Small Moments

"I was hungover," Alice laughs, taking me back to the first time she met the man who would eventually become her husband. She had wandered out of her Stockholm apartment in search of fresh air, and found herself pushing open the door of a nearby interior design store. Inside was Henrik (in fact, it was his store). "I remember thinking he was cute and friendly," she says. "I don't think he could say the same about me that day."

He could, as it turns out. And four years later, on the fourth of October 2025 (exactly one year to the day after he proposed) they were married in a chic, low-key ceremony.

Alice Fanning and Henrik Mäkinen are clearly a couple who know their own minds. She is a freelance PR and creative consultant, Australian-born, Singapore-raised, Stockholm-based. He is the co-founder of Esteriör, an interior design studio, and is someone who clearly posses a meticulous eye for detail. In fact, when he decided to propose, Henrik made the ring himself from silver before taking Alice to the Swedish mountains where he grew up and asking the question on a breathtaking summit while out on a hike. Their wedding — at The Building in Stockholm, produced largely by themselves with the help of people they trusted — felt like the natural extension of all of this: personal to the point, almost, of irreverance, and all the more beautiful for it.

Their first date involved oysters, beer and two close friends who happened to be sitting at the next table (an unplanned addition). "I think it broke the ice a bit," Alice tells me. The relationship that followed unfolded slowly at first (as both were travelling constantly) but when they moved in together, six months after meeting, it settled quickly into something that felt, to both of them, inevitable. "Everything just clicked," she says, "and we realised this was something special."

The proposal came in 2024 in a place that mattered to Henrik long before Alice was part of his life. He had grown up near the Swedish mountains, close to the Norwegian border, and there was a particular summit he had returned to again and again as a child. He planned the trip in secret, got Alice into the mountains under sufficiently vague pretences, and "dragged her out into the forest and up the mountain." When they stopped, she thought it was a snack break. It was not. "The sun shone through clouds across the lake," he says, "and we drank champagne and basked in the moment."

The morning of the wedding, they woke up together and before anything else, they sat with their coffee and read their vows to one another. "It felt really intimate and personal," Alice tells me. Henrik, by his own admission, was considerably less calm once the day was properly underway. "I was the bridezilla, not Alice," he laughs. He was anxious through the ceremony, but tells me that, somewhere on the other side of it, he settled in. One of his favourite moments was walking outside with Alice after the ceremony, their first moments as a married couple, and climbing into the white vintage Land Rover they had waiting for them, all their guests waving them off. "It was such a fun thing to do. And then it was also so nice to have a moment with just the two of us in the car, driving away."

Alice wore three dresses. For the ceremony, a custom piece by Filippa Fuxe, worn with a Toteme coat and a veil from Wed Studio, carried in a Fane bag. For dinner, a bridal dress by Fidan Novruzova. For the party, a custom Nicklas Skovgaard. All three designers are independent; almost all are Scandinavian. The shoes across all three looks (all Miu Miu) were bought second-hand. "I wanted to feel like myself," she says, "and wear brands and designers I normally wear and love." Her make-up was by MAC artist Stefan R, "a modern twist on a '90s look with a red-brown lip." Her hair — a romantic ballerina bun by hairstylist Sandra Wannerstedt — was inspired by her childhood spent training in ballet. Henrik went the other way entirely. "My idea was less is more," he explains. "Black on black, a little bit seventies." A custom double-breasted Tiger of Sweden suit, no tie, a single white orchid boutonnière. Prada shoes, also sourced second-hand. The orchid was not incidental. Alice was born in Singapore, where it is the national flower; orchids appeared in her bouquet and throughout the decoration.

The wedding rings were made by their Oslo-based friend Zuzana Spustova, who also designed all of Alice's jewellery for the day. They planned almost everything themselves (both have backgrounds in events and production, after all) with on-the-day coordination handled by their close friend Philip Hördegård. Before guests sat down to dinner, each found a handwritten personal note beside their menu. "We wanted to create a nice, memorable moment," Alice says, "and make everyone feel special and loved."

“Love isn't about being the same, but about understanding how the other person functions emotionally and energetically.”

Music was, according to both, non-negotiable. Alice's father walked her down the aisle to ‘Just Like Heaven’ by The Cure. Their friend Fredrika Ribbing performed two songs during the ceremony — The National's ‘I Need My Girl’ and Mazzy Star's ‘Fade into You’. "One was Henrik's favourite," Alice says, "and one was mine." They kissed and walked back down the aisle to Air's ‘Sexy Boy’, played loudly. They were introduced as husband and wife to Joy Division's ‘Love Will Tear Us Apart’. There was no first dance; instead, there were two last dances — Daft Punk's ‘One More Time’, and then, to close the night, Robbie Williams' ‘Angels’.

2024 and 2025 were, by their own account, difficult years. Both experienced burnout. "We really stepped up for each other in that time," Alice says. And what they learned, she continues, sits with them now as something truly lasting and meaningful for their future together. "Love isn't about being the same," she says, "but about understanding how the other person functions emotionally and energetically. Our relationship grows strongest not when everything is perfect, but when we face difficult seasons together with honesty and care."

Is there anything, looking back, she would have done differently? "No regrets," Alice says.