25

Nov

2015

Jennifer and Steven’s Romantic and Rustic Italian Wedding By Sam and Louise

We are half way through the week so I thought it was a good time to jet you off to the Italian lakes for a stunning Italian Wedding. I think it’s safe to say it is now officially winter, so this burst of Italian summer sunshine is just what we need to brighten up this cold day. The wedding was sent into me by Sam and Louise and it really is beautiful. The location, the decoration, those amazing views and of course the very happy bride and groom. I know you are going to love it!

‘A relaxed day surrounded by our closest family and friends in a location that is truly breathtaking. Keeping the true meaning of marriage at heart – us two and our two beautiful daughters’

Jennifer and Steven's Romantic and Rustic Italian Wedding By Sam and Louise Jennifer and Steven's Romantic and Rustic Italian Wedding By Sam and Louise

Jennifer and Steven were married on 10th July 2015. The Ceremony was held at Villa Bossi, Orta San Giulio, Lake Orta, Italy and the reception was held at L’Ustaria Cà dal Rat, Orta San Giulio, Lake Orta, Italy. ‘We are in the wedding industry so always knew we would get married abroad to give us a completely different experience to what we are used to here in the UK. Italy is close to our hearts our first family holiday with our 1st born daughter was in Italy and we also found out we were pregnant with our 2nd daughter in Italy. When we got engaged we decided we wanted to marry at one of the lakes and just from searching for pictures, Lake Orta took our breath away. We had 56 guests in total and it took one year to plan.

Jennifer and Steven's Romantic and Rustic Italian Wedding By Sam and Louise Jennifer and Steven's Romantic and Rustic Italian Wedding By Sam and Louise

How they met
We met whilst working part time at Pizza Hut, when studying at college. 12 years in January 2016.

The Proposal
We planned to take our eldest daughter to Disney Land Paris for her birthday. At the time Jennie didn’t realise that it actually fell on our 10th year anniversary and was also the first place we went on holiday. Steve’s plan fell into place and he proposed around a romantically lit lake on the first evening with a beautiful ring that he designed and had made by Jason Keith Jewellery.

Jennifer and Steven's Romantic and Rustic Italian Wedding By Sam and Louise Jennifer and Steven's Romantic and Rustic Italian bride getting ready Wedding By Sam and Louise Jennifer and Steven's Romantic and Rustic Italian bride getting ready Wedding By Sam and Louise Jennifer and Steven's Romantic and Rustic Italian bride Wedding By Sam and Louise Jennifer and Steven's Romantic and Rustic Italian bride Wedding By Sam and Louise Jennifer and Steven's Romantic and Rustic Italian Wedding By Sam and Louise Jennifer and Steven's Romantic and Rustic Italian bride Wedding By Sam and Louise

How did you allocate your budget
If we are honest we did not have a plan or budget we just decided on everything that we wanted and went from there and were lucky enough to not have to hold back on anything. There were certain aspects that we just wasn’t bothered about having such as a cake, presents to each other and a DJ. There were also other things that we knew we HAD to have and ensured these were booked first to ensure we booked them before someone else did.

Where did you splurge and where did you save
As mentioned above there were some things we knew we wanted and these things were our photographer, filmmaker and live performer. These suppliers were high on our priority and ensured we booked them as soon as we booked the date. We flew all three of these suppliers out to Italy from the UK so this was a splurge for us. Jennie’s dress and Steve’s suit was also a splurge item as well as the surprise private boat trip. Savings would be the table plan – we could not get what we exactly wanted so Jennie designed and printed these herself so was a good save.

VieJennifer and Steven's Romantic and Rustic Italian groom Wedding By Sam and Louise Jennifer and Steven's Romantic and Rustic Italian groom Wedding By Sam and Louise Jennifer and Steven's Romantic and Rustic Italian groom Wedding By Sam and Louise Jennifer and Steven's Romantic and Rustic Italian Wedding bride arrival By Sam and Louise Jennifer and Steven's Romantic and Rustic Italian bride arriving Wedding By Sam and Louise

How did you choose your photographer
Being in the wedding industry as wedding filmmakers we work with lots of different photographers every week – all offering different styles, ways of working andersonalities. After working with Sam & Louise a few times we not only LOVED their work but also the way in which they carry themselves on the wedding day – relaxed, friendly, approachable and unobtrusive. We just had to have them!!!!

The Dress
My dress and cover up was by Ellis Bridals. The shoes, veil, evening belt and evening headpiece were items from the bridal store. My bracelet was my mums as my something borrowed and my earrings were a surprise present given to me just before the ceremony by my Mum (a very emotional moment captured by Sam & Louise) they were my something blue.

The Suit and Bridesmaids
Steve’s suit was designed and tailored by Jack Bunney’s. My Maid of Honor (Sister) had her dress designed whilst travelling in Vietnam. My flower girls (daughters) were from Marks & Spencer’s.

Jennifer and Steven's Romantic and Rustic Italian groom waiting for bride Wedding By Sam and Louise Jennifer and Steven's Romantic and Rustic Italian grrom sees bride Wedding By Sam and Louise Jennifer and Steven's Romantic and Rustic Italian children Wedding By Sam and Louise Jennifer and Steven's Romantic and Rustic Italian getting married Wedding By Sam and Louise Jennifer and Steven's Romantic and Rustic Italian saying vows Wedding By Sam and Louise Jennifer and Steven's Romantic and Rustic Italian Wedding By Sam and Louise Jennifer and Steven's Romantic and Rustic Italian first kiss Wedding By Sam and Louise

Theme or Colour Scheme
I knew I wanted all the flowers to be white and pale green. I accidentally came across my flower girl dresses and fell in love with the relaxed style and the trim also matched the trim on my dress. So that is where the pale pink came in and I incorporated this colour in my bouquet. This was not used on the grooms suit though and his best man, my father etc did not wear all the same suits etc.

