A slick, full-color Vogue magazine spread spotlighting a glamorous Martha’s Vineyard destination wedding was published online and then abruptly taken down Tuesday night, after concerns were raised that the wedding was the one that had led to a cluster of coronavirus cases on the Island and violated interstate travel protocols.
Headlined “This Outdoor Martha’s Vineyard Wedding Was All Fall Elegance,” the article was published on vogue.com’s Weddings section on Monday, Nov. 16, and featured a stylized party held over Columbus Day weekend at the Lambert’s Cove Inn. The 1,000-word story and 68 accompanying photographs chronicled nearly every detail of the wedding and its couple.
The story said that organizers followed CDC guidance during the festivities, offering masks and sanitation stations to guests.
But it made no mention of the subsequent 10-case coronavirus cluster that apparently stemmed from the event, and the article was removed without explanation from Vogue’s website at approximately 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 17.
Earlier the same evening, an Island summer resident had emailed a letter to Vogue editor Anna Wintour excoriating the story and informing Ms. Wintour that the wedding had been responsible for the coronavirus case cluster. The letter, which was provided to the Gazette by the author who asked to not be identified, questioned Vogue’s decision to publish the story in light of the coronavirus cases connected to the event, suggesting instead that it be used as a teaching opportunity for other pandemic weddings.
Vogue removed the story from the magazine’s website a short time after the letter was sent.
Responding to an email from the Gazette seeking comment, a spokesman for Conde Nast said the editors had “ensured that appropriate measures were being taken to prevent the spread of Covid at the event.” Once the magazine learned that guests had contracted Covid, they made an editorial decision to remove the piece, the spokesman said.
Island health officials have not identified the venue where the cluster originated, but have said it adhered to all state and local protocols. No action was taken against the venue.
In a statement emailed to the Gazette, Lambert’s Cove Inn owners John and Keya Cain acknowledged the wedding featured in the Vogue article took place at the hotel, but would not confirm that the wedding was the source of the Covid cluster. However, the Gazette has confirmed the link with two people with direct knowledge of it.
In the statement, the inn owners said: “As a family-owned in, restaurant and event venue, we have gone above and beyond to follow CDC and state guidelines regarding Covid-related safety measures.
“For example, we have consistently adhered to size limits for events and ensured our staff follow mask and social distancing requirements,” the statement continue. “We have also informed all our guests of mask wearing and out-of-state travel requirements and enforced these to the extent possible. The health and safety of our staff and guests are our top priority.”
The owners said the wedding featured in the article did include coronavirus safety precautions, although dozens of photos from the Vogue article showed scarce mask use and no social distancing among guests.
“The intimate outdoors wedding featured in the Vogue article consisted of an extended family group that was sharing living quarters off property as a ‘bubble’ of contacts,” the Cains wrote. “As mentioned in the article, they followed CDC guidance and provided masks to their guests at the ceremony entrance. It is our understanding that they only removed masks while eating and taking wedding photos for their Vogue article, and this only occurred outdoors.”
The coronavirus-related fallout from the wedding was reported by the Gazette in late October after public health officials had confirmed the cluster was traced to a Columbus Day weekend wedding on the Vineyard. Health officials said at the time that wedding guests did not violate state guidelines for outdoor gatherings, but they did violate interstate travel rules which require anyone coming from outside Massachusetts to fill out of travel form and either quarantine for 14 days or provide proof of a negative test. By the time the cluster had been identified, the wedding guests had returned to their home states, so no fines were issued, health authorities said.
The first positive cases from the event were tested off-Island, with health officials later tracing the connection back to the Vineyard.
Over the course of the next week, health officials confirmed that eight of the eventual 10 cases stemming from the wedding involved Island residents, with six of them connected to Vineyard workers, employees or staff not on the wedding guest list. Tisbury health agent Maura Valley said at the time that the cluster could have infected more off-Island residents that were not reported to Island boards of health.
That number is unknown.
Since the wedding, held Oct. 11, the Vineyard has reported more than 100 new positive coronavirus cases and experienced its first case surge, with health officials confirming that community spread had taken place on the Island.
Reached by telephone Wednesday, Ms. Valley it was impossible to know whether the wedding had contributed to the case surge or community spread now underway Islandwide.
She had no further comment on the wedding cluster or where the event was held. The Tisbury health agent, who is the leading spokesmen for the six Island boards of health, said she had not been contacted by anyone at Vogue about the matter.
According to the Vogue article, written by managing editor Alexandra Macon, the bride had initially planned to schedule the wedding for a venue in Edgartown, but decided against it after the venue said the indoor reception could only have 17 guests. The bride opted for an outdoor event at the Lambert’s Cove Inn instead, downsizing her guest list by 100 people, according to the story.
The story included links to several Island businesses, freelancers and artists that were featured in the wedding, as well as links to both the bride and groom’s personal businesses. The event and subsequent Vogue article was also extensively promoted on the bride’s Instagram page.
According to the Vogue story, events connected to the wedding occurred throughout the weekend and across the Island, from cocktail parties at a private equestrian farm to photo shoots at Lambert’s Cove Beach to Island Alpaca in Oak Bluffs. All in all, the bride, quoted extensively in the article, said that despite having to downsize the event, it was the wedding of her dreams.
“The outcome was a personal and magical occasion we will never forget,” the bride said.
On Wednesday, different words appeared on Vogue’s website.
“The page you are looking for cannot be found,” it said.
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