An Couture Italian Gown for a Black Tie, Romantic & Nature Inspired Wedding at a Roman Villa

The historic Appian Way (one of the first roads built in Ancient Rome) is the setting for today’s completely enchanting and deeply romantic celebration.

Today’s wedding involved a beautiful church ceremony, followed by an elegant reception, with an outdoor evening feast lit with lots of softly flickering candles and twinkling festoon lights. Our super-stylish happy couple are at its heart, in a day filled with sweet, touching moments shared between family and friends.

This is the wedding of Giorgia and Fabrizio. Giorgia owns and runs a boutique B&B in the centre of Rome, as well as giving city tours, too, and Fabrizio is a banking consultant with a passion for environmental responsibility and sustainability.

Dario Varchetta + Follow

They were married on the 7 September 2019, at the Church of Santa Prisca on the Aventine Hill in Rome, followed by a reception at the magnificent Villa Appia Antica, on the outskirts of the city.

“The choice was easy; real love at first sight! It was the first location we saw. We loved the wide, green spaces and the Roman ruins as a background. In my mind, the villa was perfect.”

Francesca Angrisano + Follow

“We met Dario Varchetta thanks to our photographer, and we hired him for our wedding. Even though he doesn’t work locally, and is based in Milan, just one look at a fragment of one of his trailers gave us goosebumps.”

A beautiful suite of botanical inspired stationery in deep forest green, with accents of gold, including a wax seal, was all designed by Giorgia and her Maid of Honour, Silvia, whom Giorgia describes as a ‘talented and ingenious architect, and above all, friend with a capital ‘F.” It gave guests the perfect glimpse into the elegance of the day to come.

“My shoes were an easy choice: Jimmy Choo. I absolutely didn’t want to wear classic bridal shoes, so I chose champagne gold coloured  pumps, ideal for an evening wedding celebration.”

Giorgia’s glamorous hair and make-up was by Solidani Salon, and weaving its way through her braid was a delicate vine of golden leaves and pearls by Ulyana Aster.

As her ‘something borrowed’, she wore her mother’s perfume, Chanel Coco Mademoiselle, and and a pair of diamond earrings, which were a gift, also from her mother.

In keeping with the botanical motif running through the day, Giorgia’s spectacular Alessandro Angelozzi Couture dress was a beautiful, dramatic confection of bold, floral French lace, with long, gently tapered sleeves, and a gossamer light tulle skirt with more appliqué flowers.

“Thanks to the help and professionalism of talented stylist Lucia, we started from a model, slowly making changes based on my tastes to make it unique and special. What I immediately loved was the French lace with unique, original and modern floral embroidery. Despite being entirely in lace, it was fresh, chic and youthful.”

“My veil was a brilliant idea of mine (not so brilliant for the seamstress at Alessandro Angelozzi who had to create it at short notice!) that I had 15 days before the wedding. Having a long train and a low back, I decided to concentrate the floral embroidery only on the upper part of a long and fluttering veil in silk tulle.”

Giorgia carried a romantic, gorgeously scented bouquet of jasmine, accented with greenery and snowberries. This, and all of the lovely floral arrangements for the day were by Alessandro Cambi.

“Alessandro is one of the best florists in Italy; his fame precedes him. But we chose him not for this reason, but rather because he was the only one who understood my idea right away, and realised it in an elegant way, choosing unique flowers and plants, recreating  the look and feel of an enchanted garden.”

Fabrizio wore handsome and classic black tie, and chose his outfit at Sartoria Rossi. He also wore a stainless steel watch by Armani, which was gifted to him by Giorgia.

“I had a beautiful phrase engraved on the watch – a promise of eternal love.”

Giorgia was chauffeured to the church in a smart vintage car hired from Nozze Auto Depoca, where her bridesmaids awaited her arrival, each wearing long, dusky blush pink dresses from ASOS. They wore their own shoes, as well as a wrist corsage of white flowers.

