Muscari by Jenny Packham and a Fiat 500 For A Relaxed, Rustic Style Italian Wedding

Good morning lovely ones – this time last year, I was making first preparations to visit Italy in June to see bridal wear designer David Fielden launch his new collection in Milan in Italy (you can read about my visit here). I loved my time in Italy, albeit a fleeting couple of days.  Philip my husband and I were lucky enough to have a spare day to ourselves to go and explore Lake Garda and the glorious Italian countryside – and completely fell in love with what we saw.

I love to feature Italian weddings on Love My Dress, and can completely understand why so many people dream about marrying with this beautiful country as the backdrop on their wedding day.  Rosie and Jon’s wedding took place on 27th July last year in the beautiful Italian village of Arpino, where Rosie's great Grandmother is from.  Their day was one of relaxed rustic style elegance, and Rosie wore the 'Muscari' gown, by Jenny Packham, which she purchased from Poppy Bridal in Darlington – the very same bridal boutique I got my own wedding dress from…

"We wanted a relaxed day with good music, food and most importantly our friends and family. Our dream had always been to get married in Italy, we love everything about it, and not forgetting it’s where my father’s family originate from."

Photography Copyright (c) 2013, Sally T Photography

“Jon proposed in New York whilst I was winding our 4 month old son Ronnie. It was my birthday and Jon gave me my card, as I opened it the ring fell out. Magazines, pinterest and burning ears then took over!

The Planning process that followed our engagement was rather lengthy. First off we wanted it in Italy, but the reality of getting our young family and ever expanding nieces and nephews over there seemed like a bit of a faff, so we settled for the beautiful north east,  I then fell pregnant with Jemima our second child so had to cancel and put the wedding on hold.  Then our final option was our Italian dream, We planned to have it in the small Italian village of Arpino where my great grandmother is from. Its very sentimental to the family and Jon and I just love Italy - its our favourite place.

I originally wanted a small wedding however it was far from it – 148 people later!"

“I wore Jenny Packham’s ‘Muscari’ gown that I purchased from Poppy Bridal in Darlington. I just knew when I put it on it was the one, it was everything I wanted for Italy. Along with looking online at vintage dresses the only shops I went to were Jenny Packham and Vivienne Westwood. I didn’t even think twice about should I look elsewhere.”

"My shoes were the Ginger design in silver, by Rachel Simpson."

"Our son Ronnie was ring bearer and he wore a bow tie and braces in the same fabric as Jon’s."

"For the bouquets and floral headpieces we used a mixture of wild flowers that were available in Italy at the time – all I asked for were peonies and freesia, and the rest were a bonus."

"I loved the fact that my dad drove me to the church in a vintage fiat 500 which was very kindly borrowed from a local."

"The décor was very simple and we hung up washing lines with pictures of Jon and I with friends and family around the venue and in the gardens. We also sent around a polaroid with a load of film and a guest book for people to fill and stick pictures of themselves in……. I keep looking through the book it makes me laugh so much and captures the whole weekend."

"For our wedding cake, we had our favourite, mille feuille with crème patisserie and fresh fruit on top – it’s a traditional style Italian wedding cake."

"Some of my favourite moments included seeing all our guests arrive over the Thursday and Friday, seeing Jon at the altar, getting ready with all my amazing bridesmaids and seeing them when they were all sat on the bench in the church with the flower girls  -it took my breath away. I also loved the choir who sang for us during our ceremony, drinks in the piazza the night before, the pool party on the Sunday with all our friends, and the endless celebrations.

I know it sounds cringy but I sometimes pinch myself because it was everything and more than I could ever of dreamed of. It was an absolute luxury to spend a full weekend with the most important people in our lives. Our life is a whirlwind so this time was so so precious."

"My Father 'gave me away' – we had the local choir sing Ave Maria as I alked down the aisle.

For our ceremony we had two readings from the gospel and bidding prayers from the flower girls. We had a catholic service in the main church in the village Piazza."

Words of Wedded Wisdom…

“Just enjoy all of it – the planning to the day.  Make a priority list and focus on that, the rest will fall into place.”

I hope you've enjoyed looking through these photographs today – a big thank you to photographer Sally T for once again choosing to share her work on Love My Dress. Readers, you can see more from Sally here on Love My Dress. You can, of course, also see more brides wearing Jenny Packham and more weddings in Italy here.

Have a beautiful day everyone,

Love Annabel

 

Photographer -  Photography Copyright (c) 2013, Sally T Photography
Venue – Arpino, Italy
Wedding Dress – Muscari by Jenny Packham via Poppy Bridal in Darlington
Brides Shoes – Rachel Simpson
Brides Hair Accessories – Fresh flowers + late Grandmothers eternity lane
Grooms Suit – Tailor made via Marc Wallace + tie from Etsy
Bridesmaids Dresses – French Connection
Flowergirl Dresses – Cloud dress via I Love Gorgeous

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