The first time I met Claudine and Paco, I had the strong sensation like when you meet a couple of friends. They are a young successful couple. She comes from Switzerland, he is from Peru. So we had no problem in speaking both Italian and Spanish with them. That made me feel at ease from the first moment.
We had a look at 3 Villas and the last one was the perfect place for their romantic wedding. Being close to one of the most beautiful romanic churches in Tuscany. It was easy for them to decide to get married there.
The weekend started with a buffet party the night before in the courtyard of the Villa. All the guests helped themselves to the generous food and we had a suckling pig prepared just for us. People from every part of the world would have enjoyed. In fact our Porchetta is world famous!!
The next morning, we went to the beauty centre for a manicure with the bride.There I got a fine on my car as I didn’t pay attention that the streets were going to be cleaned the same morning… We had a rushed trip back to the Villa for hair and makeup, getting the bride dressed and everyone ready. Then, we finally proceeded onto the church.
The couple chose rustic, elegant decorations for the church to match the gorgeous setting and let the beauty of the venue shine through. It was a touching ceremony with violin and trumpet music from “The Italian wedding band”. Once back at the Villa, guests enjoyed an aperitif with Class Ricevimenti. They served them a scrumptious aperitif in the villas’ garden.
They took advantage of the fun photo booth with props and the reception dinner started. The table was one long setting, with stunning décor from Agriflor. The most amazing single hung lightbulbs provided from Wedding Music and Lights looked incredible once it got darker. Several courses were served, which is typical of Tuscan food, and a delicious millefoglie cake to cut for dessert.
Before we knew it, it was time for the first dance. Just after, an epic battle with a Star Wars theme entertained all the guests. Open bar was organized by the professional Nicola of Eventin Exclusive Bar who created a wonderful piece of furniture just for these guys. It was really worth the effort! I love love love this style!
The night was truly full of fun as the couple danced until 3am with all their guests, enjoying the cool Tuscan night. Of course this could have never happened without my great assistants, Claudia and Letizia who helped me during the whole day. Another thanks to the wonderful job of Claudia and Luca of Rossini Photography, two of the most professional people I always love to work with. A huge thanks to them all for a perfect days that this couple will always remember!
Have you just started planning your wedding in Tuscany, perhaps in Florence. You have no idea of where to start?? I’m sure this post will give you a lot of hints of what to do next.
Doesn’t matter where you come from, if you are british, you come from the Us, New Zealand or Siena. Simply ask a friend who got married there and when you start talking about document required… They’ll all show the same face :”WHAAAT? Are you really going to do it all by yourself? No kidding, ..it will be a nightmare!!”
This is what most of the people are told when facing with italian bureaucracy. Speaking with some colleagues we always tell us our stories in the different town halls,with civil officer. While some of them are extremely helpful and try to make your couple feel relaxed even if they have no passport to show, most of them are not at all:
1) don’t speak a single word of English and refuse to understand anything that doesn’t sound italian.
2) have no idea of what office hours are and can go for a coffee even 5 minutes before the ceremony begins ( happened to me next May…)
3) can switch office, close the door to work without anybody else disturbing them and decide that all the papers you’ve prepared for the most important day of your life can wait until before the wedding day to be processed (if you don’t believe it have a look at this review)
So with the lovely picture of this Christmas tree in the main square of Fiesole. Think a lot before starting doing all the legal side by your own and above all start inquire for a good wedding planner!! Whan I received Alexandra’s email I thought, oh my God, the town hall will never accept a winter wedding on December 23rd but this exactly what they did!
They arrived just a few days before in order to be able to get the documets at the American Embassy by the Lungarno. Once we had our precious declaration we headed straight onward to the town hall with my car. I was driving like a crazy to get there before 12am when the office close. I was really lucky because the girls working there were fantastic. More important than this they are used to deal with couple arriving late due to the times of offices !!!
Anyway, on the following day they got married inside the Council room as the chilly temperatures didn’t allowed us to stay outside . As they choose this lovely city the Deputy gave them tickets to visit the Roman Theatre. It is just a few steps far from the town hall. They got there with a couple of friends to take some pictures before heeding back to Via Tornabuoni where they had a lunch booked.
The talented photographer, Sebastian Bonacchi was there to help them capturing this special moment. If you like to see more pictures just scroll down. I’m sure you will love his style! If you are thinking about getting married in Florence, Fiesole cold be the right choice for you!
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
