Chris and Louise’s Romantic Lake Como Wedding by Jess Petrie

When Jess Petrie emailed me to ask if I wanted to feature her Italian Lake Como Wedding I said yes straight away! I Love destination weddings ever since I got married abroad in 2009 (more about that in this afternoons post!) This wedding is no exception! Jess has done a wonderful job of capturing the mood amd romance of the day perfectly! The pictures make me want to jet off and take in some of this amazing scenery!

The lovely couple are Louise and Chris who were married on 27th September. The ceremony was held at Villa del Balbianello, Lenno Lake Como with the reception at Locanda La Tirlindana – harbourside restaurant, Lake Como. They had 55 guests who traveled from the UK and Australia.

How they met
Chris and I knew each other at school although we hadn’t seen each other for 22 years. He got in touch on Facebook after having surgery and I visited to help him feel better. On first sight I knew it was going to be special (at 38 years old you know what you like and don’t like!

The proposal
Chris proposed on Christmas day. He wrapped the ring inside a box, insider a bigger box, inside a teddy bears arms and put it in my stocking where it was all day! He waited until we were alone with candles that night.

The dress
It was a made to measure by Scarlett Poppy from Leeds. A fitted dress with A line and chantilly lace overlaw. I wore a full length veil with lace trim to complete the Italian Bride look
I had a simple up do with two delicate diamante flowers under my veil. Shoes were hard to find but I eventually found a pair that matched perfectly with the lace on my dress on ebay! I wore simple diamond earrings and matching bracelet.

The suit and bridemaids
The groom looked very handsome in his military blues! I wanted him to wear it desperately, however he was adamant, due to the heat, that he would not wear it. It was all part of a plan to surprise me on the day and he and the family kept the secret from me.
Because of the varied ages I let the bridesmaids choose the dresses themselves but they had to be ivory.
My sister chose from her home town in Australia.I chose my daughters to match my lace from Debenhams.
Niece dresses were bought online. I had natural flower halo’s made for each and matching bouquets and bought each of them a heart necklace gift.

Theme and decoration
Simply Italian. We had name tags tied with string and wrapped in the napkin with herbs. We had little antique style pots with herbs on the tables. Instead of table gifts we had a little cards to say that we were donating funds to Marie Curie in memory of Chris’s mum.

Entertainment
We had a string quartet and suprano for the wedding service. Background music compiled by us during the dinner.
We chose Only You by the Platters for our first dance!

Special moments
• Seeing Chris in his uniform
• Chris getting on one knee for my daughter
• Seeing our guests in awe of the location. I remember sitting at the top table in total happiness looking at the view and our guests. Perfect

Advice
• Advice for the bride…Don’t stress, take it all in and smile
• Advice for the groom… Be patient with her
• Get help from friends if you can
• Get a wedding planner if going abroad

Supplier Shout Outs

• Dress: www.scarletpoppy.co.uk
• Ceremony Venue: Villa del Balbianello
• Reception Venue: Locanda La Tirlindana
• Photography: http://jesspetrie.com/
• Wedding Planner: www.thelakecomoweddingplanner.com
• Flowers: www.emmashomeandgarden.co.uk

For information on Jess’s Photography work go to: 

www.jesspetrie.com
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