Inside Michael’s secret wedding
The star has reportedly tied the knot with Alicia Vikander at a low-key Ibiza resort.
Michael Fassbender is known for many things
— his hard-hitting performances, his Killarney accent, his love of a good party, his thrill seeking as an unofficial race car driver... but not for his openness about his personal life. The German-born, Kerry-raised actor (40) has been dating the Swedish actress Alicia Vikander (29) for three years and the two reportedly got married in Ibiza last weekend.
The notoriously private couple rarely talk about their relationship and are yet to confirm they are married, but have been spotted with tell-tale bands gleaming on their ring fingers.
Fassbender and Vikander met in 2014 on the set of The
Light Between Oceans ,a romantic drama in which they played husband and wife. According to Vikander, the co-stars were forced to live together for a month in an isolated location during filming and evidently hit it off.
Back in September, rumours started to circulate they were planning a secret wedding. According to unnamed sources, guests had been instructed to arrive in Ibiza on a certain date, where they would be collected and escorted to a five-star hotel. While details are still scarce, here’s everything we know about the wedding so far:
The ceremony
Festivities kicked off on Friday with a private boat party ahead of the wedding. The nuptials are believed to have taken place on Saturday and the celebrations continued on Sunday with a boozy brunch that reportedly stretched from 12pm to 6am the following morning. A DJ and band were reportedly playing for the guests 24/7 across the weekend.
The venue
For most of us, Ibiza means partying, but the island has enjoyed a bit of an image overhaul in recent years. While the reputation for all-night clubbing still reigns, the last 10 years has seen the rise of the agroturismo trend, where traditional farmhouses have been converted into boutique rural resorts. The peaceful retreats offer a counterpoint to the more-is-more, velvet rope-and-champagne side of Ibiza, where guests tend to unwind after a week of partying in the Playa d’en Bossa.
According to Ibiza-based wedding planner, Alexandra Sixt, co-founder of Ma Chérie, about 70pc of their clients are now requesting more laid-back weddings in agroturismo destinations. “Boho-chic is the new style and agroturismo is becoming more and more popular,” she says. “People think celebrities and wealthy people want VIP sections and champagne, but most of them want low-key destinations.
“The whole world is going back to nature and Ibiza is the same,” she adds. “It’s less about bling-bling and more about scenery and nature.”
As for the price? “A wedding on the beach for 50 people is roughly €15,000. Add another €5,000 for an agroturismo.”
The secretive couple have managed to keep details of where they got married under wraps — People reports that Fassbender and Vikander wed in La Granja, a luxurious 200-year-old farmstead and one of the best-known agroturismos on the island, while the Daily Mail names the Finca Can Marti, an eco-hotel with a Turkish bath, natural swimming pool and solar panels to provide it with electricity and hot water, as the venue. The couple were reportedly keen to have a green wedding and also favoured local cuisine made using seasonal ingredients from the hotel’s farm.
The guests
There were reported to be 150 guests in attendance. Unsurprisingly, the couple allegedly banned guests from using mobile phones, taking pictures or posting about the wedding on social media.
Along with the couple’s families, the English director Steve McQueen, who worked with Fassbender on Shame, Hunger and 12 Years A Slave, was spotted at the party.
“Ibiza really attracts the bohemian bride and there are so many different nationalities that come here. While some of the weddings are huge — this summer, I did one for 500 people — Ibiza doesn’t really accommodate massive weddings, they tend to be a bit more intimate,” says Louise Maxwell, a make-up artist and hair stylist based in Ibiza.
“I love the agroturismo hotels. The whole family can take over the hotel — you’ve really got your own space, so it feels more personalised for you.”
Ahead of their trip to Ibiza, Vikander reportedly visited a haute couture fashion house in the French capital last week, which should come as no surprise — she is a brand ambassador for the Paris-based Louis Vuitton, and has also been dressed by Celine, Rodarte and Prabal Gurung.
The Oscar winner favours an effortless vibe and often pairs a polished dress with whimsically-raked hair and sun-kissed make-up. Maxwell explains that this easy-going style is very popular with brides on the island. “The look is very romantic, very pretty. I’ve done a lot of undone-looking updos or else bohemian loose curls, that’s a favourite,” she says.
“The weather has been really, really warm — it’s been beautiful in October. I try to stay with the bride all day. In the heat, everything starts of melt so you wear less makeup.”
Vikander kicked off the wedding weekend on the beach with a bridal white sun dress from Australian designer Zimmerman’s resort 2018 collection. She topped off her look with oversized heart-shaped sunglasses and flat mule sandals.
According to wedding planner Sixt, wedding attire in Ibiza tends to be more laid-back: “I just spoke to a bride on the phone and her husband-to-be is wearing shorts and a white linen shirt on the day — of course, that’s not for everyone,” she says.
For their al fresco outing on Sunday, Fassbender accessorised a Hawaiianprint shirt with a cigar and a pint, while Vikander wore a pretty blue floral dress with minimalist jewellery and romantic plaited hair.
The pair were pictured heading off on their honeymoon at the airport on Tuesday, looking a little tired and ready for some downtime. When they return from soaking up the sun, Fassbender begins filming on the latest in the X-Men series, in which he plays mutant Magneto, while Vikander and her hard-won biceps are gearing up for the release of the Lara Croft: Tomb Raider reboot.