Inside: An Italian Summer Night Inspired Wedding In Lerici

The Story

Sam and I met through work, at an opening event. After a long night out and loads of flirty looks, I went up to him and introduced myself and kissed him after a few seconds, the rest is history.

At the beginning, my English was so little that we could barely understand each other, but the love of food, fitness and furry friends was stronger than the language barrier.

Fast forward four years and a pandemic after, we got engaged in the Bahamas, at sunset by the beach in the most romantic setting on Stocking Island.

We actually got only one picture of the proposal that was taken from a lovely couple sitting in the exact same spot where Sam was actually planning to get down on one knee. The seats were already taken but the proposal was still MAGICAL! I was in total shock as I wasn’t expecting it (it was day number 5/6 of our holidays so I thought it was too late to happen).

The engagement ring belongs to Sam’s family. It was the actual ring that his father used to propose to his mum. It’s a trilogy ring, the frame was re-done to make it more modern.

Venue

I am Italian and always wanted to get married close to the sea. 5 Terre holds a special place in my heart. Loads of childhood memories were made in the little town where we got married, Lerici.

Villa Marigola was the only place we saw, fell in love with it straight away and booked it for our wedding. The Villa holds a stunning view to the sea and the rest of 5 terre, such as Portofino and Portovenere.

So romantic, even under the rain, as there was a thunderstorm the day of the wedding. We are so glad we chose this location which had a phenomenal plan B for the rain.

The day before the wedding we hosted two separate dinners. The ushers went to Forte dei Marmi for a fancy dinner by the beach (Osteria Del Mare restaurant) and us girls went for a very fun, low key sunset dinner on a terrace restaurant in Lerici (Jeri’s).

For the day after the wedding we booked a beach club for our guests. Open to anyone who wanted to chill, swim, sunbathe or continue the celebration. It was followed by one last dinner all together at Ciccillo, a restaurant on the sea that you can only reach via a tunnel under the castle of Lerici. Sunsets and dinners by the beach are my favourites.

Fashion

For our Italian wedding, I bought the dress in Parma, where my family is from.

The shop is called Stefania Spose. They did a fantastic job turning upside down the dress to make it exactly how I wanted it. I added a long cut in the front to show my legs, cut out layers and changed the colour to off white rather than milky white.

The shoes are high laced nude heels from Sebastian Milan and I did not wear anything blue. I completely forgot to be honest.

I changed my dress and shoes after the cake cut and wore a short dress with flats so I could let my hair down and enjoy the party.

Sam had his suit tailored by Charlie Casely Hayford using Loro Piana wool, and the shoes were from Velasca.

Jewellery

I wore Astrid and Miyu earrings.

Bridal Party

I had no bridesmaids as it’s not in the Italian tradition. I also wanted to make sure everyone felt free to wear anything that made them feel fabulous on the day. Each to their own.

The flower girls were my little three nieces. They each had a flower crown and a bucket full of petals to throw before my walk down the aisle. They chose their own outfits and I loved it!

Transportation

We organised a shuttle to pick up and drop off all our guests from different hotels and accommodations. The service was running throughout the evening/night until the very end of the party.

Tablescape

The theme of the Italian wedding was an Italian summer night.

We had four long imperial tables for dinner with eucalyptus runners in the middle, and loads of lemons everywhere. We also had floating candles on the tables that made the atmosphere so intimate.

On the balcony we had chandeliers that looked like they were floating in the air and candles on the floor.

The menus and table were designed by Gloria Masini, which perfectly drew the idea of an Italian summer night dinner and party al fresco.

Food & Drink

As an Italian and it was an Italian wedding, the quality of the food was very important to me.

We had canapes and non alcoholic drinks before the ceremony. Followed by an aperitivo in the garden with loads of aperol spritz and a selection of breads, cheese, fish, cured meats and finger food counters.

Then we had a three courses dinner: two pasta dishes, seafood and pesto (Liguria is where pesto comes from) and a portion of sea bream with roasted veggies.

The cake was made live while we were having dinner for everyone to watch and take pictures and videos.

At the party we offered a selection of classic drinks and passion fruit mojitos, Etna special, grapefruit G&T and so on.