Sarah Jessica Parker Wedding: The Real Story Behind That Black Dress

You remember the photo. It’s grainy, a bit blurry, and looks like a candid snap from a 1990s house party. Sarah Jessica Parker is laughing, her hair is a wild halo of curls, and she is wearing a dress that launched a thousand think-pieces. It wasn't white. It wasn't cream. It wasn't even "eggshell."

It was ink-black.

When the Sarah Jessica Parker wedding to Matthew Broderick happened on May 19, 1997, it wasn't the media circus you’d expect for two of New York’s biggest stars. There were no drones, no NDRs for the caterers, and definitely no "sponsored by" tags. Honestly, it was a miracle it stayed a secret as long as it did.

The Surprise on a Monday Night

Imagine getting an invite to a "party" on a random Monday in the Lower East Side. You show up at the Angel Orensanz Center—a stunning, deconsecrated synagogue—expecting some drinks and maybe a little dancing. Instead, you walk in and realize you’re at a wedding.

That’s exactly what happened to the 100 guests who gathered for the SJP and Matthew Broderick nuptials. They didn't even have a proper aisle. SJP later joked that they had to bring electricity into the building themselves because the place was so old-school it barely had plumbing.

It was raw. It was New York. It was real.

The ceremony was officiated by Matthew’s sister, Janet Broderick Kraft, who is an Episcopal priest. There’s something kinda beautiful about that, right? No flashy celebrity officiant, just family. They kept the whole thing under wraps to avoid the paparazzi, which, in 1997, was basically an Olympic sport.

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Why a Black Wedding Dress?

This is the part everyone still talks about. SJP didn't wear black because she was trying to be "edgy" or start a Gothic trend. The truth is much more... relatable.

She was embarrassed.

"I was too embarrassed to get married in white," she told Marie Claire years later. She and Matthew were both so self-conscious about the attention being on them. They spend their lives being looked at, being filmed, being directed. For their wedding, they just wanted to blend into the wallpaper of their own party.

She basically ran into a shop she liked—Morgane Le Fay—and grabbed something off the rack. It was a black, ruffled, spaghetti-strap gown. No fittings. No months of custom tailoring. She just wanted to be a guest at her own wedding.

The regret she can't shake

You’d think a fashion icon would stand by her most famous sartorial choice. But SJP has been surprisingly vocal about her "black dress regret." She’s admitted in several interviews, including one with Andy Cohen, that if she could do it all over again, she’d "white it up."

She’s even described her dream "do-over" dress: an Oscar de la Renta-style gown with a fitted bodice, a massive taffeta skirt, and—most importantly—pockets.

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What Most People Get Wrong About the Day

A lot of fans confuse the Sarah Jessica Parker wedding with the fictional weddings of Carrie Bradshaw. We saw Carrie get stood up at the New York Public Library in that massive Vivienne Westwood gown. We saw her finally marry Big in a simple vintage suit at City Hall.

But SJP is not Carrie.

While Carrie’s life was a series of high-fashion traumas, SJP’s real-life wedding was a celebration of Broadway culture. They didn't have a curated "wedding playlist" by a celebrity DJ. Instead, the guests reportedly sang show tunes at the top of their lungs until 2:00 a.m. It was loud, unpolished, and very "theater kid."

How They've Made It Last 29 Years

In a town where marriages usually have the shelf life of an avocado, these two are an anomaly. They’ve been together nearly three decades.

How? Well, they don't talk about it.

Seriously. SJP told the Huffington Post that the secret is basically silence. They don't air their "dirty laundry," and they don't hold their marriage up as a trophy for the public to inspect. They live in the West Village, they walk their kids to school, and they treat their relationship like a private conversation rather than a public performance.

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Matthew Broderick once said the secret is that they are "friends beyond everything else." It sounds simple, almost too simple, but in the chaos of Hollywood, maybe that’s the only thing that actually works.

Lessons from the SJP Wedding Playbook

If you're looking at SJP’s wedding for inspiration, don't just look at the color of the dress. Look at the vibe.

• Prioritize the party over the "production." They didn't even have a photographer for most of the night. They just wanted to be present.
• Surprise can be your best friend. If you want to avoid the stress of everyone’s opinions on your flowers and seating charts, just don't tell them it's a wedding until they arrive.
• Don't be afraid to be "embarrassed." If a traditional white gown feels like a costume to you, wear something else. Even if you regret it 20 years later, it’ll be your story to tell.

The Sarah Jessica Parker wedding remains one of the most iconic "anti-weddings" in history. It wasn't about the dress—even if that’s all we talk about—it was about two people trying to find a quiet moment in a very loud city.

If you're planning your own big day, maybe take a page from the Parker-Broderick book. Forget the "rules" of what a bride should look like. Focus on who you want to be sitting with in thirty years. For SJP, it was the guy who could sing show tunes with her until dawn.

Take a look at your own guest list. Who are the people you’d want at a surprise party on a Monday night? Start there. Forget the "perfect" dress for a second and think about the feeling of the room. Sometimes the best memories are the ones that weren't perfectly staged for a camera.