Cecilia and Andrew who both work at an animation studio (Andrew is an animation director and Cecilia is an art director) tied the knot on 23rd May 2023 at the super beautiful and romantic Badia di San Vittore in Italy.
This glorious, historic venue was suggested by their wedding planner, Nadia of Loving Marche, who the couple say went above and beyond for them.
Cecilia wore a sublime, silk asymmetrical gown by designer Katherine Tash and kept her styling minimal and elegant. As an artist, she was keen to incorporate organic shapes and colours alongside an elegant sense of sculpture and texture into their day. The couple hosted a delightfully romantic reception in the gardens, complete with a traditional Italian mille feuille and a beautifully decorated space that sat beneath a canopy of twinkling lights.
You can enjoy many more Italian weddings here on Love My Dress.
Bridal Beauty & Accessories
I got most of my accessories through Etsy, including these gold and pearl dangling flower earrings by AlexKBoutique. I was attracted to the unique and romantic design. I purchased a beautiful chapel length drop veil by CassandraSilvestro on Etsy.
My scent was Grand Larceny by St. Rose, the floral woody scent with sage, rose and lemon is one of my favourite perfumes.
When it came to styling my hair, I kept it very simple with no hair accessories, since the earrings were more dramatic. I really wanted a minimal makeup look to go with a romantic French twist, and Roxy of Bridal Beauty Italy did a wonderful job making me look and feel like a bride.
She also did hair and makeup for my bridesmaids and my mom, and she was so calm and professional. Her portfolio for makeup and hair is insanely beautiful, so I trusted in her taste and execution.
Our beautiful wedding stationery was by Alice from Studio Alispi.
The Dress
Katherine Tash
I wore the beautiful silk Tate gown by Katherine Tash. My dress was from Everly Bridal in Vancouver, Canada. I’d been looking for an asymmetrical dress and hadn’t found many until I came here. To my surprise, they were carrying a few brands that I had been eyeing, and I was very happy with the price range as well.
My shoes were the Shy Silver Nappa Metallic Heels by Tony Bianco, the unique shape of the heel was very practical and stable for a garden venue.
The stylists at Everly Bridal were awesome, and I felt very comfortable shopping there without any stress. The last dress I tried on was a gorgeous asymmetrical silk gown. Everly’s in-house tailor was incredible and made sure my dress fit perfectly in the following visits.
I would absolutely recommend brides check out this store for unique styles and interesting details. The fabrics are high quality and more affordable than the other stores I visited.
I chose this dress because it was exactly how I wanted to look and feel throughout the day. Every side of that dress had an interesting detail, and draped wonderfully. It even had a hidden corset to hold everything up. It was very luxurious and exactly the draped look I wanted.
The Ceremony
I felt it was right to walk after my bridesmaids to meet Andrew for a vow renewal ceremony. I asked our incredible entertainers, Enry & Francesco, to play the orchestral version of ‘O mio Babbino Caro‘, by Gianni Schicchi. It sounded so ethereal and romantic and it still brings tears to our eyes to listen to it.
Our dear friend very kindly acted as our officiant for our Vow Renewal, and to recount the commitments we made to each other. He also added some wonderful wedding quotes that brought some laughter and sweet thoughts about the importance of marriage.
Both our wedding bands were from the Mejuri store in Vancouver.
Photography
We were absolutely blown away by Zonzo – their photography had the movement and artistry we were looking for, something that felt interesting and editorial, and we loved their work from the start.
Simona and Angelo are truly wonderful people; every interaction with them was a positive one and they always had great communication and were very fun. Throughout the whole day they kept an atmosphere of joy while also taking many unexpected candid photos and when we look at their photos it brings back so many wonderful moments.
We were so incredibly happy with them.
How They Met
We met at work six years ago, and Andrew’s outgoing personality brought me out of my shell very quickly. We have a lot in common, but our differences also bring out the best in each other. He proposed in the summer of 2021.
When we finally decided on a date, I began to reach out to planners 14 months before our wedding, because I wanted to make sure there was enough time to find the right vendors.
Andrew wore a custom tailored wool suit from Indochino in the colour ‘Milano Sand’. I also found Andrew’s silk tie on Etsy, a navy blue taupe and gold floral pattern by TieObsessed.
The Reception
Badia di San Vittore
We were officially married in Canada on April 29th, 2023 and our beautiful Italian Celebration was May 23, 2023. We decided to host a reception in Italy because we were eager to travel and, because we have chefs on both sides of the family, we wanted our wedding to have excellent food. Our planner Nadia Sparapani suggested Badia di San Vittore to us, and it had everything we wanted for our wedding reception. The building had a deep history and a beautiful garden.
I didn’t have a particular colour palette in mind, so we went with a combination of warmer tones that would feel right in an elegant garden – green, black, pink, browns, and decided to add most of the colour into the flowers. It felt right for the natural beauty of the venue and just go with the flow.
Our dear friend organised a special gift and everyone got to take home some local olive oil and wine from the Marche region.
The cake was made by our caterer, Oasi. We didn’t want a traditional cake, so we thought a mixed berry mille feuille would look colourful. So many people mentioned how delicious it was even months later.
Seeing our friends and family joyfully celebrating together with us and sharing laughter and tears was the highlight of the day for me, and we were very grateful to be able to have such a wonderful wedding in a beautiful country.
We couldn’t have asked for more, and I’m ever grateful that we had our planner, Nadia with us. I don’t think we could have done any of it without her.
Words of Wedded Wisdom
I have two pieces of advice:
Stress management – I was extremely stressed and worried about whether my guests would have a good time for a whole year. The truth is that people will always be happy to eat, drink and be merry, no matter what you decide to do for your wedding. Find ways to minimise your stress and confide in your support group. In our case, it also ended up taking us three long days to travel to Italy due to delayed and cancelled flights and we were so worried that we wouldn’t make it to our own wedding. But even then we learned from this experience and focused on what matters most: marrying the person you want to grow old with.
Prepare for planning – Sit down with your partner and work out a clear budget and expectations. It’s so important to communicate at this stage, and while I did most of the decision making, I wanted my partner to have input at the very beginning to minimise major changes later on. If you’re hiring a planner or coordinator (which I highly recommend) the best advice I found was to figure out your top five needs in order of importance. For us it was great food, then venue, decor, music, and activities before and after the wedding. It’s also helpful to know exactly what you don’t want. This really helped us shape the budget and figure out what kind of wedding we wanted.
Visit our Directory
Find Amazing Suppliers
Welcome to the
Love My Dress Shop
Browse the latest handpicked items in the Love My Dress Shop.
Shop by Category
or
Shop by Brand
Additional Credits
The below suppliers and venues are featured in this article, but are not part of the Love My Dress Wedding Directory.
Annabel View all Annabel's articles
Founder of Love My Dress. Passionate Podcaster and Editor. Annabel lives in rural North Yorkshire with her husband and business partner Philip, their two daughters and menagerie of furry hounds. She loves photography, meditation, walking, being outdoors and star gazing. She is fierce when it comes to championing talent within the wedding industry and when she's not working on Love My Dress, she supports her husband Philip in the running of the family's sustainable flower farm and floral design business, Moonwind Flowers. In 2013, she became a published author.
