KEY TAKEAWAYS
- •Bettina Looney and Carlos Segovia married in South Africa in February 2020, days before pandemic lockdowns began, after a civil ceremony in Ocala, Florida four months earlier with Bettina's grandmother present
- •The four-day wedding weekend spanned a rooftop welcome party, a braai at sculptor Dylan Lewis's private garden, a ceremony at the flower farm property Johannesdal, and a midnight Hispanic 'la hora loca' celebration
- •Bettina wore a bespoke Khyeli gown for the ceremony, with her late grandmother's earrings, a sapphire bracelet, and a charm tied to her bouquet alongside a photograph, since her grandmother died one month before the wedding
- •Bridesmaids wore custom pieces by Tongoro, the ethical fashion label founded by Sarah Diouf, continuing Bettina's yearslong collaboration with the designer
- •Guests were asked to donate to the Avela Foundation, a nonprofit supporting children recovering from burn injuries, in lieu of traditional wedding gifts
Bettina Looney and Carlos Segovia grew up an hour and a half apart in Florida, attended the same university, shared overlapping social circles, and somehow did not meet until both of them had moved to London. There were so many moments, Bettina says, where they could have crossed paths and simply missed each other — until, in her words, the universe decided it was time. They connected over Facebook Messenger, back when that still counted as how people met, and Carlos invited her to a dinner party at his home. Bettina remembers feeling, almost immediately, as though they had known each other their entire lives. They said as much out loud to one another that first night, with neither of them fully grasping what was actually about to unfold.
What unfolded, eventually, was a four-day wedding weekend in South Africa in February 2020 — held days before the world went into lockdown, and later remembered as one of the most widely referenced bridal style moments of the following pandemic year, when brides everywhere were postponing, replanning, and reimagining their own weddings from a distance. Bettina, a personal stylist and tastemaker, brought the same instinct for detail to her own wedding that defines her professional work, and the results carried influence well beyond the guests who were actually there.
The wedding itself was the second of two ceremonies. Months earlier, Bettina and Carlos married in a small civil service in Ocala, Florida, specifically so that Bettina's grandmother — at the time battling ovarian cancer — could witness the union. The South Africa celebration that followed was for everyone else: four days of parties, ethical fashion collaborations, a flower farm ceremony, and a midnight Hispanic tradition that turned into a soundproofed dance party lasting until 6 a.m.
A Love Story Built on Near-Misses
The couple's first date happened almost by accident. A planned group dinner with Carlos's friends collapsed when everyone canceled at the last minute, leaving Bettina and Carlos to go alone. Halfway through the meal, Bettina realized the evening had shifted into something else entirely — she excused herself to the bathroom, touched up her lipstick, and returned for what became the first of countless evenings together. Falling for him, she says, happened quickly and without effort. He was her person from the first day they met.
Six months into dating, they moved in together — though not without a complication. Bettina had to return briefly to the United States for visa issues, with plans to move back into a London flat with a friend rather than with Carlos. She recalls him spending the entire separation building his case for why she should live with him instead. She came back to London nervous, starting a new job and moving in with someone she had not yet spent enormous amounts of time with. It remains, by her own account, the best decision she has ever made.
Their first weekend trip together, to Babington House in Somerset, became the moment Bettina says she officially fell in love. After drinks at a nearby hotel, the two decided to walk back — Bettina in heels entirely unsuited to the distance. Carlos removed his own shoes and walked the entire way in his socks so she would not have to struggle. She remembers thinking, in that moment, that he was the most attractive man she had ever encountered for doing exactly that.
A photograph from that same weekend, taken at the hotel restaurant, was sent to both sets of parents. Each set, independently, said the same thing: this was the moment they knew their children had found their forever partners. The photograph and the table where it was taken would resurface five years later under circumstances neither of them could have planned.
When Carlos arranged a return trip to Babington House with his cousins from Spain, the hotel's check-in delay placed the group at the exact restaurant table from years earlier, with a glass of champagne while their room was prepared. Bettina, overwhelmed by the coincidence, proposed the idea of skipping convention entirely and asking Carlos to marry her on the spot. He looked at her with a blank expression — he had, unbeknownst to her, an entire proposal of his own planned for thirty minutes later.
