Sarah Jessica Parker married Matthew Broderick in 1997 in a completely black gown.Parker said she chose the gown because she was “too embarrassed” to get married in white or spend too much time looking for a dress.The wedding was a small, surprise ceremony with about 100 guests.
When Carrie Bradshaw planned to walk down the aisle in the movie adaptation of Sex and the City, she wore a dramatic, cream-colored Vivienne Westwood gown and a bold, feathered hair accessory. However, when it was Sarah Jessica Parker’s turn IRL to say “I do,” she opted for a much less traditional look.
On May 19, 1997, Parker married actor Matthew Broderick in a completely black gown. In an interview with Andy Cohen on Watch What Happens Live in 2016, Parker shares how she never meant for it to be a style statement.
“Oh, I wish it was because I was badass. I just was too embarrassed to spend any time looking for a wedding dress,” she revealed, per People.
The couple surprised their 100 guests by calling it a “party” on the invitation. However, when their audience arrived at the Angel Orensanz Center on the Lower East Side, they were greeted with a wedding ceremony officiated by Broderick’s sister, Janet Broderick Kraft.
“I was too embarrassed to get married in white, and both Matthew and I were reluctant to have people pay so much attention to us,” she shared with Marie Claire. “Which is ridiculous, because that’s when you can relish the attention, when it’s natural.”
If Parker had the option to redo her wedding day, she says she would, “White it up. I’d wear a beautiful, proper wedding dress, like I should have worn that day,” she told the Today show in 2009.
Ahead, find everything you need to know about Sarah Jessica Parker’s untraditional wedding dress—including what dress she would choose today.
Parker had never thought about her dream wedding dress.
Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick on September 10, 2000.
In a 2018 interview with People , SJP said she was more interested in her soon-to-be husband than the details of her wedding.
“I never thought about a wedding dre ss. Never. Had not one daydream about it,” she said. “At one point, I just simply remember thinking, ‘God, I really hope he asks me to marry him.’ I don’t know when or why. It was fairly early on.”
She got her Morgane le Fay gown off the rack.
Parker ended up choosing the first off-the-rack gown she looked at, according to interviews she gave to Cohen and Glamour, per People. It was a black scoop-neck Morgane le Fay gown with a full ruffled skirt. She paired the gown with her signature curly hair that was styled in a short bob. Meanwhile her partner, Broderick went the traditional route with a black suit, white button-up shirt, and a light-colored tie.
She chose a black dress to draw less attention to herself.
Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick on September 20, 2016.
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Without knowing the true meaning behind Parker’s dress choice, fans might assume that the star favored the raven-colored dress to make a bold fashion statement; however, it was actually the complete opposite.
“Our logic was we didn’t want to call attention to ourselves that day, because we’re actors and we get attention all day long,” she explained to Glamour, “It was a party for everybody else.”
Her shoes were her “something blue,” and her accessories were her “something borrowed” and “something old.”
Sarah Jessica Parker filming “And Just Like That” on July 23, 2021.
If there’s one thing Parker and Bradshaw have in common, it’s their taste in shoes. In Carrie and Big’s do-over courthouse wedding in Sex and the City: The Movie, the iconic personality wore blue Manolo Blahnik Hangisi stilettos. Parker wore her own version of colorful pumps to her 1997 ceremony.
At the opening of her SJP Shoe brand’s bridal collaboration with Gilt in New York City in 2018, Parker shared, “I wore teal blue velvet Robert Clergeries with a rounded toe and a classic Clergerie heel, from Barneys.”
Sadly, there are no pictures of the fun high heels, as Broderick and Parker didn’t want the attention.”There were no shoe shots. There were no real photo shots. We were too embarrassed, which probably was foolish.” Parker told Martha Stewart Weddings, per People. “We brought electricity into that place; they didn’t even have indoor plumbing,” she said when discussing her venue. “We had to redo the bathrooms. But it was so beautiful. We only hung candelabras from the ceiling, and we didn’t even have an aisle to walk down.”
As for her, something borrowed, old, and new,”I borrowed a handkerchief, someone gave me an old coin, and the dress was new, so I covered all my bases,” Parker told Martha Stewart Weddings, per People in 2015.
Parker would choose a completely different dress today.
Sarah Jessica Parker on the set of “Sex and the City: The Movie” on October 2, 2007.
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Even though her black wedding gown unintentionally started a forever style trend for brides wanting something a little less conventional, Parker doesn’t necessarily stand by her choice.
“If I were getting married today, I’d likely wear cream, just to have that bridal experience,” Parker told Martha Stewart Weddings, per People. “Now, I would want my dress to have an Oscar de la Renta feel, pockets below the waist, a very fitted bodice, a huge skirt, in taffeta or duchesse satin,” she explained, illustrating a dress that sounds eerily similar to her character’s wedding look. “That silhouette appeals to me because it’s old-fashioned, yet can look very modern.”
She and Broderick have been married for nearly 30 years.
Matthew Broderick and Sarah Jessica Parker on January 6, 2026.
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Parker’s style choices from back then may have changed; however, her love for her husband hasn’t. The pair have now been together for 29 years and share three children: their son, James Wilkie, 23, and their twin daughters, Marion Loretta and Tabitha Hodge, 16.
On January 6, 2026, at the Golden Eve—a primetime special through CBS and Paramount, Parker was honored with the Carol Burnett Award. During her speech, she made rare comments about her sweet family.
“And to my beloved family, my brilliant husband Matthew Broderick, who has been my husband for just shy of 30 years, who has given me a family discount, an all-access pass to his masterclass in acting, comedy, and dedication, ” the star went on saying. “And to the family we have made. Our divine James Wilkie, Loretta, and Tabitha, oh God. I love you so deeply and admire so much the people that you are becoming. That every day at home and at work, I want to make you proud.”