As a Destination wedding planner in Tuscany I sadly don’t normally get involved with helping a bride to find her perfect dress and only see the breath taking gowns in the flesh either as I’m running them to the Lavanderia to be pressed pre wedding or on the morning of the wedding usually hanging up all ready for the bride to step into it and look utterly gorgeous. So you can imagine how delighted I was when I got invited to meet wedding gown designer Lucio Antonucci from  “Le Fiabe di Lucio”  (Lucio’s fables) and visit him at his studio, which is located just a stone’s throw away from the famous Ponte Vecchio in Florence.

I first met Fabio his marketing manager on the famous bridge and we walked the short distance to meet the maestro, when the door to his studio opened I was greeted by the sweetest, kindest man who welcomed me as an old friend made me a delicious strong Italian coffee and made me feel at home instantly. I felt as if I had known him for years as we chatted about his work and all things weddings.  I can see why brides would trust him with the most important decisions for their wedding, he’s fun and so easy and interesting to talk to that you can easily be swept away with the creativity which is buzzing in the room.

Lucio’s studio is like an Aladdin’s cave and there are so many wonderful things  to fest your eyes on it’s difficult to know where to begin… Lush fabrics are just about everywhere, the mannequins’ with dresses seemly ready for the bride to pop in for her next fitting and finished dresses hanging up just waiting to be collected for their grand entrance be it in a church or civil ceremony you just know that the bride is going to feel like a million dollars, the groom is going to be blown away with how wonderful she looks and the guests will gasp when they see her in her unique “Lucio” creation.  There are shoes, veils  and accessories and boxes and boxes of wedding goodies all beautifully arranged, I was like a kid in a sweetshop with all those tactile, yummy fabrics to touch and see and there was lots of oohing and ahhing coming from me during my visit.

Lucio Antonucci, is a designer of Haute Couture, high end  totally unique wedding dresses, no two designs are ever the same and his wedding gowns are almost etheral, so light and playful, just perfect for a hot summer’s day wedding in Tuscany. He works closely with the bride to come up with the perfect wedding gown for the occasion and then sews them all by hand, a true labour of love and as you can see from the images below there are some truly gorgeous creations.

As I left Lucio he gave me a wonderful little gift of a black feather brooch which will no doubt make many appearances at future weddings and something that I will cherish for a long time to come.
Thank you Lucio for giving up your morning to give me a glimpse of your wonderful Haute Couture world, now all I need is a bride who would like one of Lucio’s wonderful gowns so they have a truly Tuscan wedding.

JX