This Beauty Exec Bride Threw A Weekend-Long Extravaganza In The Moroccan Desert

In a turn of kismet, it turned out that Max had been planning to propose a week later – and had picked out the French jewellery house’s iconic mixed metal band for the occasion. Adding to the sense of star-crossed fate, the ring also happens to be one that Yopp’s mother had worn throughout her childhood.

While their 16-year union is also rom-com worthy material (they met while interning at L’Oréal, with Yopp, who was at Helena Rubinstein, requesting eye patches from Max at YSL), the journey to the wedding brought a number of unforeseen obstacles.

The pair immediately settled on Morocco as the destination. “We wanted to do something our family members could attend, and that would allow them to experience the culture that I grew up in,” says Yopp. “But such a celebration isn't traditionally common and requires the navigating of certain cultural nuances,” she explains. “I deeply respect my culture – but at the same time, I won’t delete who I am.” She highlights Morocco’s longstanding history as a place characterised by religious tolerance and acceptance. As such, while the pair formalised their union in France, their Moroccan celebrations became a symbolic testament to the unifying – and universal – power of love.

Getting to that point wasn’t without its trials, though. After calling off conversations with four different planners, Yopp and Scheyen’s faith began to dwindle. “I’m a big believer in energies, and just thought that something was off,” she says. “I just thought that this wedding wasn’t supposed to happen in Morocco. But Max was so insistent.”

A press trip Amber organised during a spell at YSL Beauty lead her to Villa Azaren. Max, naturally, knew the secluded venue from a previous work trip, and so, following a conversation with the villa’s owners – an English couple who appreciated their lack of fear to celebrate their authentic selves – the venue for their weekend-long celebration was set.

The Bride Wore A Vintage Baby Blue Dress To Marry At A Moroccan Villa Steeped In Fashion Lore

69 Photos

By Kerry McDermott

View Gallery

Well, one of them was, at least. In keeping with their shared love of ancient Arab world legends – and intent on stretching the celebrations over a full weekend, given that they’d have 150 guests flying in for the occasion – they decided to stage their very own “1003 nights” – a nod to the storied collection of tales spun by Scheherazade.

The first saw guests congregate in the walled gardens of Azaren for a lavish banquet, with guests seated along a 70-metre table decorated with Amalfi lemons, purple orchids and aubergines. “Paris-based chef Paul-Alexis Veyret-Logerias created a series of canapés inspired by Ashkenazi Alsatian specialties, based on Max’s home region, with Moroccan-inspired twists,” shares Yopp. “It was a real Parisian bistronomy vibe. We also had drinks, like a clear burnt tomato water, which our guests loved,” before moving onto a feast of Moroccan classics, prepared by caterers that Yopp’s Casablanca-based family had previously enlisted for special occasions. “We had pastilla, a classic tagine… the works!”

A self-professed fashion obsessive (“In another life, I think I would have been a fashion designer,” she says), Yopp had her heart set on an inlaid mother of pearl corset, like the one sported by Nicole Kidman on the red carpet of the 2024 Palm Springs Festival. “There was something about its reflection that I was obsessed with – the texture, the fabric and the fact that it’s not a classic all-white look.”

After discussions with two close friends – Asmae Allali, a high jeweller, and Guillaume Blanchet, a former Mugler designer – they got to work, but a series of technical glitches meant that it was necessary to change tack. “I was getting married on 19 September and by 30 August, I still didn’t have the dress! I guess life is more interesting when you live on the edges…” she says. Instead, the pair found a solution, constructing the piece from thousands of buttons collected from both the pair’s grandmothers’ collections, as well as the groom’s mother – a poignant bricolage of things borrowed, if you will.

For the something new, Yopp insisted on commissioning couture pieces. After the corset, paired with a custom The Row skirt, Yopp slipped into a white custom Antonio Grimaldi minidress with a convex neckline, legs for days and a fluttering train, with Max wearing a sharp suit custom made by Parisian menswear designer Louis Gabriel Nouchi.