“For our little flowergirl, who was 4 years old, I chose a pink dress with floral details from Zalando, which was the small version of my  bridesmaids, and a mixture between classical ballet dancer and forest fairy!”

“For my entry into the church, preceded by my 8 bridesmaids and the flowergirl, I chose a song by Christina Perri, A Thousand Years, which moves me only to name it. My mum’s partner, Mauro, accompanied me down the aisle, as my dad is sadly no longer with us. Mauro supported me and stood by me at the best moment of my life, like he was my dad.”

“The most beautiful moment of the day for me was when, walking down the aisle of the church, I got half way, and my eyes met Fabrizio’s, which were full of tears. At that moment, I realised that I could never have made a better choice than to marry the man of my dreams.”

Giorgia and Fabrizio first met at school over 12 years ago, and have been together ever since.

“For each other we are best friends, lovers, companions, confidantes, a safe haven. We are family.”

The beautiful Church of Santa Prisca was the setting for the couple’s ceremony; a traditional Catholic wedding mass said by Father Antonio Truda. As they made their vows, they also exchanged rings, and to choose these, they went to a jeweller their respective families have been going to for 30 years, Unoaerre Italian Jewellery.

“In my ring, we decided to add a little diamond, which was my brother’s wedding present to me.”

There are so many wonderful, sincere moments captured throughout the day by Giorgia and Fabrizio’s chosen photographer, Francesca Angrisano. There is such a lovely, fine art style to these images.

“Francesca is not only a photographer and a professional, she is a person with a profound sensitivity, who quietly enters people’s lives by telling their stories through her eyes. Only pure eyes like hers can produce splendid shots like ours, and of the many other weddings she’s shot. The best!”

After a quiet stroll together, Giorgia and Fabrizio rejoined their guests at the Villa Appia Antica, for twilight drinks in the garden, which was lit with candles and strung with festoon lights.

“We both love nature and open spaces, but at the same time warm and welcoming places. We wanted a nature, greenery inspired wedding, in which plants and flowers took centre stage, together with warm lights in a cosy, yet elegant and chic environment.”

“We used the help of a Le Bonheur Event Design, three months before the wedding to support us in particular with supplier coordination and management, and organisation on the day.” 

Tables were laid for an outdoor feast beneath a pergola, from which candles inside delicate glass baubles were suspended. The surrounding trees twinkled with fairylights, and the rustic wooden tables below were decorated with beautiful garlands of greenery, as well as posies of flowers and more candles.

“As Fabrizio has Abruzzese origins, we thought it was a good idea to give our guests a product of the Abruzzo gastronomic tradition as a wedding favour. We chose to give little cans with oil produced in a small district near Pescara, from Oleificio Candeloro.”

Etched glassware caught the light, and on top of sage green charger plates, linen napkins, menus and name cards were placed.

A magnificent meal was enjoyed under the night sky (sadly, no details given about this), as well as late nights snacks of white pizza with Mortazza.

“My intention was that the wedding cake was in line with all the rest of the wedding details, so the renowned Italian pastry chef Alfonso Muzzi created for a naked cake with berries, that gave it a beautiful red colour. The topper was made by me and my Maid of Honour, thanks to the help of a company that specialises in laser carving of Plexiglas [no details provided, sadly].”

Sparklers and cake cutting were followed by Giorgia and Fabrizio’s first dance together, which was to All of Me, by John Legend.

“Entertainment was entrusted to the fantastic pop soul band Joshua Jack & NY City Groove booked through Citta Del Suono, whose front man had all the guests dancing and singing late into the night.”

Words of Wedded Wisdom

“Enjoy the preparation, from the engagement until the wedding day, and live every moment looking into your own heart and mind.”

Giorgia and Fabrizio, many congratulations to you both, and thank you so much. Huge thanks to Dario Varchetta for his wonderful wedding trailer, and to Francesca Angrisano for her beautiful, evocative images.

With love,

Laura