Flowers
We had a mixture of gypsophillia, roses, astilbe and pale greenery.

Decoration
We went for simple white flowers with a rustic Italian feel. So wooden crates, candles, lanterns, wine corks etc

Jennifer and Steven's Romantic and Rustic Italian entertainment Wedding By Sam and Louise Jennifer and Steven's Romantic and Rustic Italian bouquet toss Wedding By Sam and Louise Jennifer and Steven's Romantic and Rustic Italian children Wedding By Sam and Louise Jennifer and Steven's Romantic and Rustic Italian kids at weddings Wedding By Sam and Louise Jennifer and Steven's Romantic and Rustic Italian view Wedding By Sam and Louise Jennifer and Steven's Romantic and Rustic Italian Wedding By Sam and Louise

Food
We had a LOT of food. After our ceremony we held a drinks reception at a beautiful little restaurant in the town square over looking the lake, here we put on Antipasti before we took our guests on a surprise boat trip around the lake (which also took us to the evening reception).
Once we arrived at the reception there were canapés followed by a 5 course meal which was…
Small crespelle with ‘caprino’ cheese and spek (type of smoked ham) Ravioli ‘piemontese style (filled with braised steak and herbs) garnished with butter and sage, Roast lamb with fresh rosemary and seasoned veg, Nutella tart.

Entertainment
We had an acoustic guitarist/singer (who we flew over from the UK) – he performed for the ceremony, drinks reception and part of the evening reception.
We also had a surprise guest. We had wanted a bongo player for the evening but could not get one in Italy and there was no availability for our wedding date in the UK. Little did we know our Best Man had actually tired to find one a few days before the wedding weekend in Milan as a wedding present to us but he too had no luck. BUT on the wedding day we were walking from the ceremony to the drinks reception and there in the square next to our restaurant was a man playing a steel drum. Our best man thought we had found one however when he found out this wasn’t the case he secretly arranged for him to play for us on our boat trip and then again at our evening reception. It was a wonderful moment especially as he is Buddhist and gave a speech and gift which was a scripture for good luck and health.

Jennifer and Steven's Romantic and Rustic Italian Wedding details By Sam and Louise Jennifer and Steven's Romantic and Rustic Italian Wedding table plan By Sam and Louise Jennifer and Steven's Romantic and Rustic Italian table numbers at a Wedding By Sam and Louise Jennifer and Steven's Romantic and Rustic Italian details Wedding By Sam and Louise Jennifer and Steven's Romantic and Rustic Italian Wedding hashtag By Sam and Louise Jennifer and Steven's Romantic and Rustic Italian Wedding By Sam and Louise

The Stationery
The invites were from Norma & Dorothy, the favours/place names were from CafeOhana and the table plan was home made.

Personal or Handmade Touches
The table name and reserved seat signs were home made. Our guests messages were actually written on postcards from Lake Orta so guests got to pick a postcard of their choice and then place in a suitcase once finished. My sister organised the sweet table and Steve’s Dad made a photo booth frame.

Jennifer and Steven's Romantic and Rustic Italian bride ans groom Wedding By Sam and Louise Jennifer and Steven's Romantic and Rustic Italian Wedding By Sam and Louise Jennifer and Steven's Romantic and Rustic Italian bride and groom Wedding By Sam and Louise Jennifer and Steven's Romantic and Rustic Italian bridal portraits Wedding By Sam and Louise Jennifer and Steven's Romantic and Rustic Italian Wedding By Sam and Louise Jennifer and Steven's Romantic and Rustic Italian enteartainment Wedding By Sam and Louise Jennifer and Steven's Romantic and Rustic Italian emotional Wedding By Sam and Louise Jennifer and Steven's Romantic and Rustic Italian bride and groom Wedding By Sam and Louise

Special Moments
The rowing boat which took me to the ceremony with my Dad was very special. Also our eldest daughter who held her Dad’s hand throughout the ceremony and passed us our rings and walked down the aisle with us was amazing and of course our surprise performer is something we will never forget. But the moment everyone talks about is the surprise boat trip they all loved that!!!

Advice to other couples
Not to stress if something little goes wrong or not to plan you will be the only one to know.
Not plan too far in advance. I changed my mind of the small decorative bits a few times so was glad I didn’t start ordering/booking stuff too much in advance.
Trust your suppliers. If you don’t then they are not right for you. In most situations it pays to pay a little bit more to ensure you get the level of service, professionalism and results you want to achieve.

Biggest surprise
For me it was the beautiful personal vowels Steve made and his speech

Jennifer and Steven's Romantic and Rustic Ifirst dance talian Wedding By Sam and Louise Jennifer and Steven's Romantic and Rustic Italian Wedding By Sam and Louise Jennifer and Steven's Romantic and Rustic Italian Wedding By Sam and Louise Jennifer and Steven's Romantic and Rustic Italian Wedding By Sam and Louise Jennifer and Steven's Romantic and Rustic Italian pictures Wedding By Sam and Louise Jennifer and Steven's Romantic and Rustic bride Italian Wedding By Sam and Louise Jennifer and Steven's Romantic and Rustic Italian Wedding By Sam and Louise

 

Supplier Shout Outs

 

For more information on Sam and Louise’s work please go to:

www.samandlouise.co.uk / www.samandlouise.co.uk/blog / [email protected] / 0208 500 7520 / FACEBOOK / @samandlouise / I:samandlouisephotographyPINTEREST

We’re a husband and wife duo and lovers of anything pugly! We specialise in coverage that’s modern, creative and free spirited. We don’t believe in formality for formalities sake and strive to document each moment genuinely and beautifully.

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