Selena Gomez’s wedding to Benny Blanco offers plenty to admire, from her Ralph Lauren gowns to the setting chosen for their ceremony. It also shows why a photograph is only the beginning of a useful wedding idea. The decisions behind a celebration matter more than reproducing its appearance.
If you are planning a wedding in Paris or elsewhere in France, you can take inspiration from what has been documented about their day. Then you can shape each choice around your venue, your guests and the experience you want to share.
What do we know about Selena Gomez’s wedding?
Selena Gomez and Benny Blanco married in September 2025 in Santa Barbara, California. Their ceremony took place at Sea Crest Nursery in front of approximately 170 family members and friends. It was a substantial gathering, even though some images convey a personal, romantic atmosphere. The wedding did not take place at Lake Como, as the previous version of this article stated.
Ralph Lauren created several bridal looks for Gomez. According to the fashion house, her first ceremonial gown was made of silk satin with a high halter neckline and delicate lace flowers. Another ceremonial gown featured more than 300 floral lace appliqués. These are two distinct looks, rather than details of a single dress.
Those verified details give us a starting point. The ideas below are ways to think about your wedding in France, not descriptions of moments or decorations that have not been confirmed from Selena Gomez’s celebration.
1. Choose outfits for the different moments of your day
Several wedding looks can serve different purposes. A gown chosen for the ceremony may create the silhouette you have imagined for years. Another outfit might make it easier to dance or move through a long evening.
You do not need multiple dresses to achieve that sense of change. Removing an overskirt, changing shoes or choosing a different accessory can mark the transition from ceremony to reception. The most useful question is how you want to feel and move at each stage of the day.
For a destination wedding, include travel in that decision. Discuss packing with your designer or boutique, check your airline’s arrangements for carrying the dress and plan for any care it may need on arrival. Our guide to taking your wedding dress on a plane covers the practical steps.
Also allow time in the wedding schedule if you intend to change. A second look should fit naturally between events, without taking you away from your guests for longer than you want.
2. Let the venue establish the atmosphere
The setting of Gomez and Blanco’s ceremony is a reminder that a venue contributes to the visual identity of a wedding. You can draw a lesson from that choice without looking for a replica in France.
Begin with what the venue already offers. A Parisian hôtel particulier might give you elegant rooms for a ceremony and dinner. A property outside the city could offer more space for guests to gather over several days. The right choice depends on your guest count and the way you want the celebration to unfold.
Look beyond the photographs when visiting or assessing a venue from abroad. Ask where guests will arrive, how they will move between the ceremony and reception, and what space is available if the weather changes. Those answers will affect their experience as much as the architecture.
If you are still exploring possibilities, compare wedding venues in Paris with ceremony locations in the city. A place that works beautifully for portraits may serve a different purpose from a private venue that can host your guests.
3. Decide what intimacy means for your guest list
It would be misleading to describe a wedding attended by around 170 people as an elopement. Yet a celebration of that size can still include personal choices. Intimacy is also shaped by whom you invite, how you spend time together and which moments you choose to share.
Start with the people whose presence matters to you. Then consider what bringing them to France will involve. Guests traveling from the United States may need clear information about accommodations, transport and the events surrounding the wedding day.
A smaller guest list can create more time with each person. A larger one may allow you to bring different parts of your lives together. Neither format guarantees a more meaningful celebration. Choose the one that supports the relationships you want to celebrate.
4. Carry one design idea through the celebration
The floral detail on Gomez’s Ralph Lauren gowns offers an example of a visual idea expressed through clothing. It does not mean that her reception used a particular floral palette or table design. Those details should not be assumed from the dresses.
For your own wedding, a single idea can help connect the elements you do choose. You might take inspiration from the texture of a gown when discussing flowers with your florist. You might repeat a shape from the venue’s architecture in the stationery. The connection can be subtle.
Start with the venue and the season before ordering decorative pieces. Flowers available for a spring wedding in Paris may differ from those suited to autumn. A large installation also needs to work with the room, the setup time and the space your guests will use.
Our advice on personalizing a destination wedding can help you refine many saved images into a direction that feels like your own.
5. Make room for moments that belong to you
Wedding coverage tends to show what photographs well. Your memories will also come from moments that were never planned as images: a conversation before the ceremony, a quiet pause together or time spent around the table.
When building your schedule, decide how much of the day you want to devote to portraits. Tell your photographer which photographs matter most, then leave space to be present with your guests. If privacy is important to you, discuss when phones are welcome and whether you would like any part of the ceremony to remain unshared online.
These are choices for your celebration. They are not claims about private moments at Gomez and Blanco’s wedding. You can take inspiration from a public wedding while keeping your own boundaries and priorities.
How to adapt the inspiration to a wedding in France
Before turning a celebrity wedding image into part of your plans, ask yourselves:
- What do we actually love about it: the clothing, the setting or the feeling it suggests?
- Would that choice suit our venue, season and number of guests?
- What will it require from our schedule and budget?
- Will it help us enjoy the day we want to live?
Keep the answers that feel personal. Leave room for ideas you discover while planning in France, too. A venue, a florist or a ceremony setting may suggest something more fitting than the image that first caught your eye.
For further ideas from other celebrations, read our guide to celebrity wedding inspiration for France. If you would like help bringing your choices together, discover how CEREMONIZE plans and designs weddings in France.
