Gene’s Daughter Sophie Simmons Is Married! Inside the Sunset Ceremony in Her Mom’s Backyard

On February 22nd, the musician Sophie Simmons married her longtime love, James Henderson, in a small ceremony held at her mother Shannon Tweed-Simmons’ Malibu home.

The couple had previously tied the knot at a Los Angeles courthouse on Friday, with the second ceremony serving as a celebration with their family and friends.

Gene Simmons and Shannon Tweed-Simmons, Sophie’s parents, expressed their joy for their daughter and her new husband in a statement to PEOPLE magazine.

They commended James as a “solid young man” and praised Sophie’s ability to achieve anything she sets her mind to. The couple wished them a lifetime of love and happiness, stating that if they are even half as happy as they are, they will have a long-lasting relationship.

The wedding ceremony started at 4:30 pm, with guests arriving to enjoy drinks and light bites before the ceremony.

Sophie walked down the aisle in a sparkling blush dress by Galia Lahav and a Maria Elena Bridal headpiece to the tune of Band of Horses’ “No One’s Gonna Love You.”

She revealed that the song held a special significance to her and James as it was the first concert they attended together.

The couple chose to have a judge marry them as they wanted to be respectful of their families’ differing religious beliefs.

They removed the language in the vows that spoke about the wife obeying her husband, and wanting their partnership to be based on equality. Sophie had already written her vows and had been practicing them in the car to avoid crying on the day.

The couple opted for a small, intimate ceremony with only 50 guests in attendance. Sophie explained that they never wanted a big wedding and that the location, the backyard of her mother’s “she-shed,” was perfect for them. The view from the backyard was breathtaking, and it was a family-oriented setting, which was important to them.

The bridal party consisted of Henderson’s brothers and two best friends, and Sophie’s older brother Nick, along with several cousins and friends.

The women in the bridal party were free to choose their dresses and were encouraged to pick something that they could wear again.

Sophie revealed that she expected James to incorporate humor into his vows, but she reminded him that they were supposed to be sentimental.

She believed that he would try to roast her, which is more appropriate for his speech. Although both of them had never been married before, they were excited about this new chapter in their lives.

The wedding ceremony was organized by Lady Liberty Events’ Dalit Cohen, and it was a beautiful and emotional event for the couple and their families.

All of the men in the bridal party — with the exception of Henderson in Tom Ford — wore black suits rented from The Black Tux.

“My fiancé chose to wear a Tom Ford suit because he saw a picture of David Beckham in one,” Simmons says. “I was like, ‘Well, it’s on David Beckham, so anything would look nice.’ But it is a beautiful suit, and it looks great on my fiancé.”

So much so that even Gene started looking for a Tom Ford suit of his own after seeing Henderson in his. “He saw James’ Tom Ford and was like, ‘That’s nice,'” she says.

After exchanging vows, Simmons and Henderson took their first steps as a married couple down the aisle to “First Day of My Life” by the groom’s favorite band, Bright Eyes.

The wedding of actress Jeanne Simmons and her fiancé, entrepreneur Logan Henderson, was an intimate and unconventional affair held at a private residence in Malibu, California. The couple exchanged vows under a canopy of eucalyptus trees and surrounded by their closest family and friends.

The ceremony was followed by a dinner catered by Haute Chefs LA, which featured a menu of the couple’s favorite foods, including vegan options for Simmons. They made sure that none of their guests would go hungry, as they had experienced at other weddings.

To keep the evening true to their relaxed style, the couple opted for a David Fincher movie lounge for entertainment during dinner. The director is Henderson’s favorite, and they wanted to incorporate his films into the wedding.

The restroom had Fight Club soap, and posters printed with the couple’s “Fight Club” rules were placed around the venue, asking guests not to take photos with their cellphones during the evening since a professional photographer would capture every moment.

The groom’s cake was shaped like a box, reminiscent of the “What’s in the box?” scene from SEVEN. It was also a nod to Fincher’s dark and edgy style. To further pay tribute to the director, the couple had a multi-tiered coconut floral wedding cake made by The Butter End.

The night was kept lively with the music of DJ Wade Crescent, and Jeanne Simmons surprised her father with a song she had written for him for their father-daughter dance.

The night ended with guests taking home donuts, hot chocolate, and disposable cameras that they had used throughout the night. The couple wanted to keep their wedding simple, enjoyable, and nontraditional. They wanted to spend their first day as a married couple together without the exhaustion of a traditional wedding celebration.

On Thursday, the celebrations will continue with the couple hosting 250 of their family and friends for a speakeasy-style reception in L.A., during which Simmons will also wear a dress by Galia Lahav.

“The reception party is the big moment,” Simmons teases. “We’re going to party until the sun comes up.”

Then, on Friday, they’ll have a brunch for all of their friends who flew in for the party from overseas. Stylist Marco Rodriguez is styling Simmons for the brunch, and he also styled her for their rehearsal dinner.

After years together, Simmons says she and Henderson knew they were ready to take this next step in their relationship during the early months of the COVID pandemic.

“I thought if he gets sick or if I get sick, we can’t go in the hospital unless we’re married,” she says. “We were like maybe it’s something we should consider: we’re getting older, and we want to start a family in a couple of years. If something happens, it’ll all be squared away.”

After getting engaged in Zurich, Switzerland, in July, Simmons said her dad suggested they get married before “the end of the year.”

“We tried, but it was literally impossible,” she says. “So February was the first we could make it happen. In just six months, everything fell together.”

Simmons says the moment she saw her Galia Lahav ceremony dress she was drawn to it, and once she tried it on in person, it was a done deal.

“I was like, ‘This is it,'” she says. “I knew it immediately. We tried on a bunch just for fun afterwards, but I was like, ‘This is my dress.’ It fit like a glove, and it was exactly how I thought it would be in my mind.”

In between wedding planning, Simmons also kicked her health regimen into high gear with her trainer Jill Forster at Body By Simone and Dr. Jessica Cho at Wellness Century City.

“I’m kind of thankful that there was such a short timeline because it made me do all the things health-wise that I was putting off for a really long time,” Simmons says.

Like their wedding, Simmons and Henderson’s love story came together in the most unlikely of ways. After a workout at a Los Angeles gym in 2014, Simmons and her cousin — who served as her maid of honor during the ceremony — grabbed a coffee at the café next door, where Henderson was her waiter.

“I was like, ‘Damn! Of course the day I look like crap, the waiter’s really hot,'” she recalls with a laugh. “My cousin convinced me to write my number on our receipt, and so I did it and ran out.

She then said, ‘Wait, how will he know if it was you or me?’ She’s blonde, and I’m brunette, so I ran back and wrote, ‘Brunette.’ Then ran out again.”

Later that day, Henderson called, while Simmons was at dinner with her cousin. She told him, “If you’re really serious about taking me out, you’ll come to dinner right now.” He showed.

“He came and hung out with us and ate vegan food,” she says. “I was like, ‘He’s a really cool guy.’ We’ve been together ever since.”

Simmons adds: “Not a lot of people meet when they’re 20 and stay together… It’s tough, and it’s a lot of work, but we’re ready.”

As they head into this next chapter, Simmons suspects not much will change between her and Henderson.

“Everyone’s been telling me that being married is slightly different, but we have dogs together, and we live together,” she says. “He has his job, which is no longer a waiter, by the way, and I have mine. We have our separate lives, which is what I think makes our life together work.”

Though the couple is waiting to do their big honeymoon in the summer, they’ll go on a “mini-moon” in Maui for three days, right after all the wedding festivities have commenced.

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