Cecilia and Andrew who both work at an animation studio (Andrew is an animation director and Cecilia is an art director) tied the knot on 23rd May 2023 at the super beautiful and romantic Badia di San Vittore in Italy.
This glorious, historic venue was suggested by their wedding planner, Nadia of Loving Marche, who the couple say went above and beyond for them.
Cecilia wore a sublime, silk asymmetrical gown by designer Katherine Tash and kept her styling minimal and elegant. As an artist, she was keen to incorporate organic shapes and colours alongside an elegant sense of sculpture and texture into their day. The couple hosted a delightfully romantic reception in the gardens, complete with a traditional Italian mille feuille and a beautifully decorated space that sat beneath a canopy of twinkling lights.
You can enjoy many more Italian weddings here on Love My Dress.
Bridal Beauty & Accessories
I got most of my accessories through Etsy, including these gold and pearl dangling flower earrings by AlexKBoutique. I was attracted to the unique and romantic design. I purchased a beautiful chapel length drop veil by CassandraSilvestro on Etsy.
My scent was Grand Larceny by St. Rose, the floral woody scent with sage, rose and lemon is one of my favourite perfumes.
When it came to styling my hair, I kept it very simple with no hair accessories, since the earrings were more dramatic. I really wanted a minimal makeup look to go with a romantic French twist, and Roxy of Bridal Beauty Italy did a wonderful job making me look and feel like a bride.
She also did hair and makeup for my bridesmaids and my mom, and she was so calm and professional. Her portfolio for makeup and hair is insanely beautiful, so I trusted in her taste and execution.
Our beautiful wedding stationery was by Alice from Studio Alispi.
Photography
We were absolutely blown away by Zonzo – their photography had the movement and artistry we were looking for, something that felt interesting and editorial, and we loved their work from the start.
Simona and Angelo are truly wonderful people; every interaction with them was a positive one and they always had great communication and were very fun. Throughout the whole day they kept an atmosphere of joy while also taking many unexpected candid photos and when we look at their photos it brings back so many wonderful moments.
We were so incredibly happy with them.
How They Met
We met at work six years ago, and Andrew’s outgoing personality brought me out of my shell very quickly. We have a lot in common, but our differences also bring out the best in each other. He proposed in the summer of 2021.
When we finally decided on a date, I began to reach out to planners 14 months before our wedding, because I wanted to make sure there was enough time to find the right vendors.
Andrew wore a custom tailored wool suit from Indochino in the colour ‘Milano Sand’. I also found Andrew’s silk tie on Etsy, a navy blue taupe and gold floral pattern by TieObsessed.
Words of Wedded Wisdom
I have two pieces of advice:
Stress management – I was extremely stressed and worried about whether my guests would have a good time for a whole year. The truth is that people will always be happy to eat, drink and be merry, no matter what you decide to do for your wedding. Find ways to minimise your stress and confide in your support group. In our case, it also ended up taking us three long days to travel to Italy due to delayed and cancelled flights and we were so worried that we wouldn’t make it to our own wedding. But even then we learned from this experience and focused on what matters most: marrying the person you want to grow old with.
Prepare for planning – Sit down with your partner and work out a clear budget and expectations. It’s so important to communicate at this stage, and while I did most of the decision making, I wanted my partner to have input at the very beginning to minimise major changes later on. If you’re hiring a planner or coordinator (which I highly recommend) the best advice I found was to figure out your top five needs in order of importance. For us it was great food, then venue, decor, music, and activities before and after the wedding. It’s also helpful to know exactly what you don’t want. This really helped us shape the budget and figure out what kind of wedding we wanted.
