The mega-popular wedding website Style Me Pretty just featured a wedding that we did last September in Umbria, Italy. We thought it was very special and are glad they did too! Click on the Style Me Pretty badge above to see the feature and be sure and leave a comment on their site

We are so thrilled! The relentlessly stylish Junebug.com just published an exquisite wedding that we did in Rome last September.

Click on the Junebug.com badge above to see the article and more photos of Marisol and Richard’s absolutely charming wedding day!

Both Robin and Frank are nurses and they met on a special transplant program in Palermo, Sicily. That and the fact that Frank’s family is from Abruzzo made Italy the perfect place to celebrate their wedding and Rome a central meeting point.

They had a double wedding celebration with an intimate ceremony on a terrace with a spectacular view over the center of Rome. followed by a luncheon with just family. Later that day they tooled around with photographer in tow to take advantage of the many incredible sites that Rome has to offer. Photo with Saint Peter’s Basilica? Check! Photo with the Colosseum? Check! On a Vespa? Check!

The day culminated in a party on yet another gorgeous terrace with a bird’s eye view of the Colosseum. Robin and Frank are big Pittsburgh Steelers fans and so their family surprised them with their own wedding version of the “terrible towel”.

The bride and groom had grown up together before each went their own way into adulthood. After many years and life experiences later they met again while both were living in NYC and this time around they did not see each other just as neighbors anymore!

A big thank you to all of our former clients and everyone who helped us get here! We couldn’t have done it without you!

Click on the symbol above to see Meline and Coco’s wedding featured today in Style Me Pretty. “Oggi Sposi”  is the Italian equivalent of “Just Married”

The celebration began with an outdoor pizza and gelato party at the villa the night of arrival. The villa has a wood burning brick pizza oven outside and the dinner was planned around it. The following morning a half day trip to Siena had been planned for the more adventurous guests. Siena is a spectacular, often overlooked city that dates back before the Roman Empire and was a rival to Florence during the Middle Ages and Renaissance. Other guests remained behind to bask in the sun and relax around the pool. A barbecue rehearsal dinner was organized for the evening and featured typical, local cuts of meat and classic Tuscan salads.

The wedding day was gorgeous and sunny. The Catholic ceremony was held at the Duomo in Pienza. A Duomo is the main basilica in a city and this one was built during the Renaissance around 1500 at the request of Pope Pius II in the heart of Pienza, a town dominated by his family. The formal majesty of the church combined with the intimacy and charm of Pienza is a winning combination and is a gorgeous backdrop for photos.

The cocktail hour was back at the villa with sweeping views of the surrounding Tuscan hills followed by a romantic dinner under the lantern lit trees. The enchanting evening culminated with fireworks and dancing under the stars.

Brenda

p.s. This wedding received a lot of attention. The floral arrangements were featured on the cover of a British floral design magazine Flora (see below) and the wedding was featured on The Wedding Channel which you can see at the following link: http://galleries.weddingchannel.com/Wedding-Details/86050/view.aspx?type=18&id=86050

I met Ashley via email about a year ago. She is a wedding photographer in Boston and so, being in the business, she knew exactly what she did and did not want for her own wedding. We planned together for a little over a year. They wanted a small, charming, authentic celebration in the Tuscan countryside and a civil ceremony for the wedding. I suggested they all stay together in one of my very favorite villas in Montepulciano and as soon as they saw the website for the villa they knew it was even more than they had dreamed of.

Ashley wanted an early April wedding before she became crazed photographing other people’s weddings. (She is such a talented photographer–enjoy her photographic work at www.aodell.com).  It turned out to be spectacularly warm and sunny all four days they stayed in Tuscany, perhaps the most beautiful week of the entire Spring. While at the villa we had a wine and cheese tasting of local fare. Southern Tuscany is home to two of Italy’s most important red wines–Brunello di Montalcino and Vino Nobile di Montepulciano. The area is also famous for the cheese Pecorino di Pienza and so we sampled three of the same cheese but aged differently. The wine and cheese tasting was followed by a welcome dinner.

The following day I organized a day trip for the group to tour Siena and Cortona, two exquisite, historic cities in Tuscany that date back to before the Roman Empire. Then the big day. The group went on ahead to Pienza for the  civil wedding ceremony and Ashley and Eric arrived together in their convertible vintage Volkswagon Beetle. At the ancient gates of the historic center they decided to enter on foot, walking hand in hand toward the main piazza where all their guests and a violinist were waiting to welcome them. It was a truly magical moment.  We all went upstairs to the Medieval tower for the wedding ceremony. Once they said their “I Do’s” we descended back down to the main piazza for a prosecco toast in honor of the newlyweds. The couple went off into the countryside to take photos while their guests headed back to the villa to begin the celebration.

Thank you Ashely and Eric for allowing me to share in one of the most important moments of your lives together.  Tanti Auguri!

And thank you to photographer Channing Johnson  www.channingjohnson.com for these gorgeous images. He was a pleasure to work with.

Brenda

Ashley says:

Eric and I really wanted to be surprised when it came to our wedding celebration. As a wedding photographer, I have the opportunity to see a lot of amazing locations and great design ideas, but when it came to my own wedding, I wanted to leave it all up to Brenda. Neither Eric nor I had ever visited Italy, and we looked at very few pictures of the area before going, so we could really experience everything first hand. Every moment in Tuscany, including the drive up to the villa, was remarkable. I wouldn’t describe either of us as criers, but throughout our entire stay in Tuscany, we were so filled with joy, we couldn’t help but let our emotions take over.

And getting back to surprises, some of our favorite moments could have never been planned anyways. On the day of the wedding, we parked just outside of the city center and walked into the piazza. And on this day, there just so happened to be a group of school kids hanging out, and once they saw us walking up the roadway, erupted into applause and cheers. I have never felt such an overwhelming sense of joy, excitement, and fortune as I did in that moment, and that goes for Eric as well. We will always think back to that very moment, and know just how lucky we are to have found one another.