Today's wedding is just a dream.
Wander-lusting Chicago-based couple, Johnny and Nastasia were joined by 40 of their closest friends and family for a beautiful destination wedding on the Amalfi Coast in Italy.
Photographed in stunning style by Aljosa Videtic Photography, their day played out like a stunning old movie, with a spectacular cathedral ceremony, dancing in the streets of the old town, stunning portraits over the sea, a romantic moments in the garden, and a beautiful intimate Italian feast with breath-taking views.
Glamorous and chic, yet dreamy and nostalgic, this wedding is what the term La Dolce Vita is all about…
(Oh and once you've swooned over the pictures of Johnny and Nastasia's wedding, pop on over to watch their epic wedding film by Marco Caputo Films.)
The Theme
Vintage, soft, delicate, romantic old world feel to everything.
I was inspired by Jackie O for my look, especially for my veil. I love all things vintage and I really wanted a classic look so I opted with lace from head to toe and pearls.
The Amalfi Coast has a lot of old world charm to it so we wanted to compliment the feeling one gets when they visit the Amalfi Coast. It truly takes you back in time.
The cathedral we got married in is a 10th century cathedral and Hotel Caruso is a former 11th century palace perched on the top of the mountain of the town of Ravello. When you walk into Hotel Caruso, you feel like you’ve walked into the 1940s or 1950s.
I wanted the cocktail hour and dinner reception to reflect this era so I opted for a saxophonist and pianist to play songs by Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra and many other classics similar to them.
The Ceremony
The priest wanted me to chose 1 Corinthians 13 for the reading and as much as I love it, I wanted to chose the verse with Johnny and truly resonated with us.
As I flipped through the book, my eyes went straight to 1 John 4:16, God is Love.
We were so lucky to meet our priest, Father John three years ago when we visited the Amalfi Cathedral and asked him if he would marry us after we attended his mass. He instantly agreed and became a good friend of ours!
We were so grateful for this because we had heard from many people that it is a challenge to find an Italian priest to marry a non-Italian couple in that cathedral so it’s safe to say that it was meant to be!
So I chose 1 John 4:16, God is Love and our priest gave us the most beautiful mass we could ever ask for. He triggered emotion and tears in everyone’s eyes in that church that day. It was truly beautiful and the emotion reflects this in our video.
The cathedral was so beautifully ornate that I felt that it wasn’t necessary to add anything more to it so I kept it the way it was.
One thing that made us feel really nice was walking through the town of Amalfi and all of the townspeople and tourists were just so happy and sweet, following us, congratulating us, dancing in the street with us, taking photos, and even sneaking into the church to attend our mass! It was so special to share our day with people from all over the world in one little town. It made our day that much more memorable
Flowers
I chose roses for our bouquets, a darker pink for my bridesmaids and a light pink for me with greenery.
Favourite Moments
Every second of the day was just perfect!
It meant so much to Johnny and I to see the smiles on our friends and families’ faces!
40 guests traveled across the globe for our day and we were just so grateful that everyone was having such a beautiful
time in such a wonderful place.
Johnny and I travel internationally often and there were so many times that I just wished
my friends and family were with me and that wish came true on my special day!
One of my favorite memories of the day was bumping into a band in the town of Amalfi after the ceremony and just
dancing in the streets with my mother. Aljosa captured this moment and it always makes me smile when I think about it!
The Photography & Videography
I chose Aljosa Videtic as my photographer because I wanted someone with a journalistic / vintage style and his work truly reflected this style. He captured many candid and emotional shots, which was what I desired. We had so much fun with him all day laughing and just being us!
We chose Marco Caputo after finding one of his films on Pinterest and my husband and I were just in awe with his work.
He has an eye for the most beautiful moments and he was able to capture the highlights of the day in such an emotional, natural and beautiful way.
They were both a pleasure to work with!
The Bridesmaids
I wanted something bold for my bridesmaids to wear so I chose a gorgeous deep green gown for them to wear design by Jovani.
The color complimented the soft tones of the towns so beautifully, especially the gardens of Villa Cimbrone in Ravello.
Advice to Other Couples
I would absolutely recommend all of my vendors for anyone thinking about having a destination wedding on the Amalfi Coast. They all contributed to making our day as special as it could be.
I also recommend Taverna degli Apostoli restaurant for the rehearsal dinner. We took over the restaurant the night before the wedding and had a blast!
Truly the best advice I can give: just breathe, smile, hope for the best and HAVE FUN! There were many things that didn’t go exactly as planned but they did not affect me one bit because I was too busy smiling and taking it all in!
The day goes by so fast and you truly want to be in the moment as each moment passes.
The Refreshments
We chose classic Italian Bellini’s and Prosecco for the cocktails with canapés and for dinner we had red and white local Amalfi Coast wines and a four course menu.
Marinated sea bass with citrus fruit, celery salad and Annurca apple, Home-made risotto limone, Scaloppina di Vitello al limone sfusato, capperi e broccoli – Veal loin scented with “Sfusato” lemon, capers and broccoli.
The Decor
I wrote a thank you letter and had Papyrus print them on stationary paper that I chose. Hotel Caruso placed one on each table set along with a personalized menu with a beautiful sketch by a local artist of Ravello on the front of the menu.
I chose lots of candles and roses for the table décor. We then waked over to the hotel’s famous infinity pool for more drinks and dancing under the stars.
The Music
We had a DJ playing our favourite tunes all night and I danced with my father first. I surprised my dad and had the DJ play an Arabic song that he used to always sing to my younger sister and I as children called ‘Ya Habibi’ by Amr Diab.
Safe to say my dad bursted into tears when he heard the song!
I then danced with Johnny and we danced to Elvis’ “Can't Help Falling In Love”.
Just heavenly.
I can't stop cooing over Nastasia's glorious veil, and the settings, from the cathedral to the reception, are all just stunning.
Thanks so much to Nastasia and Johnny for sharing their epically beautifully Amalfi Coast wedding with us. And don't forget to check out their spectacular wedding film by Marco Caputo.
For more more dreamy real life nuptials, see Chic Weddings + Destination Weddings.
