South

Katrina + Jaffar: Wedding in Sunny Puglia

Wednesday, June 1st, 2011

Hi girls,

This post is for all of you who haven’t decided where to get married in Italy. There is no mistery we love Puglia, so again we’d like to recommend this region for a real alternative wedding! You should be tempted by these lovely pics! The location has all you would expect to find in a traditional building in Puglia, with the addition of a contemporary design that make it the ideal place for a chic and elegant wedding.
A big thank you to Antonella Francese, who sent over these gorgeous photos!

Katrina and Jaffar live in LA and wanted to get married in Italy – they were not sure about the location, so they started their own research on the country to end up discovering that Italy is not just Tuscany! Each reagion has its own features which make it unique.
See below what the bride has to say about her big day!

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Me and my husband we ended up deciding to have our wedding in Italy because we love Italy and wanted our wedding to be small and intimate. We had a total of twenty-four wedding guests. That was the easy decision. Deciding WHERE in Italy proved to be much harder. We initially thought of Tuscany but I couldn’t find a hotel I was passionate about.
Months and months of research later I came across Masseria Cimino in Puglia and there began my wedding planning with Anny who runs the hotel. I had struck gold again by finding the Francese sisters (Antonella & Claudia Francese Photography) online. I looked through their portfolio and instantly knew I didn’t want to hire anyone else. The quality of their work was second to none. (more…)

Somewhere…in South Italy…

Wednesday, May 25th, 2011

Hi there!

Ever heard about Bernalda?! Honestly I never…And I guess I would never have come across this small town in South Italy if Sofia Coppola, always elegant in her Vuitton black dresses and accessories, would not have made the decision to tie the knot with her rocker boyfriend, Thomas Mars, in August this year.

Well, an easy decision actually! Sofia and Tom will celebrate their union at Palazzo Margherita, Francis Ford Coppola’s 19th century villa in Bernalda! The small town is in great excitement for the coming forward event!!! Guess how many VIPs will travel over there for the occasion!

The Coppola family has roots in this region of Italy, and Bernalda is the city where Sofia grand-father’s grew before he moved to America…

Keep tuned, more to come on this soooo VIP event in such a soooo small village like Bernalda…

Photos courtesy of Zabrienskie M.M

A Classic Wedding at the Italian Seaside

Monday, May 9th, 2011

Hello ladies!

Summer is almost arrived here in Italy and people start heading to the seaside for an early sun bathing. So I thought to post something about a wedding at the seaside of this lovely Irish couple.
This is a very classic and elegant wedding in Ravello – the venue is Villa Cimbrone, a fairytale location for a wedding which has hosted many illustrious names from science and the arts, including Ava Gardner, Greta Garbo, D.H Lawrence, Eliot and many more. A special thanks to Carlo Carletti for these wonderful photos!

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Photos: Carlo Carletti
Venue: Villa Cimbrone
Wedding Planner: Exclusive Italy Weddings

Emily+Peter: a Jewish wedding in Amalfi

Thursday, April 7th, 2011

Hi girls,

The wedding season has started so we have less time to post (sorry!), but I’ve got a nice real wedding story to end this busy week with: a Jewish wedding in Amalfi!
I’m pretty curious about everything that has something to do with wedding paperwork and burocracy and I realized that I’ve never written anything about Jewish wedding ceremonies in Italy.

That’s the story of Emily and Peter, both from US, and of their wonderful wedding captured by Claudia and Antonella Francese Photographers (thanks for submitting your pictures!).
I will let Emily talk about the wedding cerimony procedure, but before that have a look at these inspiring pictures! I love the location (Villa Santa Maria) and the bride’s tiaras!

bride wedding dress amalfi

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Their wedding was at first sight pretty simple, but their celebration was pretty long because it was celebrated in hebrew language and then in English and Italian (Peter’s relatives are from Amalfi)

Pete and I had a symbolic religious ceremony. In Italy, for a Jewish wedding to be recognized, you have to get married inside a synagogue (just like for a catholic ceremony you have to get married inside a church).
In Italy the Jewish synagogues are Orthodox. I am a reform Jew and Pete is Catholic so we could not get married inside a synagogue. There is no procedure for having an outdoor symbolic religious ceremony. You only have to organize it with your religious officiant.
We started planning our wedding about 12 months in advance. I had to book the villa, find a photographer, DJ, catering etc.
We had the symbolic religious ceremony at the Villa and then we had a “civil” ceremony in Amalfi to get the marriage license.
There was a lot of paperwork to have the civil ceremony and get the marriage license in Italy.

Picture courtesy of Antonella and Claudia Francese Photography
Venue Villa Santa Maria in Amalfi
Celebrant: Rabbi Barbara Aiello

Discover rural luxurious masserie in Puglia

Monday, December 13th, 2010

Hello sweeties!

What better than some lovely photos to cheer me up during a freezing raining day? While I was online looking for some inspirational ideas I came across some great shoots of Masseria Cimino (masseria is a XVIII century fortified farm) in Puglia, South of Italy, which I thought could be the ideal place for a spring wedding in Italy.

I have to admit that I’m particularly attached to this less known territory of our country; it reminds of the good old time when I was at Uni and I spent a wonderful year over there! People are so charming and welcoming!

Masseria for a wedding in Puglia

Wedding in the South of Italy

Over the recent years masserie have been completely renewed and turned into luxurious hotels which still preserve the original character of the building and the place: rurality, architecture, sense of nature and agriculture.

Wedding location Puglia

As you can see in these photos nature is all around: olive trees acres, wonderful blue sky, wild beaches all in one!

Masseria for a Wedding in Puglia

Location for a Wedding in the South of Italy

Wedding in a masseria
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