WEDDINGS IN ITALY – GAIA & FRANCESCO

Weddings in Italy

Gaia and Francesco came to my agency, Matrimoni d’Autore, following the sound advice by their friend, who had attended a wedding I planned years ago on Lake Como. Gaia and Francesco are bright, young and have stellar careers and a strong desire to excel. They are in love. I could tell, as soon as they stepped into my office. I saw the knowing glances they exchanged. They didn’t beat about the bush either, they went straight to the point: “we want to get married within three months from now!”

It was May the 6^th, a Saturday, it was raining and the weather was still on the cold side. Wedding season was just starting and my team and I simply couldn’t turn down a good challenge. I just had to look at my girls’ faces and I thought “I am not going to turn this one down: I haven’t planned a last-minute wedding in a while!”. I started asking questions, in order to discover what their dreams and aspirations were and what they had in mind for their big day. As they talked, ideas started popping into my head. There was a lot to do and not much time to do it: we needed to get to work straightaway and be scientific about it. Luckily, as I said, it was a Saturday, so I could take a quiet weekend to myself to think about how I was going to start working on this project.

|| weddings in italy ||

On Monday morning, we set out to look for the perfect venue, which was my biggest concern, because last-minute Saturday bookings are hard to place. Years of experience, however, have equipped me with a huge database and I quickly found the perfect match. Casa Villa in Cornaredo was the ideal venue in which to host a country-chic wedding near Milan. I called Andrea, who attuned to my excitement immediately and quickly checked the venue’s calendar: they had a pre-booking for that Saturday, July 15^th, but it was not confirmed “Just give me a few hours to sort this out” he said. I just knew we were going to get it. What I needed now was to spread my enthusiasm and optimism to my staff. We were going to do this together! In the meantime, I called the florist and started looking for a live band to provide the day’s entertainment, I scheduled a few tasting sessions with the caterers that fell within our assigned budget, and I started drafting a plan of the whole event. I wanted to have something to show our clients as soon as possible. Casa Villa was luckily available and we immediately scheduled a viewing with the couple. The days flew by and our project started emerging like the picture on a jigsaw puzzle. Next thing we know, it was mid-July.

It was a warm and sunny day. Francesco arrived late that morning to the venue, to make sure that everything was going according to plan. He checked on the progress of the decoration and then went straight to the depandance, where he was going to get dressed. He was tense and he had his best mates with him. The mayor of Cornaredo arrived early and went straight to the area allocated for the celebration of the civil rite. The decoration was essential, with just a touch of the romantic, in the form of little heart-shaped fans that we had artfully spread on the floor, to serve as a decoration along the aisle and also to provide the guests with much needed respite from the heat. The ceremony was deeply emotional and several friends and family members took to the podium to offer good wishes and show their love.

|| weddings in italy ||

|| weddings in italy ||

|| weddings in italy ||

After Francesco and Gaia were pronounced man and wife, amongst their loved ones’ happy tears, the party started. We moved the guests to the barn, a beautiful brick building, were our chosen caterers from Bacco e Arianna had laid out a spectacular aperitivo. Bacco e Arianna is one of the best catering services in Milan: they work exclusively with first-rate ingredients, with which they create delicious and original recipes. As our guests tucked into the delicious selection of finger-food, “Wolfabilly & the Silvery Moon” started playing, Harry’s voice caressing their western, classic rock tunes with rockabillly overtones. It was an instant success and the dancefloor was immediately flooded with enthusiastic guests, their finger-food plates still in their hands.

|| weddings in italy ||

|| weddings in italy ||

|| weddings in italy ||

After sunset, it was finally time for the official banquet. Two magnificent imperial tables, vast and richly decorated – courtesy of my girls at Matrimoni d’Autore. And finally we got to the moment everyone had been waiting for: the royal, three-tier wedding cake was rolled in to the tune of “Sugar Sugar”, by The Archies. Immediately afterwards, as the music volume increased, all the girls got rid of their high heels and then carried on dancing wildly until dawn.

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Foto Senza Posa, our official fotographer for the day, captured all this in a beautiful photobook, that will forever put a smile on the face of everyone who had the good fortune of experiencing this special day. We at Matrimoni d’Autore send our love and best wishes to Gaia and Francesco.

||Wedding Planner: Matrimoni D’Autore | Location: Casa Villa Cornaredo| Catering: Bacco e Arianna | Photo: Foto Senza Posa | Music: Wolfabilly & The Silvery Moon||

THANK YOU,

I Do In Italy

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