The wedding between Natalie Portman and Benjamin Millepied reflected not just the bride’s Jewish faith and the groom’s French nationality, but also the couple’s outlook on the world. Instead of having flowers flown in, the ceremony featured wildflowers indigenous to the Big Sur coast where the ceremony took place, and instead of “fish or steak” the menu was strictly vegan in keeping with the bride’s diet. Portman, 31, chose a traditional white gown from Rodarte, the same house that made the purple dress that Portman wore to the 2010 Oscars, and wore a crown of white wildflowers in her hair. The groom, 35, wore a midnight blue tux. The 45-minute ceremony, said to be designed and coordinated by LA-based wedding planners Yifat Oren and Stefanie Cove, took place on a bluff overlooking the ocean and under a rustic Jewish chuppah made of twigs. They were surrounded by family – including 14-month-old son Aleph – and friends, including Ivanka Trump and Macaulay Culkin. During the ceremony, the couple were wrapped in a tallits, a Jewish prayer shawl, and in keeping with custom, things ended with Millepied smashing a glass to shouts of “Mazel Tov!” The reception was held under a tent at a private residence, and featured a Klezmer band. The newly married couple kicked the dancing off with a 20-minute hora dance before being lifted up in chairs by guests. Continue Reading

Here comes the bride! Natalie Portman said “I do” on Saturday night to her fiancé of two years, French dancer and choreographer Benjamin Millepied, on the scenic central California coast of Big Sur, a source confirms to PEOPLE. Surrounded by family and friends, including Ivanka Trump, the pair exchanged vows after dark in a Jewish ceremony at a private home. The Oscar winner, 31, first met Millepied, 35, on the set of Black Swan in the fall of 2009. He worked as a choreographer on the film and the two started to date during the shoot. By December 2010, the couple announced they were engaged and expecting their first child. Their son Aleph is 14-months old. “Nothing is more important than my personal life,” Portman recently told France’s Madame Figaro magazine. “It’s something which comes first, always makes sense, and compared to the happiness of a successful family life, everything else is practically superficial.” Now that Portman has made her love official, the newlywed may consider becoming a French citizen like her husband. “I now have the possibility of taking on French nationality. It would accomplish the Francophile dreams of my father and myself,” she told the magazine. “I lived in Paris when I was 12 and my father gave me the name Natalie as an homage to Gilbert Bécaud’s song. Everything in my life has drawn me towards a French family.” Continue Reading