Bettina and Carlos's engagement took place five years after their first weekend trip together to Babington House in Somerset — at the same restaurant table where they had once taken a photo to send to their parents.
Day Two — A Sculpture Garden Braai
“When Anne took us to Dylan Lewis's private garden, which took 10 years to create with all of his sculptures sprawled underneath the dramatic Stellenbosch mountains, I was so emotional. It was definitely a pinch-me moment.”
The wedding's first official event took place at Chinchilla, a rooftop bar on the Camps Bay Promenade, where the couple rented the space exclusively and decorated with vegetable installations in place of traditional floral arrangements. Bettina wore a Brock Collection dress with Wandler shoes, a 0711 handbag, and earrings from her engagement ring designer, SHAY — welcoming guests into a weekend built on great canapés and incredible cocktails against a spectacular sunset.
The following day brought a braai — a traditional South African barbecue — at the Dylan Lewis Sculpture Garden, a venue both Bettina and Carlos had long admired for the artist's work and the setting itself. The garden, ten years in the making, sits beneath the dramatic Stellenbosch mountains. Bettina and her bridesmaids arrived early for photos with the Spain-based team La Dichosa, alongside videographers Les Vaques and stylist Daniel Obasi — a Nigerian stylist working his first wedding, brought in specifically to give the photography a more distinct stylistic edge. Bettina wore a sculptural, open-back Alberta Ferretti gown with Old Celine earrings, Maxine shoes, and a Benedetta Bruzziches clutch, while her bridesmaids wore custom Tongoro, the ethical fashion label founded by Sarah Diouf, with whom Bettina has collaborated for years.
The Wedding Day at Johannesdal
WHY IT MATTERS
The wedding ceremony took place at Johannesdal, a high-design home and working flower farm that Bettina had fallen completely in love with during the planning process. The property's capacity was too small for the full guest list, so the couple's team incorporated the adjacent venue under construction next door, Johannesdal 1207 — allowing guests to walk through Johannesdal's interiors for the ceremony before moving to the neighboring property for the reception.
Bettina got ready that morning surrounded by her mother, mother-in-law, closest girlfriends, and her hair and makeup team, Massimo Spazzoli and Rachel Singer Clark, with her father and brother moving in and out of the room. She describes feeling entirely at peace throughout the morning — music playing, wine flowing, everyone dancing — and remained calm until the actual moment of putting on her dress, the only point in the entire week she felt any nervousness.
The Midnight Hora Loca and the After-Party
Dinner followed the ceremony in the lower lawn, with tablescapes by Lush Flowers — a vendor Bettina discovered while searching for arrangements in downtown Cape Town — and custom rattan bars and DJ booths the couple designed themselves alongside planner Anne Mann and Curated Event. A bossa nova band soundtracked a dinner prepared by Jacques Erasmus of Hemelhuijs, one of Cape Town's most respected restaurants. The couple's first dance, to 'Like I'm Gonna Lose You' by Meghan Trainor and John Legend, was performed live as a direct tribute to Bettina's grandmother, who had been devoted to Meghan Trainor's music and had danced to the same song with the couple before her death.
At midnight, the celebration shifted into la hora loca — the crazy hour, a Hispanic wedding tradition — with marimba drummers, Segovia-branded tambourines, and floral headbands handmade by Carlos's mother. A surprise performance followed: members of Carlos's family emerged in tropical outfits with fruit headpieces for a full choreographed dance that left the couple stunned. The party then moved into a soundproofed club the couple built specifically inside the venue to avoid noise complaints, dancing until 6 a.m. Bettina changed into a Khyeli minidress with tulle off-shoulder sleeves and a long tulle train for the late-night stretch. The following day, guests reconvened at Pengilly House for a midday recovery brunch that, despite its recovery framing, turned into one final full-scale party before the weekend closed.
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Serena Holloway covers bridal fashion, real-world celebrations, and everything in between — from intimate destination weddings to grand ballroom affairs. She believes every couple deserves a wedding story worth telling, and she brings warmth and precision to every piece she writes.
