of designers think about movement when it comes to jewelry, but it’s actually important! Your body moves, so what jewelry you wear will too. How is that piece going to look when the dress swirls, when it bounces when you walk, when the veil gets blown (will it snag??)
JZ: You love commissioning custom projects. Does the designer in you like to be part of the process? I imagine there’s a special connection to pieces that are made just for you.
TG: I always fancy myself as a designer in my head, but I can’t make jewelry! So it’s wonderful to work with extremely talented people like Lauren Wolf and Polly Wales to get the pieces you want in your head to come to life. Actually, all of the custom pieces that Lauren has made for me over the years, blow “what I initially had in my head” out of the water. I could not be happier with all of the jewelry that I’ve had made for me. Besides, I am also one of those people that hate having something that someone else has; that’s why I try and go custom most of the time. I even asked Sarah Swell to add diamonds to my Big Sur band so that it looked different!
For my wedding, Lauren created a custom warrior collar necklace with freshwater pearls. It’s so gorgeous. I actually prance around naked with it at night, because I love it so much and it makes me feel super sexy. I also have this super sick 4ct champagne diamond ring with black diamonds on the sides that my husband got Lauren to do some customization on. My gold skull set that Polly Wales custom made for me and my husband, that glitters with gray, white, and yellow diamonds, is another treasure.
JZ: Finally, how did it feel to marry your love in his homeland?
It was beautiful. The one word I consistently use to describe Niklas, is Magic. Being in Sweden embodied all those magical factors. The weather was perfect, days before there was a crazy heat wave and we were supposed to have rain on the day of the wedding [but didn't]. Seeing all of his friends and family celebrate him (and us), gave me so much joy. Niklas is such a good person throughout his heart and soul. He’s does so much for anyone that asks of him, but he never asks for help. He’s gone through some personal tough times in the past, so it was great to have his people rally around him for once. I love that Ragnar and Kaia were present at this loving moment in our lives. It was almost like this traveling herd of Americans stopping at the edge of the sea, in the forest, to meet with the Swedes and party all night!
