See All the Photos from Christina Hendricks, George Bianchini’s NOLA Wedding

A (Big) Easy Choice

The couple settled on New Orleans as the location for their elegant nuptials.

According to Hendricks, New Orleans was a place that both she and Bianchini had long enjoyed going to before meeting each other. When the pair first started seeing each other, New Orleans became one of their favorite places to meet up.

“It just feels like our city together, even though we both loved it individually,” the Mad Men star told PEOPLE.

High ‘Spirits’

The couple kicked off their three-day wedding weekend on Friday, April 19, at a mini mansion on the Soniat House hotel’s property.  Guests shared cocktails and hors d’oeuvres together before stepping out into the French Quarter for a ghost tour.

Hendricks, on the ghost tour: “We thought that would be a really fun way for people to get to know each other a little bit, and since many of our guests had not been to New Orleans, it’s a way to be like, ‘Okay, you’ve arrived, let’s show you around the French Quarter. Let’s introduce you to the city that you’re in and to each other. So we just thought what an ice breaker and a fun way to walk around in the evening together.”

“Overdressed and Fabulous”

The actress told PEOPLE that she was determined to be “overdressed and fabulous” all weekend long.

“That’s how I’ve always wanted to traipse the streets of New Orleans at night — in a serious gown with a drink in hand, just walking around,” she explained.

The Blushing Bride

The bride wore a custom Katya Katya wedding gown which she said brought her to tears the first time she tried it on “because it was so beautiful.”

All Laced Up

With so many events to attend over the three-day weekend, the actress chose to have a little fun with her fashion, telling PEOPLE she had “incredible designers” who created looks for each of the different occasions.

We Are Gathered Here Today

Shirley Manson, lead singer of the rock band Garbage, officiated the couple’s ceremony. The two shared hand-written vows, which, for Hendricks was one of the more “nerve-wracking” wedding to-dos.

The Newlyweds

Following the nuptials, the newlyweds took part in a classic New Orleans tradition of a second line, where newlyweds lead their guests on a jazzy parade in the street with parasols and umbrellas in hand — signifying the start of a new life for the bride and groom. The fist line is usually a brass band.

New Orleans Cuisine

“People really love to do a buffet in New Orleans for weddings. We’re just not really buffet people. I want to sit there and be lazy and have someone bringing [the food],” Hendricks told PEOPLE. “So we did a sit-down dinner. We coursed it out and offered good, Southern New Orleans food.”

All That Jazz

What’s a New Orlean’s wedding without some jazz music?

To Have and to Hold

Hendricks and Bianchini — a camera operator — first met on the set of her series Good Girls, which ran from 2018 to 2021.

Florals Galore

Hendricks worked with New Orleans floral design studio Sharime Kayla to take the wedding “full floral.”

“I came [to her] with Pinterest pictures and, ‘I like this and I like this and I like this.’ And she went, ‘Oh, you want Southern Gothic with Dutch masters.’ And I went, ‘Oh God, that’s exactly what I want,’ ” Hendricks said of working with the studio.

Take a Walk on the Bridal Side

“We wanted [our friends and family] to feel sexy and welcomed and love and laugh, and have delicious food and indulge and enjoy incredible music. And we wanted to say, ‘And hey, if you stick around, it’ll continue to be like this. Come to our house. We’ll do more of this,’ ” Hendricks explained to PEOPLE.

Happy Couple

Hendricks told PEOPLE, “We’re both romantic, and I think it’s easy to say when you’ve been married before and it’s been so hard and it didn’t work, and you feel like, ‘Oh my gosh, this is very scary. We don’t have to do this. We could just love each other and not do this.’ But I think there’s something to be said about really making that commitment and saying it out loud with some of your friends and family.”

Forever & Always

“This is our best party, but we’re going to have a lot more,” Hendricks said of the wedding.