Today’s real wedding comes to us from Accent Events, who organised this gorgeous wedding in Milan.
John and Anne-Marie have a long love affair with Italy’s fashion capital. They have been returning once or twice a year since they met 11 years ago. They describe it as “going home” so when it came to deciding where they would get married there was only ever going to be one choice – Milan.
Their original plan was to be married in December 2016, just before Christmas – however due to the way the Comune di Milano manages the booking of weddings the earliest possible date they had was in January – the couple decided to wait a little longer so that their wedding day would be on the most romantic date of the year – February 14, Valentine’s Day.
They wanted a wedding that was free of grand gestures, where they could just be themselves in their comfort zone set against Milan’s iconic architecture – their “special city”.
We joined them in Milan to be their witnesses for their wedding. Prior to flying out we made arrangements to meet up with John and Anne-Marie an hour before their 12.30 ceremony – choosing the centre doorway of the Duomo as our meeting place. From this point its possible to overlook the entire piazza.
It’s here that Giorgio – the photographer – joined us to begin shooting as Anne-Marie and John made their way from their incredibly sophisticated boutique hotel, the Town House Galleria.
For the midday ceremony, Anne-Marie wore the perfect city wedding winter outfit a fitted cream colour dress with matching faux-fur bolero, accessorised by some extremely high heels and glitter clutch bag, while John looked dapper in an admiral blue suit. Outfits and location set the scene of their urban wedding.
All that was needed on the outside – the incredible architecture and everyday Milanese street life and the added bonus of clear blue skies in February. We headed over to one of the caffes under the porticoes for a shot of espresso – a prosecco for Anne-Marie – this is where we introduced the interpreter – Francesca – to John and Anne-Marie.
Giorgio was extremely professional getting to work immediately, remaining almost invisible and capturing outstanding images. We started with relaxed informal shots at the caffe enjoying the moment then the couple walking to the Palazzo Reale and the wedding hall.
On the inside – the crystal chandeliers, the wall of mirrors and heavy tapestry of the ceremonial room gave an air of grandeur. There was just a moment or two for John and Anne-Marie to be by themselves – a quiet moment before the formality of their Italian civil wedding ceremony.
The ceremony was short and sweet, John and Anne-Marie chose traditional vows adding their own personal promises to support each other and to share their emotions throughout their lifetime.
The ceremony complete on the signing of the register with a spectacular red feather pen and the official presenting the couple with a wonderful book all about Milan – it could not have been a perfect gift for them.
After the civil ceremony, John and Anne-Marie made the most of their destination wedding and headed over to the uber chic Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II – one of the world’s oldest shopping centres for more location photography.
And the perfect ending to their urban wedding was on the alfresco terrace of the Aperol errazza for cocktails.
We feel the couple totally smashed the idea of an elope city wedding in Italy.
Suppliers:
- Wedding Planner: Giuseppina Daye of Accent Events – Italy Exclusive Weddings
- Photographer – Ray Clever Studio (Giorgio Martini)
- Interpreter – Francesca Fantoni
Thanks to Accent Weddings for sharing this lovely story with us!
