Julia Tang, VP, head of product and marketing at Victorious, and Justin Montibello, head of global SMB strategy & operations at Twitter, are both private people and intentionally wanted a small, destination wedding. The couple has a tradition amongst their friends of planning different retreats in various destinations for special events, so they chose Terminal Neige with views of Mont Blanc in Chamonix.
They booked out the entire hotel, so everyone could comfortably come and go from daily activities. To help plan everything, they hired Leticia Williamns-Balue, founder of Opaline, who speaks English and French and has a background in fashion. “The bonus was that during our kick-off call, we realized that Leticia has a long history of professional skiing, growing up near Vermont, so she definitely understood what Justin’s love for the mountain lifestyle and skiing was all about.”
For her wedding dress, Julia went to Israeli designer Dana Harel’s showroom in New York and worked with the designer to custom make her gown. And to help her get ready, Maison Marcelle did the bride’s hair and makeup before the ceremony.
On a trip to visit the bride’s father in Hong Kong, Justin got a custom, three-piece tuxedo from W.W. Chan & Sons Tailor Ltd., known for its impeccable Shanghainese craftsmanship. The groom also chose a red fabric to line the jacket, symbolizing good luck and good marriage in Chinese culture.
On the day-of, the couple’s 40 guests gathered outside for the ceremony, perched up on a glacier at 6,280-feet high. The bride walked down the aisle with her father to an acoustic version of “Somewhere Only We Know” performed live by Estonian singer Lembe Lokk. Once they were announced as a married couple, guests moved inside for cocktails, while Justin and Julia joined their immediate families for a traditional tea ceremony, presided over by Julia’s mother.
Everyone rejoined in the dining room, decorated with hanging dried floral installations by Madame Artisan Fleuriste, for a four-course meal with regional French specialties and wine pairings from the Savoy Alps. As dinner finished, Lembe and the trio band, M.A.I.N., played jazz tunes, as people swayed and huddled around a fire, clutching mugs of hot chocolate and rum. The newlyweds took to the dance floor for their first dance too, which was to Frank Ocean’s cover of “Moon River.”
As their crew was pretty tame and the altitude sped up the effects of the champagne and rum, most of the wedding turned in for the night at a reasonable hour, but not before writing their well wishes on biodegradable paper lanterns that they sent up into the night sky.
The newlyweds then stayed in France and extended their trip for their honeymoon. They eventually headed to Provence and then took a high-speed train to Paris before flying home to California.
