I’ve been thinking a lot about my wedding day in the midst of the global changes we are facing and I’d like to share my own experiences about getting married in Italy and the unique challenges to planning a destination wedding.
When my husband proposed to me under the Christmas lights in 2015, I knew I wanted a destination wedding. I never envisioned myself getting married in a traditional setting, and after we became engaged, I set out on figuring out where in the world our wedding would be. Enter endless plates of pasta, pizza, and some of most stunning views in the world. We decided on Lake Como, in northern Italy’s lake district and in August of 2017, we made it official. Oggi sposi!
It took close to two years of extensive planning to realize my vision, partly because I wanted to have a legally binding wedding vs. a symbolic ceremony. It was important to me to make it legal in Italy and because of that my husband and I jumped through an astounding number of hoops without speaking very much Italian in order to get married on the waters of Como. There were lots of tears along the way, stresses galore, and we got married during what was timely named the “Lucifer” heatwave of summer 2017. It was so hot that our photographers let us take breaks between shooting so that we could step into the shade and try and hydrate. The weather that morning was 90 degrees by 11:00am. The rest of the day was dedicated to swimming in Lake Como and drinking Aperol Spritz’s galore. Despite the heat and all the challenges we faced getting there, it was truly the perfect day. Magical, dreamy, and as perfect as I imagined.
For my dress in Italy, I wanted to feel old Hollywood glam. Think Audrey Hepburn in Roman Holiday. I also didn’t want a heavy, full length dress that I had to carry with me through Europe. I found a simple lace cocktail length dress with cap sleeves from Adrianna Papell and Levin heels from Jessica Simpson in white snakeskin. I was worried about navigating cobblestone streets in heels, so I went for a 3.5 inch heels and they were surprisingly comfortable. Looking back, the dress wasn’t my absolute favorite in terms of style, but it was comfortable, light, and fit well with a wedding by the water.
When we arrived back to the US from our wedding and honeymoon, we held a big reception to celebrate with our family and friends in Denver, Colorado at the Lobby restaurant. It’s a fantastic old brick building in the heart of downtown that’s not too stuffy and it was perfect for a laid back reception. They have a large courtyard that we used for a quick vow renewal (it was important to have family and friends be a part of the day since only a handful of people went with us to Italy). After our mini ceremony, we played corn hole in the courtyard and chowed down on tiramisu wedding cake.
My full length wedding dress was the Nima dress by THEIA and I purchased it at a&bé bridal in Denver. It had an empire waist with beading on the top (the intricate bead work was what I fell in love with) and cap sleeves. The skirt was tulle and the dress had a scooped back. The dress was not light because of the amount of beading on the top, but I still could still move well for dancing and felt beautiful for my husband.
Do you have wedding questions that you’d like answered? Where to travel in Italy? Best places to eat in Milan or Como? Planning a wedding and want advice? Send me all of your wedding or travel questions!
Ciao bellas!
-xo
Darcy
