Celebs
When Ilaria Urbinati and Johnny Hunt tied the knot in October, a slew of famous friends helped them celebrate.
The vintage-chic 1928 Beacon Hill restaurant played host to several Hollywood stars for a private wedding celebration at the end of October.
Celebrity stylist Ilaria Urbinati and martial arts expert Johnny Hunt, a Boston native, exchanged their vows on Oct. 15 in Cambridge. Then, the happy couple and their family and friends — including actors Rami Malek, James Marsden, and Yolanda Masterson as well as fashion designer Rebecca Minkoff — partied the night away at 1928.
The couple met in 2017 when Urbinati wanted to learn martial arts, and Hunt became her trainer, according to Vogue. Urbinati, who was born in Italy, recently styled actor Chris Evans for People’s “Sexiest Man Alive” shoot.
So how did the intimate Beacon Hill celebration come together?
“The first thing we knew for sure is we wanted to have a Boston wedding in the fall,” Hunt told Boston.com. “I’m very proud to be from here, of course. My family is here. My mom is here. And Ilaria is in love with the city as well. We come back often, and we even got engaged in Cape Cod. So it felt like a natural fit.”
“The couple came in for lunch, and we started chatting about it,” 1928 owner Kristen Jenkins told Boston.com. “We hadn’t had many private events at that time, and I said yes without really thinking.”
“We really didn’t want a typical wedding venue,” Urbinati said. “We wanted a place that felt moody and intimate. 1928 was fairly new. We stumbled upon it one night strolling around Beacon Hill and instantly knew that was the place.”
“Specifically,” Hunt added, “we love the charm of Beacon Hill and thought it would be great to get to share that with all of our friends who aren’t from here.”
“I had no idea who was coming to the wedding,” Jenkins said. “It was a really neat surprise when these lovely actors strolled in through the door.”
James Marsden, aka X-Men’s Cyclops, just happens to be the star of one of Jenkins’ favorite films: “Hop.” Malek, best known for his Oscar-winning performance as Freddie Mercury in the Queen biopic “Bohemian Rhapsody,” as well as playing the villain in the latest James Bond film, “No Time To Die,” and Elliot in the TV series “Mr. Robot,” left his autograph on the office wall, Jenkins said. It reads: Gorgeous humans live here!
“He was lovely,” she added. “… He seemed to be in charge of music and helped me set up our computer.” Jenkins said the playlist included “a lot of ‘80s tunes.” And one Queen song: “Don’t Stop Me Now.”
“Rami didn’t sing to it, but he did get behind the bar and started slinging cocktails to the music. He was really impressive. He has definitely bar tended at some point in his life.
“It was hard to keep my phone in my pocket,” Jenkins admitted, “but we were all respectful of the guests’ privacy.”
The couple worked with 1928’s chef Victor Valencia on the four-course menu: a house-cured salmon roulade, Hawaiian lemon snapper with sesame-crusted jumbo crab, New York Sirloin with melted gorgonzola, and raspberry chocolate fondue.
“The bride and groom knew what they wanted, and Victor executed it perfectly,” Jenkins said.
Jenkins, who also heads Leonards New England, which has been owned by her family since 1933, had always wanted to own a restaurant.
“1928 Beacon Hill is understated luxury, not too glitzy. Neighbors feel at home here,” she said. “We are only a year old, but we’re off to a great start.”
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