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After meeting at work and falling in love, Swedish couple and fashion powerhouses Sophie Dinsenbacher and Gustav Zetterlund tied the knot in Stockholm. Inviting George V Magazine behind the scenes, they share every detail of their celebration – from a last-minute wedding dress inspired by Tom Ford-era Gucci to the meaningful personal touches woven throughout the day.
Workplace romances are, for the most part, considered a faux pas. But for the lucky few, they can become a happily ever after. Such was the case for Sophie Dinsenbacher and Gustav Zetterlund, who first crossed paths while working at Acne Studios in 2018. “Gustav first noticed me from across the office, but was too intimidated to introduce himself,” recalls Dinsenbacher, adding with amusement that Zetterlund found her “fierce”. Around the same time, Dinsenbacher downloaded Tinder and, as fate would have it, Zetterlund was one of the first people to appear. “We matched, which gave him the confidence to ask me to join a dinner with him and his friends,” she says. “The rest unfolded from there.”
Today, the couple both hold senior roles at two of Scandinavia’s leading fashion houses, with Dinsenbacher serving as Studio Director at Toteme and Zetterlund as Head of Production at Our Legacy. They got engaged in February 2024 during a skiing trip to Japan, where Zetterlund carried the ring in his pocket for days, waiting for the perfect moment. On the final day of their trip, they visited a historic Japanese house. “I was taking photographs overlooking the garden,” Dinsenbacher recalls. “I turned around and pointed my camera to take my next shot, and in the frame I found Gustav down on one knee. It was completely unexpected and incredibly emotional.”
As Dinsenbacher and Zetterlund began planning their wedding, one thing proved harder than expected: finding the right venue. “We looked at what felt like every venue in Stockholm,” the bride recalls. The answer, it turned out, lay in one of their earliest dates. “Gustav took me to the National Museum on one of our first dates,” she says. “The sculpture garden has an atmosphere that feels both intimate and monumental.” Captivated by the contrast of art, history and nature in the heart of the city, they knew they had found the perfect setting.
When it came to her bridal look, Dinsenbacher found one piece with ease that became the starting point for everything else: a pair of cream Phoebe Philo-era ’90s pumps. The dress, however, was another story. “Until two weeks before the wedding, I had been working closely with my dressmaker, Emma Hanseklint, trying to create the perfect dress,” she says. But after countless fittings, they decided to abandon the original design in favour of a gown inspired by a vintage Tom Ford-era Gucci dress the bride had discovered in a vintage boutique. “Within a week, she had created the final dress,” says Dinsenbacher of the double silk satin ivory gown. “It was absolutely perfect.”
Zetterlund, meanwhile, had a far simpler task. The groom wore a custom tuxedo by Berg & Berg, paired with Opera pumps from Morjas. His most meaningful accessory, however, came as a surprise from his bride. “One of the most meaningful details was a surprise from Sophie,” Zetterlund says. “A pair of cufflinks made from gold melted down from her own jewellery, engraved with our new married initials and wedding date.” Rather than the bride taking Zetterlund’s surname, the couple chose to double-barrel, becoming the Zetterlund-Dinsenbachers.
With the outfits, venue and every other detail in place, the time came for the couple to walk down the aisle. “I thought I would be shaking and nervous,” the bride recalls. “But a sense of calm came over me in the moment, and I enjoyed every step, although I was fighting back tears, of course.” The ceremony itself was deeply centred around family. The couple chose to forgo a traditional wedding party, feeling too many people had shaped their lives to single out just a few. Instead, Zetterlund entered with his brother, David, while Dinsenbacher was walked down the aisle by her father, Uli. “My cousin Rose officiated the ceremony,” the bride says, adding that they asked their son’s godfather, Sebastian, and Zetterlund’s close friend Olle to serve as toastmasters. “Despite having never met before, they immediately recognised something familiar in each other,” she says, adding that the pair seemed “cut from the same cloth”. “Their shared sense of humour and wonderfully chaotic energy made them the perfect duo.”
Following the ceremony, the couple and their guests made their way to the Grand Hôtel Stockholm. Before dinner, guests gathered in the Strömsalongerna for champagne on the balcony overlooking the water, before moving into the Spegelsalen. The couple kept the décor intentionally understated, allowing the room’s grandeur to speak for itself. “We opted for single burgundy-black calla lilies and simple candlelight,” the bride explains.
The menu followed the same philosophy: elegant, seasonal and unmistakably Scandinavian. Guests began with cured beef tenderloin accompanied by pickled pearl onions, aged hard cheese and Dijonnaise sauce, followed by butter-fried rainbow trout served with seasonal pickled vegetables, dill potatoes and Swedish seafood sauce.
Dessert paid homage to one of Dinsenbacher’s all-time favourites: prinsesstårta, the beloved Swedish Princess Cake, with a twist. “Rather than a traditional wedding cake, which never felt like us, we served a Princess Cake à la Sophie and Gustav,” Dinsenbacher says. “It felt playful, personal and perfectly fitting for a couple who have always been slightly anti-traditionalists.”
Once the plates had been cleared, the bride slipped away briefly to change into her second look of the day. “I changed into a vintage 1930s glass-beaded dress that I found in Milan a few years ago,” she says, adding that she paired it with Toteme slingback sandals that “danced me through the entire night.”
The soundtrack to the day was a masterclass in timeless classics. Guests arrived to the sound of a live pianist, while the bride walked down the aisle to Pachelbel’s Canon in D. For their first dance, the couple chose Sára Perché’s Ti Amo. “It was impossible not to smile whilst listening to it,” the bride says. “The lyrics made us fall in love even more. It’s one of those songs that will forever transport us back to that moment.” That said, the couple admit their first dance was intentionally brief. “We’re not the ‘centre of attention’ type, and doing a drawn-out first dance felt like a bit of a nightmare,” she laughs, before the evening gave way to an Italian disco-inspired dance floor.