Today's real wedding is pretty different to the kind of celebrations we normally feature on the blog. And that's what makes it so cool.
Because Alessandra & Giuseppe's Italian wedding didn't just have an incredible setting, gorgeous style, and beautiful food, it also had two fabulous parties rolled into one!
A traditional church ceremony, a relaxed garden brunch, and then, as the lights went down, the flapper dresses came on, for one of the most luxurious 1920s-themed weddings we've ever seen, in Giuseppe's family's villa, with stunning views over The Palatine Hill in Rome.
This is one of those posts where, even if you're not planning a Great Gatsby wedding of your own, it's simply worth swooning over anyway (for Alessandra's stunning custom dresses alone!).
But why would we tell you all about it, when we can hand you over to the wonderful lady behind the lens, Oana of Catoski Photoart to share more about this very unique wedding…
From the Photographer
It's a special wedding for me, because it was like a double wedding: we had the chance to photograph two parties, two wedding dresses, two pairs of bridal shoes and two extremely different bridal looks.
The bride and groom have Italian origins, but currently live in the UK and decided to get married in the groom's home city.
The first part of the day unfolded with an all-white bridal look, with a very simple and stylish updo and a white peony bouquet. After the ceremony, they had a classy garden party refreshment. Here we managed to steal the bride and groom away for ten minutes and take a few private portraits. They were both so elegant!
There was an afternoon break and in the evening, there was a Great Gatsby themed party which took place at the groom's villa in the centre of Rome.
Our couple surprised us with their glamorous look: the white tie perfectly suited the groom, as if it were his normal dress code. Moreover, the bridal look was completely different from the morning one: she was amazing in her beautiful 1920s inspired dress, with red lips, stylish hairstyle, plums and Swarovski on her shoulders.
It was strange, everything was so true-to-life that one could imagine to have travelled in time or to be on a movie set. I almost looked around to see if DiCaprio showed up at a certain point!
Wedding Day Snapshot
Favourite Moments from our Day
There isn’t any particular moment I can say is my favorite because every time me and my husband we were looking at our guests we saw them smiling, chatting, dancing and eating fantastic traditional Italian food as well, so enjoying everything from the party at all times.
This was for us the greatest gift.
I’m glad that Catoski Photoart had the chance to capture most of it so it will remain forever with us.
The Ceremony & Brunch
For the ceremony, we wanted a very traditional environment, held in Santa Prisca Church, in Rome, in the Colle Aventino, no major decoration, just simple white and beiges to fit the marble.
Flowers where hydrangeas in violet by our friend Antonella Marino.
After the ceremony, we offered to our guest a light lunch in the church garden as Rome in June can be very, very hot.
As many of our guest were coming from outside Rome we let them free for the afternoon to visit this amazing city or rest to be ready for the party.
The Evening Reception
For the evening reception we decided on the Roaring Twenties.
It was a period of sustained economic prosperity. Women were very elegant in their cocktail dresses, and men in smocking and frack. The sound was jazz music and finally free from the constraint of rigid Victorian corset, they were able to dance all night long but always with elegance.
This is why we wanted to create this atmosphere for our guests!
The venue was the garden of the house were my husband grew up with a stunning view of Colle Palatino. Why look for something else?
All the decorations were created together with a good friend, Antonella Marino.
The sound of the first part of the evening was jazz, thanks to a fantastic group of friends with six instruments, while later we decided to have a more heavy electronic music thanks to a DJ friend coming from NY, keeping the music going on 'til sunrise.
The Honeymoon
The day after the wedding, we had an early wake up call to leave for Milan, preparing our suitcases and catch our flight for Seoul first and Fiji for 10 day of sun, sea and relax.
So fabulous right? I do love a vintage wedding! I also think, for couples struggling to choose between a traditional family wedding (with children) and a more adult knees up, this is the perfect solution.
The break in the day sounds pretty luxurious too, especially in a hot climate!
Thanks so much to Oana of Catoski Photoart, and of course, Alessandra & Giuseppe for sharing their Roaring Twenties wedding with us.
