A guest at John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette’s intimate 1996 wedding has detailed how the famous couple miraculously kept their ceremony a secret and what happened behind closed doors.
Sasha Chermayev, Kennedy Jr.’s best friend since high school, spoke exclusively to Page Six about her late friend’s “beautiful” Georgia wedding shortly after the latest episode of FX and Hulu’s wedding.
“I was sworn to secrecy,” Ms. Chermayf said, recalling that Ms. Kennedy had invited her just weeks before marrying Ms. Bessette. “I was the one who realized it late in the game.”
She pointed out that guests are invited verbally to avoid paper trails.
The September 1996 ceremony was held at the historic First African Baptist Church on Cumberland Island, a remote island off the coast of Georgia.
“It was beautiful with moss hanging from the trees,” she recalled.
Only 40 people were invited, with John’s sister Caroline Kennedy serving as Bessette’s chaperone, and JFK Jr.’s cousin and close friend Anthony Radziwill assuming the role of Bessette’s chaperone.
Caroline’s husband, Edwin Schlossberg, and their children, Rose, Tatiana and Jack, Bessette’s mother, Ann Messina Freeman, and sisters, Lauren Bessette and Lisa Bessette, were also there.
Other guests included Bessette’s best friend Jessica Weinstein, Jules Birnbaum, and her wedding dress designer Narciso Rodriguez.
Chermaykh met Bessette’s family and friends for the first time at the wedding, but she already knew almost everyone on Kennedy Jr.’s guest list.
“We all knew each other for years and were very close,” Chermaykh said. “We were the old guard.”
Previous reports said guests waited outside the church for hours while Bessette dealt with a wardrobe malfunction, but Chermaykh said “no one was worried.”
“The bride always takes her time and comes out when she’s ready. No one cares,” Chermayev said. “The idea that this is offensive and the same as what people wrote is just wrong.”
Chermaykh explained that the close-knit group was “having a great time” on the beach and was just excited about the upcoming ceremony.
Despite the late start, the ceremony was held by candlelight to distract from public attention and was “incredibly moving and beautiful,” Chermaykh said.
“I was amazed at Carolyn’s beauty, and John got very emotional there,” she said, calling the service “a very beautiful and happy moment.”
Chermaykh refuted claims that attendees were heated while seated inside the small wooden chapel where the couple exchanged vows.
“It wasn’t hot or uncomfortable at all…in fact, the weather was beautiful,” Charmaif asserted, adding that Bessette left behind a beautiful woven fan for guests to use if they needed to cool off.
Chermaykh said the ceremony was nearly exposed when paparazzi helicopters began circling over the Greyfield Inn, where guests were preparing.
To avoid detection, the group quietly left the grounds and headed to the ceremony venue in a jeep, keeping the day’s secrecy.
“We lost the helicopter and couldn’t find the car,” she said. “We were really lucky that the beautiful ceremony was held quietly with water and not in front of the press.”
“We were all happy about it. They just didn’t find us. So it’s like a miracle,” she said.
The lively reception at the charming inn was held under an airy tent decorated with fairy lights and greenery.
“Carolyn’s hair falling was always symbolic,” she recalled. “You know, in a way it meant everything was loosening up.”
John and his new wife made the rounds, chatting and “checking on everyone” before dinner and the traditional cake cutting. The bride and groom and their guests ended the night with lots of dancing.
“What I remember most about the reception were those little girls,” Chermaykh said of Caroline’s daughters Tatiana and Rose, who were 6 and 8 years old, respectively, at the time.
“They taught me ‘Macarena’ and that was the big excitement of that moment,” she said.
The charming love between the Calvin Klein publicist and JFK Jr. was evident on their wedding day.
“So, what can I say? It was like electricity. It wasn’t for show,” Chermayf said. “There was so much energy between them. You could always see it and feel it.”
After exchanging vows, the newlyweds departed for Istanbul for their honeymoon. But the paparazzi soon descended on them, and their brief period of privacy came to an abrupt end.
“Istanbul was very special, but I think it was also the beginning of their realization that they were going to be followed everywhere,” Chermaykh said. “Carolyn was beginning to realize that getting off the plane far away didn’t guarantee privacy.
“It was like a stark wake-up call.”
Bessette and Kennedy Jr. returned to their lively lives in downtown New York City, where it became increasingly difficult for them to go anywhere without being harassed by photographers.
“(John) was used to it,” Charmaif said. “But for Carolyn, it was very difficult. John has been doing this all his life. I always tell people, John never knew what it was like to walk into a room and not be stared at.”
Bessette and Kennedy Jr. spent their later years battling the pressures of marriage under an unrelenting microscope until the tragic plane crash in 1999 that ultimately claimed their lives.
