Soft & Romantic Italy Destination Wedding

Soft & Romantic Italy Destination Wedding

via

Those of you planning your wedding abroad are in the right place this morning :-)

Wayne and Karen decided to head to beautiful Italy for their wedding celebrations on the 17th May 2014; choosing a gorgeous beach side setting for their romantic nuptials. Their whole day was dreamy, from the fresh white blooms to the utterly wonderful attire and fireworks. Amazing.

Thanks so much to the fabulous Andrea Ellison for sharing her photographs with us today.


THE PROPOSAL, VISION & PLANNING | Wayne and I didn't have a traditional engagement..... we woke up one Saturday morning and after talking about getting married we decided it was a good day to go shopping for an engagement ring! We've always been quite a laid back couplebut we seem to know when something just feels right. That day I found the perfect ring, a vintage ring of a ruby surrounded by diamonds, so after a few champagne cocktails to celebrate and some tipsy discussions on wedding venues we headed to the travel agents to pick up brochures on destination weddings. I sat for hours trawling through brochures but nothing felt right - so I'm looked on-line. I can't remember exactly how I stumbled across My Secret Italy, but when I did, I knew I'd found our dream wedding location, I showed Wayne and he was happy so I emailed Julie, her prompt response and a phone call soon after got the wheels in motion. We knew we wouldn't be able to visit Italy before our wedding, so we looked at lots of photographs from Julie's previous weddings to decide on our style of wedding and the venues for our ceremony and reception.

THE VENUE | We choose to get married in Santa Maria de Catallabate, we got married at the breath takingTorre Perrotti then had our party at The Lido, both venues really suited our laid back style.

THE DRESS & ACCESSORIES | I was amazed at how easily I found my dress, my sister and I went into Shrewsbury (our local town) for the day. I think I was a slightly frustrating bride as I didn't know what I wanted, but I knew what I didn't want!! Amazingly that was the day I found my beautiful Ronald Joyce dress, in a little shop called Severn Brides. The lace vintage style fitted in perfectly with my engagement ring. A few days later I took my mum to see it and I just knew it was 'the one'. I had my hair band from the same shop, an alternative to a tiara. My shoes were from ebay, a bargain, very bling and I was a little worried they didn't quite go with my dress but I LOVED them so was keeping them!

GROOM'S ATTIRE | Wayne was convinced that since he didn't get a say in my outfit that I didn't get a say in his..... I was confident this was never going to be the case! One day whilst we were Christmas shopping I suggested going into the suit shop, whilst Wayne looked around I spoke to an assistant and described what I felt Wayne wanted!! And that day we bought his suit, a dark grey Ted Baker suit. We decided that all the groomsmen would wear their own suits and we ensured they all had the same ties and hankies - in keeping with our laid back style.

THE READINGS & MUSIC | The music was easy for us to sort out as we had a traditional Italian Guitar and Mandolin playing, it couldn't have been more fitting for our day. For the readings we choose 2 poems, one about love and one about marriage. We also wrote our own vows for that personal touch.

BEAUTIFUL BRIDESMAIDS | And that they were. My sister and my brother's girlfriend were bridesmaid, I kept it simple with people I was really close to, their dresses were in platinum by Dessy. My niece was a flower girl in white.

THE FLOWERS | I wanted to keep the flowers simple yet effective and I couldn't have been happier, my flowers were a simple bouquet of roses with vintage lace around the stems, the bridesmaids held gypsophila bouquets, the same flowers were used for the groomsmen button holes.

THE CAKE | We chose not to have a cake, our desert was my favourite.... Tiramisu

YOUR PHOTOGRAPHER | We researched several photographers and knew as soon as we stumbled across Andrea Ellison that she was who we wanted and the fact that she had been to Santa Maria before to shot weddings just made it even more perfect. Andrea was an amazing photographer who worked so hard and produced the most amazing shots for us. She stayed in Italy for a long weekend, and took photos each day. Everyone felt so at ease with Andrea and everyone is so jealous of our photographs.

THE DETAILS & DÉCOR | We wanted a romantic, soft, vintage edge and everything was just perfect. Hearts and flowers in white decorated our venue with quirky Italian touches.

THE HONEYMOON | We stayed in Santa Maria after our wedding as we just fell in love with its rustic charm, we also can't wait to go back. It is a magical place.

MEMORABLE MOMENTS | Where do we start, from having our family and friends around us, not just for our wedding day but for our wedding week. The torrential rain on the morning of our wedding which cleared up to reveal the most amazing blue skies and sunshine. Walking out onto the roof terrace of the amazingTorre Perrotti and setting eyes on each other for the first time, walking through the town as husband and wife being congratulated by all the locals. Wedding photographs in the palace, which has never been allowed before. Watching the sun set over Capri. Fireworks. Partying until the early hours , not only with our guests but with Julie, Andrea and then band. When the party finally ended, Wayne and I sat on a wall on the edge of the beach outside our hotel, reflecting on our amazing wedding day. Moments which will stay with us forever.

ADVICE FOR OTHER COUPLES | Its a stressful time but try to stayed as laid back as you can be, on the day you won't care if there are touches that aren't perfect. Remember why you are getting married and keep focused on each other.

CREDIT WHERE CREDIT IS DUE |

Planning | My Secret Italy

Photography | Andrea Ellison

Simply stunning.

Thanks so much to Wayne and Karen for sharing their super wedding story with us XOXO Lou

Zum Kommentieren anmelden

Follow us on