Liz and Steve may have met in Singapore but they landed in Tuscany, Italy for their European destination wedding. Hosted at the absolutely breathtaking Villa Barberino, a country house in the Valdarno Valley, this intimate family affair included their little one in the big day too! We asked the bride how such a special location was selected. “We wanted it to be romantic town/village with great end of summer weather. When we were choosing the location, we were living in Sydney, Australia and to hold the wedding in Australia was going to be too expensive for everyone and chances are, there might be some family members who cannot attend for that reason. So it was a toss between France or Italy. That way our family in UK could easily fly to one of the countries at a reasonable cost. After looking at our cost and the googled images of location, we decided on Tuscany, Italy. We have heard so many stories about how beautiful Tuscany is and we’ve both never been before. We fell in love with the countryside, we love the language and we both felt that it was the perfect location for us.” And perfect it was!
The couple wanted a country rustic theme to fit the venue and florals perfect for the season!
The couple wanted a Catholic ceremony and thus the location was selected so that they could get married in a small nearby church.
Laura from Varese Wedding, planned the big day and let us in on a few behind the scenes secrets. “Initially the wedding reception was supposed to be on the olive trees groove, unfortunately during the day there was too much wind, so the imperial table was set up in the yellow room of the villa.”
“Following the country and rustic theme, we decorated the table with a burlap runner, mason jars with twine and mix country flowers, a wooden wine box with roses, mix flowers, berries and herbs as centerpiece and a lot of candles.”
“Guests were greeted with a 4-courses menu, which included risotto with truffles, Trofie pasta with porcini mushrooms, duck with fennel and dried apricots , dessert tasting and an italian wedding cake.”
“We arranged paper doily menus on every guest plate and small olive oil bottles as placeholder and gift.”
We asked the couple if planning across the globe presented any challenges for them. “Time difference was a killer during the planning. We were living in Sydney, and to organize a skype call with Laura (our wedding planner) took weeks to get the dates right due to the time difference and sometime towards the end of planning, we moved to UK for a short spell (while awaiting our Swiss residency pass) and i must have given Laura 3 different telephone number/address updates (Sydney to UK to our final location in Switzerland).”
Regardless of the time change, the event was as perfect as it could be – including a wonderful send off of lanterns later that evening!
Congratulations to the newlyweds!
Destination Wedding Photographer: David Bastianoni Studio
Wedding Professionals: Wedding Planner + Stylist: Varese Wedding, Ceremony Location: Meleto Valdarno Catholic Church, Reception Location: Villa Barberino, Meleto Valdarno, Rings: Bvlgari, Groom’s Suit: Hermann Suit, Bridal Shoes: Benjamin Adams, Wedding Dress: Ebay, Tiara: Ivory & Co, Pearls: Connard & Sons
