Stephanie and Anthony’s beautiful Italian wedding took place in June last year, at the stunning Villa Il Pozzo in Certaldo, Tuscany.
The couple hired Rosy Strati of Wedding in Wonderland for planning and design – though styling and art direction was provided by the talented groom and his brand and design agency, Fellow Studio and location planning was undertaken by the beautiful bride.
I truly adore these images by photographer Chloe David – they are full of love, creativity and joy and wonderful energy.
You can also explore lots more beautiful Italian weddings here. Words by Stephanie follow. Enjoy!
Bridal Beauty & Accessories
I did wear a veil for the ceremony, but it quickly came off and to be honest, it was just one that I found online. I also wore some pearl pins from Etsy.
My jewellery was my ‘something new‘ that I wanted to treat myself to. It’s a brand called Alighieri, the whole ethos is ‘a timeless story rooted in literature and art’, and it felt very fitting to our wedding. My sovereign bracelet is from my Jamaican grandmother. My mum also made me a garter with something blue on.
Anthony and I decided to buy a new fragrance for our wedding day. I went for Prada Paradoxe because of the floral summary scent – it also felt like it aligned well with a June wedding. Anthony went with Dior Sauvage because he felt the citrus and woody scents would work well with the venue.
My makeup artist was Alena Bezrodna – she was absolutely fantastic, she brought an assistant on the day who handled my hair, I couldn’t have asked for more.
The Dress
Alena Leena
My dress was an Alena Leena design, from the Halo & Wren bridal boutique, where I had a positive experience – they were super helpful.
Halo & Wren recommended a seamstress by the team at Halo and Wren and they were great – they also kindly embroidered my grandmothers initials on the inside of my dress as sadly they couldn’t be with us on the day.
For me, I really loved the sleeves on this dress. The fact that you could detach them was also an added bonus for a transitional look into the evening.
I really felt like the chiffon floaty feel of the sleeves, against the corseted structure of the bodice really gave that balance between a romantic Tuscan wedding with our London centric lifestyle.
I felt super confident in the dress, it held me in everywhere that I wanted to be supported.
My bridesmaids dresses were from Bec and Bridge – an Australian brand, but I found them in Selfridge’s in London. Anthony had wanted sage as it worked well within his colour palette, and the cut of the dress was very flattering for everyone. My bridesmaids all had matching drop faux pearl earrings from Lily & Roo, which was my gift to them.
My flower girl dresses were from Needle & Thread. At seven and nine, it was really important that the girls still felt young, we didn’t want them to look too grown-up. We chose not to curl their hair or anything. Page boy outfits purchased from H&M – and were a great find!
Venue & Location
We chose Villa Il Pozzo because of it’s natural Tuscan charm and beautiful exterior, which was also matched on the inside. The layout worked well for different part of the wedding too – dinner, dancing, drinks etc.
Italy has always held a special place in our heart. We knew we wanted to focus on our guests happiness and the fundamentals such as good food, good drink, good music and a setting to remember.
Italy has those elements in spades. With both of us having a creative background we also wanted a certain attention to detail and the overall experience telling a story throughout the day. We tried to design a day with elements of flare but also time to soak in the beauty of the day.
Anthony and I also love the sunshine and alfresco dancing always appealed to us – and the weather in the UK is unpredictable at best!
The Ceremony
My Dad, Franz Lamm, walked me down the aisle – it was a special moment. Anthony and I love Jazz and Motown – I walked down the ‘aisle’ to ‘At Last’, by Etta James.
We hired a celebrant called Jo Bertolino from this was a recommendation from our wedding planner Rosy.
We asked one of our bridesmaids and one of our best men to deliver a reading. Friends and family mean a lot to us both and we really value these relationships. It was amazing to have those close to us be able to contribute to such a special day.
We didn’t ask to review what was to be read and were keen to let those close to us pick how their own readings. One our bridesmaids did a reading of a verse from ‘Nothing Else Matters’, by Metallica.
Anthony was a big fan of this, having played in rock and metal bands, it was great for his favourite genre to make its way in to the day in a way that was so out of place but felt so right. Our best man did a reading that he wrote himself which really touched us both.
We decided to write our own vows. Both of us are very confident in our communication skills with each other and were excited to be able to take a moment to speak from the heart. We wanted to make the vows have a sense of gravitas but also moments to reflect and laugh together.
How They Met
We grew up in the same area of the suburbs and we have known each other since our teens, but we both had different partners at the time.
We re-met on Tinder in our early/mid twenties and were together seven years before Anthony proposed. One year later, we go married!
Photography
Our photographer, Chloe David, was not only experienced at our venue choice, but I felt like with her editorial background, she’d be able to get that balance between documenting key moments at our wedding, as well as the editorial fly on the wall style photograph we liked. I would highly recommend Chloe.
Our videographer was Eric from Bigger Boat Film. His portfolio really captured Anthony’s eye, which is tough considering how many creative’s portfolios he sees week to week. Anthony loved the way he captured little moments and made the emotions feel so cinematic.
The Reception
We bought Tuscan local olive oil and personalised the bottles provided by Il Laboratorio degli Eventi, with customised labelled designed by Anthony’s design agency, Fellow Studio.
Our stationary was also designed by Fellow Studio, the printers were Barnard & Westwood, a London company that Anthony has worked with on a number of projects.
Our cake was supplied by our caterers, Roland’s. Anthony is vegan, so we chose an orange and carrot cake. It was absolutely divine!
We couldn’t have asked for anything more. They went above and beyond and decorated the cake with fresh flowers.
Our florist was Sartoria Floreale and Anthony briefed them with our design requirements. We wanted to go with something that wasn’t too structured within each bouquet/arrangement, but still had uniformity when looking at the bigger picture and considering everything collectively.
Evening & Dancing
Our first dance track was ‘Can’t help falling in love’ by Twenty One Pilots. When we were first dating, Anthony showed Steph the song as said this is what he would sing on his wedding day. It was a small comment but after seven years it was still something Anthony held close to his heart.
In the run up to the wedding Anthony learnt the song on Ukele, hid the instrument on the journey out and on the day, and then surprised Steph by singing the intro before whisking her off to their first dance.
