Lolita Cros, an independent curator and art advisor, and artist Charlie Klarsfeld first met as students at Bard College. They started dating when Lolita was a sophomore and Charlie was a senior. “Lolita’s friend introduced us, and despite an awkward first date at the former upstate institution Max’s BBQ, we pretty much started dating right away,” Charlie remembers. They got engaged in June of 2022 “in the most Charlie possible way,” according to Lolita.
“I called Lolita’s parents to get their blessing and asked if they would be willing to fly into New York from France to attend our engagement party,” Charlie says. “They said yes, and asked when I planned on proposing. I told them they should come incognito, so I could propose in front of them along with a tight-knit group of family and friends.”
What Charlie didn’t share, however, was that he was secretly planning on getting Lolita’s name tattooed on his ribs. “I filmed the process at Fun City Tattoo—the same day as the proposal!—and had my DJ tech set up a screen along with some sound and lighting in my parents’ backyard,” Charlie remembers. “I tricked Lolita into dressing up and stopping by the house under a false pretense and coaxed her out into the back where she found the garden beautifully lit and a video of me getting her name inked while our loved ones looked on from the balcony. It was very elaborate: Lolo was fully a deer in headlights!”
The two were married in July at a 13th-century cathedral in the Languedoc region of France, where Lolita’s family has a country house. The reception, dinner, and party took place at the bride’s family house, a 19th-century classic French home a short drive from the church. “Being two creatives, we always knew we would collaborate on the planning of the wedding. We’re both…‘detail oriented’ and some would say stubborn,” Lolita jokes. “It was a lot of fighting over font sizes and the napkin color, but ultimately a great exercise in compromise. Looking back at it, the wedding looked exactly like us, a true collaboration.” Charlie’s godmother Lisa Love, a legendary event planner, acted as the couple’s lifeline throughout the whole process.
“The planning process was every bit as insane as people say it is,” Charlie adds. “Lolita and I had collaborated on a large-scale and complex event some years back at Art Basel, so it wasn’t necessarily new territory, but thankfully, this time we had Maude Vergote and her team at Opus Collective at the helm so we could focus on the creative without getting bogged down with the logistics. They did an outstanding job and were beyond accommodating, from the ambitious aspects to the most minute details. Weddings are intimate and profound experiences, so my advice is to make sure you like your wedding planner!”
