Blake Lively & Ryan Reynolds: The Secret Wedding, The Venue Controversy, and a Public Reckoning
BERLIN, 23 January 2026 – Over a decade ago, Hollywood stars Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds orchestrated one of the film industry’s most secretive weddings. Their 2012 nuptials at a historic South Carolina plantation were a meticulously private affair, but the choice of venue would later spark significant public criticism, leading the couple to a period of reflection, apology, and activism.
The “Secret” 2012 Nuptials
Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds married on 9 September 2012 in an intimate ceremony at Boone Hall Plantation & Gardens in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. The event, planned with the help of Martha Stewart Weddings, was shrouded in secrecy, with guests reportedly required to surrender mobile phones. Few photographs were released, with the first official images not appearing until 2015.
The bride wore a custom Marchesa gown with a silk tulle skirt and rose gold embroidery, designed by Georgina Chapman and Keren Craig. Reynolds wore a khaki Burberry suit. The celebration was noted for its lavish dessert spread and a performance by singer Florence Welch. In a now-famous anecdote, Lively later revealed a sparkler from the reception accidentally burned a mark on the front of her wedding dress, a flaw her husband reframed as a beautiful, preserved memory.
Key Facts: The Wedding & The Fallout
| Aspect | Details |
|---|---|
| Wedding Date | 9 September 2012 |
| Venue | Boone Hall Plantation, Mount Pleasant, South Carolina |
| Controversy | Venue is a former plantation with preserved slave cabins; criticised for romanticising a site with a history of enslavement. |
| Initial Response | Couple kept a low profile regarding criticism for several years. |
| 2020 Statement & Actions | Issued a joint apology on Instagram, donated $200,000 to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, and Reynolds launched The Group Effort Initiative for diversity in film. |
| Reynolds’ Later Reflection | Called the venue choice “a giant f—ing mistake” and revealed they later held a second, secret wedding at their home. |
The Venue Controversy and Public Reckoning
The couple’s choice of Boone Hall Plantation drew increasing scrutiny over the years, particularly as public discourse around racial justice intensified. The plantation, while a popular wedding and film location (featured in The Notebook), contains a row of preserved antebellum slave cabins known as “Slave Street.” Critics argued that celebrating a wedding there ignored the site’s painful history of enslaved labour.
The criticism peaked in 2020 amid the global Black Lives Matter movement. In June of that year, Lively and Reynolds broke their silence with a lengthy joint statement on Instagram. They expressed shame for having been “uninformed about how deeply rooted systemic racism is” and acknowledged their “own complicity.” The statement accompanied news of their substantial donation to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund.
Reynolds later elaborated in an interview with Fast Company, stating they had chosen the venue based on Pinterest images without understanding its full history. “What we saw at the time was a wedding venue on Pinterest. What we saw after was a place built upon devastating tragedy,” he said. He also disclosed that the couple had since held a private second wedding at their home.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why was Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds’ wedding venue controversial?
Boone Hall Plantation is a former cotton plantation where enslaved African Americans lived and worked. Hosting a celebratory wedding at a site with such a history was viewed by many as insensitive and a romanticisation of a painful past, especially without public acknowledgment of that history at the time.
How did the couple respond to the criticism?
After years of periodic scrutiny, they issued a formal, heartfelt apology in June 2020. They committed to educating themselves, donated $200,000 to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, and Ryan Reynolds founded The Group Effort Initiative, a programme to create opportunities for people of colour on film sets.
Did Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds get married twice?
Yes, in a manner of speaking. After the controversy, Reynolds revealed in a 2020 interview that they had a second, secret wedding ceremony at their home. This was described as an effort to “repattern” and create a new, personal memory, separate from the fraught history of their first ceremony’s location.