Matthew Lowe, the eldest son of Rob Lowe, married Emily Markus in Santa Barbara, California, bringing together a constellation of Hollywood stars during a period of profound family grief.
The 33-year-old groom and his bride exchanged vows with Gwyneth Paltrow officiating the ceremony, according to details from the exclusive celebration. Cameron Diaz, Adam Levine, Katy Perry, Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldaña and Maria Shriver were among the A-list guests spotted in photographs from the event.
Markus, 33, had offered followers a glimpse of the upcoming celebration on Instagram Stories ahead of the nuptials. She posted a sunset photograph of decorated tables and festive flags at Bluewater Grill with the caption: “It’s wedding weekend eve!”
The wedding arrived less than two weeks after a devastating loss struck the extended Lowe family. Fiona Lowe, the 13-year-old daughter of Rob’s younger brother Chad Lowe, died on September 29 at a hospital, with Los Angeles Medical Examiner records confirming suicide as the cause of death.
Chad Lowe, 56, the “Pretty Little Liars” actor, and his wife, producer Kim Painter, had shared Fiona with their two other daughters, Mabel, 17, and Nixie, 10. The family issued a statement expressing their anguish shortly after the tragedy.
“We are deeply heartbroken by the loss of our beloved Fiona. She was a loving young girl who was smart, creative and loved to dance,” the family said in their statement.
“She was adored by her sisters and she was deeply loved by her parents. In fact, she was the light of our lives. Her passing is devastating for our entire family and we ask for prayers and privacy at this time,” the statement continued.
The family concluded with a message for others in crisis: “If you or someone you know is struggling with mental health, please reach out to the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by calling or texting 988.”
John Owen Lowe, Matthew’s younger brother, turned to Instagram to process the loss, sharing Emily Dickinson’s poem “Hope is the Thing with Feathers” in full. “HOPE is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul, and sings the tune without the words, and never stops at all,” the poem begins.
He posted the complete text, which continues: “And sweetest in the gale is heard; and sore must be the storm that could abash the little bird that kept so many warm.”
The final stanza reads: “I’ve heard it in the chillest land, and on the strangest sea; yet, never, in extremity, it asked a crumb of me.”
Chad Lowe broke his social media silence on Thursday, roughly a week after Fiona’s death, by reposting footage from Olivia Hunt’s “On Healing” podcast featuring guest Gerry Hussey. “We are all part of the frequency,” Hussey said in the clip. “We both possess the human and the divine.”
The podcast guest added: “When you ask yourself the deeper, bigger questions and you move beyond human existence and through meditation or something else, you experience the transcendental experience.”
Chad included Hussey’s closing thought in his share: “We are connected to everything that is, it just makes sense and there’s nothing there but peace in love.”
Matthew is the elder of two sons born to Rob Lowe, 60, the “Wayne’s World” and “Parks and Recreation” actor, and his wife Sheryl Berkoff, a makeup artist, who have been married for 35 years. The wedding represented a milestone moment for the couple as parents, even as the broader family navigated overlapping emotions of celebration and mourning.
The Los Angeles community surrounding the Lowe family had rallied with offers of support following Fiona’s death, with emotional tributes to the teenager appearing across social media platforms in the days afterward.
Rob Lowe has not publicly commented on his niece’s death or his son’s wedding.