For a decade, Christina Hendricks was married to Geoffrey Arend. It was a sweet marriage – the bombshell redhead married to a nerd king. They divorced in 2019 and I was sort of sad about it. They never really talked about what happened. I didn’t even know that Christina started seeing someone new, but here we are. Christina married George Bianchini in New Orleans and she gave a huge exclusive to People Mag about the three-day wedding festivities, plus she gave People an exclusive look at her wedding dress. After reading this piece, I hope Christina eventually posts her wedding photos on Instagram, or that she gave another exclusive to a different magazine, because I’m dying to see all of this:
Christina Hendricks has tied the knot! The actress, 48, married George Bianchini at the historic Napoleon House in New Orleans on Saturday, April 20. The guest list included Mad Men creator Matt Weiner, Christian Siriano, Mae Whitman and Retta. Hendricks tells PEOPLE that both she and Bianchini — a camera operator who has worked on numerous films and TV shows — chose the Big Easy for their nuptials as they both have a special connection to the city.
“New Orleans is a place that I always loved to go before I met George, and a place that he always loved to go before he met me. And then when we first started dating or meeting up, because we lived across the country from one another, it was the place in the middle,” she explains.
As for their venue, they landed on Napoleon House — a French Quarter landmark that was once the residence of New Orleans mayor Nicholas Girod, who famously offered Napoleon Bonaparte refuge during his exile — after falling in love with the restaurant’s history and eclectic grandeur. “It’s got this rustic Cuban, Spanish, European textured, high-low feeling to it, which I guess is how we feel about ourselves a little bit — a little high-low,” Hendricks says. “It’s got the most gorgeous walls with paint peeling off, and then you walk upstairs and there’s these grand dining rooms with the beautiful ceilings.”
The three-day wedding weekend kicked off with a welcome cocktail party, held at a mini mansion on the Soniat House property, followed by a ghost tour in the French Quarter. The mansion also served as the couple’s “home base” throughout the weekend and a place to get ready for the various festivities. For the wedding itself at Napoleon House, Hendricks says she went “full floral,” filling the venue with an abundance of fresh blooms.
“I’ve always loved flowers. It’s something so special to me, and I’ve never really indulged in just having an event and just letting it be a festival of flora and fauna,” she tells PEOPLE. Hendricks chose a color palette of plum, blush and chocolate shades, which she describes as “gothic, moody and sexy,” with lots of Queen Anne’s lace. “George and I are both ex-goths, so that speaks to us,” she says.
Hendricks and Bianchini’s ceremony was officiated by her close friend Shirley Manson, lead singer of the rock band Garbage. “It was super exciting for us because I really think [Manson] is one of the most extraordinary writers and poets. We just look at her and her marriage to her husband Billy [Bush], and they are couple goals for us,” the Good Girls star says. The couple hand-wrote their vows for each other, which Hendricks says was one of the more “nerve-wracking” items on their wedding to-do list.
A goth wedding with a ghost tour of the French Quarter, and a ceremony officiated by Shirley Manson?? Jesus, if you have the money to do it, why isn’t everyone doing their weddings like this?? How f–king cool. It’s also sort of patriotic to me to see American celebrities embrace a “destination weddings” within America. Like, you don’t have to make everyone fly to Italy or France for your wedding. It feels like “celebrities getting married in NOLA” has become more of a thing in recent years and I completely approve – New Orleans needs the tourism money, and there’s so much to see and do in NOLA. Anyway, congrats to Christina and her new husband! Please post some photos, Christina!!
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, People Magazine’s IG.