The Pyramids Were The Spectacular Backdrop To This Couple’s Traditional Indian Wedding

54 Photos

By Mahoro Seward

View Gallery

For the ceremony – held at golden hour at a private douar in the Agafay desert the following day, the pair sported custom Ghita Lalou kaftans, inspired by traditional North African silhouettes popular in the 18th century and finished with decadent gilded embroideries. Amid a poetic installation of traditional carpets and mirrored objects, Yopp walked the aisle to classical Berber songs sung by Anissa Barboudi, with guests dressed in looks in line with the weekend’s “Oriental Ball” theme. “If the first night was Cannes, this was the AmFAR gala!” Scheyen laughs.

“Ahead of the ceremony, our mothers collectively gave a speech,” says Yopp, beaming. “We’d said, ‘OK guys, make sure to keep it to 10 minutes – they ended up speaking for 25, though!” All of our friends were sat on the floor on carpets, almost like they were gathered to hear elders recounting a story. It was such a sweet and emotional moment.”

Tenderness turned to celebration as the sun set, with Yopp changing into another couture look – a shimmering custom semi-sheer gown by Gaurav Gupta to dance the night away in. Across the weekend, Yopp and Sheyen were insistent on striking a careful balance between reverence and revelry. “It was pretty tricky – we had older families and party animal friends in the same space,” she recalls. “How do you manage to find the sweet spot for everyone to enjoy?” The answer was through an eclectic programme, featuring a Moroccan band, Mosaica, for the first evening, followed by a line-up of DJs for the main event, including Glitter55 and Lea Occhi, a DJ whose name you may recognise as a regular on the billing at Berlin techno temple Berghain. “We went from Diana Ross to disco to electro…” says Scheyen. At one point, it was like a real electro festival in the desert!”

As an executive at one of the world’s largest beauty magnates, the beauty stakes were pretty high. Yopp, however, opted for subtlety over spectacle. “I’ve been working in the beauty industry, specifically in make-up, for more than 10 years, so I can be very picky and particular,” she says, “and there’s nothing worse than a bride that doesn’t look like herself on her big day!” Working with Sarah Atallah, a longstanding collaborator of Yopp’s on shoots and campaigns, the pair worked on a look that was “fresh, glowy and natural, but made to last day and night through all the dancing, singing, jumping, emotion and crying”.

The look centred around a sharply defined eye and high gloss. “I’m a real gloss girl,” she says. “I used about four tubes of Yves Saint Laurent’s Loveshine Gloss over the course of the whole weekend!” For her hair, Yopp worked with Alexis Parente on a look that channelled archetypal French-girl insouciance – a feathered ’do that respected her hair’s naturally undulating texture with a hint of rock‘n’roll zhuzh. “The last thing I wanted was something that felt overdone. I really wanted a look that would stay in place, but didn’t look too precious,” she explains.

The Sun Broke Through The Clouds For This Couple’s Forest Wedding In The Bhutanese Himalayas

80 Photos

By Anna Grace Lee

View Gallery

On the jewellery front, the bride opted for a blend of family heirloom Art Deco pieces, along with a contemporary riff on the crowns traditionally worn for traditional Moroccan wedding celebrations for the main ceremony. “I’m obsessed with oriental interpretations of Art Deco jewellery, and there was a gorgeous bejewelled chocker and pendant necklace that my mother had received from my grandmother that I wore,” she shares. “The looks themselves were so embellished, so I wanted to keep things quite simple on the jewellery front.” The same applied to the shoes, with Yopp opting for Manolo Blahnik and Alaïa pumps.

The final chapter of the celebrations saw Yopp and her wedding party really let their hair down, with an oasis-themed pool party held at the Palais Hassoun, where the couple stayed throughout the celebrations. Fuelled with couscous canapés, sand-brewed coffee and cocktails to revive heads still sore from the night before, the wedding party chilled poolside and danced to beats mixed by whoever felt like taking to the open decks.

It was a moment of ease that made Yopp and Max realise that, despite the tribulations encountered along the way, theirs was a union that was written in the stars. “For us, it was as much about doing something that celebrates the people we love, as well as ourselves,” reflects Yopp. “It was almost like a collective shout of love to the world.”