Alessandra & Federico

This wedding is achingly cool, free spirited and relaxed, which sums up Alessandra and Federico perfectly. They chose a stunning country club in their home region of Abruzzo, Italy to host their wedding, held the ceremony outside under the glorious sunshine and partied the night away until the stars came out. Alessandra's bespoke dress, designed by her and a good friend and made by a local seamstress is just beautiful. It's the perfect blend of embellishment and sheer fabric with a silvery grey colour tone and a relaxed wrap around style. As well as being oh-so Bridal, it's totally red carpet worthy. The wedding party look super chic in all black and it just goes to show that this style doesn't need to be kept for a Winter Wedding. Let's face it, an LBD or a sharp black suit are never going to look bad.

Our Wedding

Alessandra The Bride: We always wished that our wedding day was something simple and informal. We were looking for something that highlighted some of the details that reflect us in our life together. We organised most of the wedding ourselves. We wanted to focus attention not so much on the event itself, but the fact that it was a day to spend with our old friends.

The Venue

Our wedding had to be something unique, passionate, intimate. For this, we needed a location that would allow us to do whatever we wanted and that reflected our personal tastes. The only thing we were looking for was a location surrounded by nature. Our region, Abruzzo, in central Italy, allows many alternatives (sea, mountain, hill). But we didn't want to stray too far from where we live. A few kilometers from one of the most important cities of the region, Teramo, there's L'Anfora Country Club, a venue that immediately came into harmony with our way of understanding wedding. It had to be a party in the country and L'Anfora Country Club was the perfect location.

The Bride

A key aspect of our wedding day is that it had to be something authentic, simple and not very formal. These aspects were to be transferred on a dress that reflects these values. The dress was designed by my friend Giada, a young fashion designer based in Milan, and made by a local seamstress. The basic idea came by Elie Saab evening gowns. I was looking for a simple, comfortable and soft dress in which there were lace with stones, crystals with some sheer parts. The fabric is the one used by Elie Saab. The only jewellery I wore was my grandmother's ring. She had told me that I should wear it on the day when I would have married. And so I did. It was as if she was there with me, once again.

The Groom

Federico has fully shared all my ideas. He's very skilled in manual activities and was responsible for the stationery, the Rum table, made with a wooden reel in which the copper wires were wrapped, lights and wooden boxes, in which to place the wedding favours. The groom wore a Dsquared suit, with Timberland belt, Thompson shoes and Montblanc cufflinks.

The Flowers

To achieve our vision, we needed a floral decoration that would go a bit beyond the usual fees. We were looking for something that reflected our love, our union: so green colour everywhere. We opted for the English roses, eucalyptus and olive branches. The floral decoration was made by Top Flora.

The Details

The Wedding Favours were of local organic honey jars, wrapped in linen bags made from antique embroidery from ARCOLAIO. The fundamental aspect of our wedding that was as "handmade" as possible. In addition, most of the professionals who contributed to the realisation of our marriage, are small local artisans. This is because for us it was important to enhance the territory in which we live.

The Entertainment

The musical entertainment was entrusted to a wonderful Dixieland band, the Dixie Hogs.

The Photography

The photographs were taken by Atlas Wedding Stories (Giovanni Paolone). Giovanni's contribution was invaluable. He advised us on every aspect of the organisation. He has reassured us when we thought that there was too little time. And then there are its beautiful photographs, of course.

The Witnesses

The witnesses were our old friends. Two men and a woman for me. Three men for Federico. We wanted that they were all dressed the same way, except the maid, dressed in an evening gown. We gave our wedding witnesses Papillon, purchased by the ALBA tie factory, made of satin silk. The colour of Papillon was Bordeaux who, together with green, is our favourite colour.