Ian Axel, one half of the Grammy Award-winning duo A Great Big World married Lina Kent on Friday, April 15. In celebration of their newlywed status The Knot is exclusively premiering the music video for A Great Big World’s “One Step Ahead,” the beautiful song Axel wrote for his fiancee!
“Friday I did the best thing I’ve ever done,” Axel shared on Instagram on Sunday, April 17. “I married my best friend. I love you Lina Axel.” The two wed in an intimate ceremony amidst rows upon rows of books at the Housing Works Bookstore Cafe in New York City last weekend, with the reception’s delicacies provided by Works Catering.
The bride, Kent, wore a stunning backless Katie May wedding dress made of white lace. Bruna Adamo provided her makeup and hair, which she wore in curls under a floor-sweeping Christina Garcia veil. Kent also wore her “something blue” on her feet, gaining a hidden pop of color with bright blue, jewel-encrusted Badgley Mischka peep-toe pumps!
Axel wore a black agnès b. tuxedo and white bow tie combo, with his carefully coiffed mane tamed by Michael Dueñas. The flowers and boutonnieres for the couple and their many bridesmaids and groomsmen (including Axel’s A Great Big World other half, Chad King) were provided by Rose Red & Lavender.
Unable to stay away from the music, Axel performed for his new wife at their wedding reception, tickling the ivories and singing among their wedding guests within the bookstore’s walls. We can only assume he was performing his ballad “One Step Ahead” which he penned for Kent.
The song combines beautiful piano, strings, and acoustic guitar, but highlights Axel’s voice above it all in a heartfelt tribute to the ups and downs of relationships and the sentiment that when you know it’s right, you just know.
“One step ahead of me you saw what we could be. How did you know down in your bones that I’d come around,” the lyrics ask. But as Axel married his bride last weekend, the song’s words, “I see it now,” ring even more true for the musician, making it the perfect wedding song.
A Great Big World was formed by friends Axel and King in 2012 with a successful Kickstarter campaign launching their EP. In 2013 they released their first single under the Black Magnetic/Epic Records label called “Say Something,” which quickly rose in popularity prompting a re-recording and a performance on The Voice with Christina Aguilera.
A Great Big World’s debut album “Is There Anyone Out There?” was released in 2014. Their second album “When the Morning Comes,” which contains Axel’s “One Step Ahead” and King’s “Hold Each Other,” was released in 2015.
On Axel’s wedding day, King tweeted, “My best friend is getting married today. I have so much love in my heart.”
