They’re Hollywood’s golden couple. They roast each other on Instagram, donate millions to charity, and seem to have the kind of marriage most people only find in a Nicholas Sparks novel. But even a decade later, the blake lively ryan reynolds wedding remains a massive talking point—not just for the fashion, but for a choice that eventually led to a public apology and a quiet second ceremony.
It’s been over ten years since they said "I do" in South Carolina. People still search for those photos. They want to see the Marchesa dress. They want the recipe for the vanilla sour cream cake. But if you look deeper, you realize why you can’t find a full gallery of their big day anymore.
Honestly, it’s a weird story of how a Pinterest-perfect aesthetic can blind two of the world's biggest stars to actual history.
What Really Happened at the Blake Lively Ryan Reynolds Wedding?
On September 9, 2012, Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds got married in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. They kept it so secret that even the guest list—about 35 to 70 people depending on who you ask—didn't know they were attending a wedding until they arrived. Most thought it was just a 25th birthday party for Blake.
They chose Boone Hall Plantation.
If that name sounds familiar, it's because it was a primary filming location for The Notebook. For a couple of actors, that’s like hitting the romantic jackpot. It was atmospheric. It was Southern. It had those massive, moss-draped oaks.
But it also had nine preserved slave cabins on a stretch known as "Slave Street."
At the time, the world mostly focused on the glamour. Martha Stewart Weddings had the exclusive. They described a reception held under a white tent where Florence Welch sang "Cosmic Love." They talked about the "cloud-like" Marchesa gown with rose-gold embroidery.
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The Gown, the Burn, and the Cake
Let’s get into the details people actually care about. Blake's dress was a custom Marchesa. It was silk tulle, high-fashion, and very Serena van der Woodsen. But during the reception, while she was watching Florence and the Machine perform, a sparkler accidentally hit her dress.
It left a big burn mark right on the front.
Blake later told Vogue she was heartbroken until Ryan pointed to the mark and told her it was a permanent memory of that moment. Pretty smooth, Ryan.
The food was a whole other level of extra:
- The Cake: A vanilla sour cream cake with peach-nectarine preserves.
- The Extras: Earl Grey milk layers, chocolate buttercream, and blueberry cheesecake.
- The Vibe: Rustic-chic with blue-and-white checkered tablecloths and tons of pink jasmine.
But while the internet was obsessed with the rose-gold glitter on the flower petals, a larger conversation was brewing.
Why They Eventually Called It a "Giant Mistake"
Fast forward to 2018. Ryan Reynolds tweets something about the movie Black Panther. It’s a positive tweet, but the internet has a long memory. Users immediately pointed out the hypocrisy of celebrating Black excellence while having married on a plantation where Black people were once enslaved.
It got loud.
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By 2020, during the height of the Black Lives Matter movement, the couple finally addressed it head-on. Ryan didn't mince words in an interview with Fast Company. He called the choice of venue a "giant f---ing mistake."
He admitted that when they looked at the venue on Pinterest, they only saw the beauty. They didn't see the "devastating tragedy" the land was built on. It’s a classic case of privilege-induced tunnel vision.
The backlash was so significant that major wedding platforms like The Knot and Pinterest actually changed their policies. They stopped promoting or "glamorizing" plantation weddings because of the blake lively ryan reynolds wedding fallout.
The Second Wedding Nobody Saw
Because the shame was so heavy, the couple didn't just apologize on Instagram. They actually got married again.
Years after the 2012 ceremony, they held a private vow renewal at their home in New York. There are no photos of this one. No Martha Stewart exclusive. No sparklers. Just a quiet attempt to "re-pattern" their lives, as Ryan put it.
They also donated $200,000 to the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund around the time of their public apology.
Is the Drama Over?
Not really. In 2024 and 2025, the controversy bubbled up again. This time, it was linked to the drama surrounding Blake's film It Ends With Us and her reported feud with director Justin Baldoni. When public opinion shifts against a celebrity, the "receipts" always come back out.
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People started sharing the Boone Hall photos again. They cited the "Antebellum" theme of her old lifestyle site, Preserve, which she shut down years ago.
It’s a reminder that in the age of the internet, your wedding day isn't just a private memory; it’s a public record.
Practical Takeaways from the Lively-Reynolds Wedding Controversy
If you're planning a wedding or even just following celebrity culture, there's a lot to learn from how this played out. It wasn't just a "PR blunder"—it changed how an entire industry looks at historic venues.
- Research Beyond the Aesthetic: If you're booking a historic venue, look at what happened there 200 years ago, not just how it looks through a Kelvin filter.
- Acknowledge Mistakes Early: It took the couple eight years to fully apologize. That delay is why people still bring it up today.
- Action Matters More Than Posts: The couple’s decision to have a second ceremony and make significant financial donations helped shift the narrative from "performative" to "genuine regret."
- The Pinterest Trap is Real: Algorithms prioritize beauty over context. It's easy to get sucked into a "look" without understanding the story behind it.
If you're looking for those original wedding photos today, you'll find they are much harder to track down. Most major publications have scrubbed them or buried them behind articles explaining the controversy. The blake lively ryan reynolds wedding serves as the ultimate case study in how modern values can completely reframe a "fairytale" moment.
What you can do next: If you're interested in the evolution of wedding industry standards, you can look up the 2019 joint statement by Color of Change and The Knot, which outlines the specific guidelines now used to ensure historical venues are marketed with "respect and dignity" rather than just "Southern charm."