Sports Therapist Megan married professional boxer Zachary in Rome in June, beginning with a Catholic ceremony at The Church of San Pietro in Montorio before moving to Villa Aurelia for their elegant reception, planned by Denise More.
They first travelled to Rome eight months into their relationship and fell in love, so by the time they came to plan their wedding, the decision around location had already been made.
Megan wore a classy Milla Nova gown, which she discovered at the Wedding Belles of Four Oaks bridal boutique in Sutton Coldfield – it featurd a beautiful long train, chosen to suit the scale of The Church of San Pietro in Montorio, Zachary wore a tuxedo, keeping the dress code black tie.
They kept the colours soft and neutral, with pastel tones running through the flowers and tables, and added candles for the reception at Villa Aurelia. A string quartet played through the drinks reception and dinner, before a DJ and saxophonist took over in the evening.
With special thanks to Italian wedding photographers and videographers S&M Weddings for documenting this wedding so beautifully and sharing with us. Enjoy!
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The Location & Details
We first visited Rome when we had been dating only eight months and we absolutely fell in love with the city, the people, the culture, the food, everything. Since that day, whenever our future got discussed throughout our relationship we always agreed that we would get married in Rome.
Zachary was raised in a Catholic family and his dream was to have a Catholic ceremony so there really is no where better than Rome to do this. We always knew we would want a spring/early summer wedding and so June was the perfect month.
We added pastel colours to our colour scheme to keep it light but no colours that would be too bold. Our venues were just so beautiful we really didn’t need much, the venues did all of the talking.
We didn’t want any silence on our day so throughout the cocktails and aperitif, through to the dinner we had a string quartet, and what a brilliant choice, they set the vibe of the wedding perfectly. We have had so many compliments on our choice of strings. We also knew that we wanted a DJ and Saxophonist for the party to liven it up as we love to party.
I designed all of the stationery myself. The artwork on our stationery was drawn especially for us by one of my bestf riends. I got them all printed myself and put them all together myself with help from family.
Wedding Venues
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The Dress
Milla Nova
My wedding dress was by Milla Nova, from Wedding Belles of Four Oaks in Sutton Coldfield in the UK, who were absolutely AMAZING. I would always recommend them, they made my dress shopping experience so special.
I was one of those lucky brides that always knew what kind of wedding dress I wanted ever since being a little girl, this vision never changed as I grew older and it is the dress that I wore on my wedding day. My chosen wedding dress is actually the first dress I ever tried on, it was an instant love but I made sure to try on a range of other styles/shapes. But as soon as I put my dress on again I just knew it was the one and I never questioned it.
I always knew I wanted a big dress, one that is tight on the top and is big from my waist down with a large train at the back. This style of dress also matched our chosen wedding venue perfectly and was (in my opinion) grand enough for the beautiful church that we got married in. The dress matched the whole vibe of the wedding. Zachary wore a tuxedo – we had considered having linen suits due to it being in Italy but we knew that a tuxedo would match the church, Villa Aurelia and my dress style perfectly so decided to go with it.
My veil was a two tier veil that I chose along with my dress at Wedding Belles of Four Oaks. I chose to walk down the aisle with my veil over my face in the very traditional style so that it could be lifted at the alter. I am so happy I chose to do this!! It was a special moment for me and my dad before he handed me to my husband to be!! I kept the veil simple to match my dress.
My daytime shoes were Jimmy Choo and I changed to a pair of Aquazurra in the evening, to wear with my evening party dress, also by Milla Nova. My scen twas Gris Noir by Christian Dior.
My hair stylist was Megan Boyne and my makeup artist was Emily Josephs. I brought these girls over from the UK as I have known them for years.
I brought these girls over from the UK as I have known them for years.
We both each had a handkerchief in our pockets from Zacharys Nan who couldn’t make it over to Rome for the wedding – it was a small way to make it feel like she was there.
I kept my wedding day jewellery very simple. I only wore my engagement ring, wedding ring and some statement earrings that I picked up about six months before in a high street store.
I decided to not wear a necklace on my wedding day because I liked how my wedding dress sat off my shoulders and across my chest, I felt that I didn’t need a necklace, as they say, less is more.
Zachary wore a tailored suit from Moss Bros.
The Ceremony
Me and my parents travelled in the wedding car together. It is just me and my parents, I have no siblings and we are such a strong close unit.
My mother walked down the aisle first, greeted Zachary at the top, and my father walked me down the aisle.
We were accompanied by the sound of Canon in D – my dream aisle song. I have dreamt of walking down the aisle to this song with an organ and strings since I was a young girl. On the approach to the wedding I would often listen to the song in the car when driving and would shed a tear at the emotion it brings me.
I always wanted classical musical, no vocals. No words will ever be able to describe the feeling I had when I stood outside with church ready to walk down the aisle and hearing Canon in D playing. It was so special, exactly how I dreamt it to be.
Each of Zachary’s Aunt and Uncles from the Catholic side of his family did a reading during our ceremony – this was such a special moment to have them involved. Readings included an exerpt from the Book of Sirach 26:1-4, 13-1, Psalm 145:8-9, 10 and 15, 17-18, an exerpt from the First Letter of Saint Paul to the Corinthians 12:31-13:8a and Prayer of the Faithful.
Our wedding rings were from Tiffany, which we had engraved with our wedding date in Roman numerals.
Due to us having a legal and religious ceremony in the church we didn’t exchange personal vows. We did however write each other a letter to open on the wedding morning.
Photography
Our photographers were S&M Weddings. We count our blessings that we found them for our 2 day wedding celebrations. From the second we met them their energy and kindness was incredible.
It didn’t feel like they were working at the wedding, they were extremely professional but also felt like our friends celebrating alongside us which made it so special.
They brought out the best in us for our pictures and made us feel so beautiful. They captured the love surrounding us from our friends and family so perfectly and captured our venues and decorations with perfect detail. They completely exceeded all our expectations in every way possible.
We were absolutely blown away with our previews and sobbed our way through our full gallery. You could feel the day all over again through the pictures which speaks volumes of their talent as photographers. We would absolutely recommend them!
Our videographer was ThirtyFive Studios.
How They Met
We both had large backgrounds in martial arts and it is through this that we met. We came across eachother at competitions and began to talk and then eventually date in 2017. We were long distance for around 2 years before Zachary moved up to York to live with me and my parents. 2 years later we moved back down to where Zac was from and bought our first home in 2021. We owned our home for two and a half years before Zachary proposed to me.
Our engagement was like a romantic scene in a film. We went for a walk to the top of the Malvern Hills (one of our favourite spots to walk) and it was raining so heavily, when we reached the top Zachary dropped to one knee and asked the special question – it was so unbelievably perfect and the rain just made the whole thing even more special and memorable! We then had 18 months between getting engaged and getting married.
The Reception
We kept the décor quite simple as the venues were so naturally beautiful they didn’t need anything too fancy. The church was breathtaking so that spoke for itself and Villa Aurelia is so grand and regal.
We kept flowers simple and added candles to make it romantic.
My wonderful Mother in Law and her husband helped with our wedding favours. We did little limoncello bottles in a cute little box with the tag attached to it.
We hand filled every bottle two days before the wedding in our hotel room as a family, it was such a lovely thing to do and we had such a laugh doing it. For the non drinkers and children we replaced the limoncello with little sugar sweets.
Words of Wedded Wisdom
Our biggest words of wisdom is take a breath. Step away from the madness and breath, take it all in. You only get this day once, and it goes so unbelievably quick.
Our budget was ‘loose’, but was definitely exceeded!
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