A Gold Alberta Ferretti Dress For A Boho Luxe Woodland Wedding

Happy Friday one and all. I do hope that your week is going nicely. I know that you will be delighted when I tell you that this gem of a wedding is in beautiful Italy, and even more so when I say it’s like a styled shoot. Alas, it is a real couple, Chiara is a digital marketing manager at Pal Zileri and Alessandro is a digital and social media editor at uefa.com. Their ceremony took place at the awe-inspiring Duomo dei Santi Nazario e Celso Martiri church in Castiglione delle Stiviere on the 29th of July 2016, after which they hosted a gorgeous reception at Convento dell’Annunciata in Medole near Milan.

Their guests dined in the woods, surrounded by trees, flowers and hanging lights, creating a magical, ‘Midsummer Night’s Dream’, boho-chic atmosphere. Their photographer is the wonderful Annalisa Bombarda of The Sweet Side.

Photography by The Sweet Side

Chiara’s gold Alberta Ferretti dress is nothing short of spectacular and looks beautiful with her simple gypsophila flower crown and gold Gucci shoes.

“The first thing I loved about the dress was that it was not a bridal dress. When I saw it I completely fell in love with it. The second was that it was not white, but gold. It was also really comfortable.”

These exquisite images are by Annalisa Bombarda, the photographer behind The Sweet Side.

“Annalisa is the sweetest photographer ever. And, obviously, is an amazing photographer. She is able to capture the hidden moments of your most beautiful day, no boring posing, no cliché. We didn’t strike a pose with any of our parents or friends but when I browsed through the photos later I realised that Annalisa had captured all of the relevant frames of that day, spontaneously.”

The bride wore ‘J’adore’ by Dior, the perfume she has worn since she was a teen and her grandma’s golden emerald earrings.

Accompanying her into the church, the bridesmaids shine in beautiful flowing Guendalina dresses with flower crowns.

Complimenting his beautiful wife, groom Alessandro wore a black Pal Zileri suit with light grey tie.

“We met in August 2011. Alessandro was a friend of my brother, playing in the same football team. As a joke, he asked my brother if he would introduce me to him but my brother didn’t answer so he wrote me a very funny message along with a Facebook friend request.”

“I was leaving for summer holidays with some friends, so when I came back, the first thing I did was send a text to Alessandro. We went out, drinking Martini Bianco, we fell in love.”

“Four years later, after dinner at my favourite Japanese restaurant, we returned home and I was sitting outside on the terrace, drinking the last glass of wine and suddenly Alessandro told me he ‘had to give me something’ while he was putting my hand in a little box. I started to laugh, really.”

“It was so crazy and unexpected that I just laughed but I looked at Alessandro and I realised what was happening.”

“He didn’t say the words ‘will you marry me’, until we met at the altar last July, when he finally asked in front of our parents and friends!”

The bride had the help of two special friends to help with the stationery and various elements of styling.

“We had vases of sugared almonds and floral bottles decorated by hand in a similar pattern to the tablecloth on the dessert table. The menus were folded in flower origami and each chair had a name tag hanging from a ribbon.”

I adore the flowers by I Giardini di Giava. Dark greenery with large blouses pastel flowers are a heavenly combination and look beautiful on the tables, surrounded by the woods.

Chiara and Alessandro strayed from Italian tradition with their fresh, summery fruit tart from Pasticceria Morlacchi.

“We don’t like the classic wedding cake with a lot cream and infinite layers so we chose a red fruit tart. Simple, tasty, summery and. beautiful.”

The newlyweds danced for the first time as husband and wife to ‘Ancora tu’ by Lucio Battisti, as they both love the words – how utterly romantic and what a perfect start to the evenings party celebrations.

Words of Wedded Wisdom

“Keep calm in the days before the ceremony and try to enjoy each moment of the wedding day. Who cares if everything is not extremely perfect, it’s your fabulous day. Also, don’t forget to make a ‘to do’ list.”

Thank you so much Chiara and Alessandro. Your beautiful wedding has been wonderful to share with our readers. Thanks also to the fabulous photographer Annalisa of The Sweet Side, for the sublime images.

Love Caoimhe xx