Victoria and Jon’s ‘Giant Dinner Party’ Elegant Al Fresco Wedding in Italy by Liam Collard

Victoria and Jon were married on 19th August 2023 at Casale de Pasquinelli. ‘We got married at the beautiful Casale de Pasquinelli just outside of Lucca, Italy. The Casale has several private houses for guests, two pools, and beautiful lawns that we used for various parts of the wedding. We were mindful that we would have people traveling from the U.S. and UK, so we tried to pick a neutral location that would really give us the flexibility to create the type of wedding weekend we imagined. The venue is regularly used for weddings, which really helped us envision how everything would come together. We had a great experience working with the venue owner and wedding planner, and would absolutely recommend the Casale to anyone planning a vacation or wedding. Not only was everyone that we worked with incredibly responsive, but they were able to accommodate a lot of our non-traditional requests. Most importantly, the Casale is one of those places that looks even more beautiful in person than in photos, and Tuscany gave us the perfect backdrop for our wedding. Our guests were thrilled with their accommodations, and we had a wonderful time celebrating, swimming, eating, and playing games all weekend.’

How they met 
We met in November of 2020 through the dating app, Hinge. At the time, Victoria was living in Manhattan and Jon in Brooklyn, so our first date was on a Thursday in the Lower East Side of Manhattan. It was a great first date – casual, engaging, and fun, and both felt excited to meet again soon. “Soon” came just that next Saturday in what we describe as a quintessential New York experience. After a contentious presidential election New York had felt like it had been in a simmer all week, but when Joe Biden and Kamala Harris were officially declared the winners of the 2020 we had a great time celebrating with hundreds of others in Washington Square Park. Dating in the winter of 2020 was different and fun. As the months got colder and outdoor dining was no longer an option, we filled our time by going to museums, cooking, and relearning how to play card games. We also started taking trips together, and much like our second date, some big event seemed to follow us everywhere: the insurrection in Washington D.C. on Jan. 7th, curfews in Miami in March, wildfires in the Pacific Northwest in August. In our first year we really came to appreciate how our time together was filled with adventure and the other’s great company and … a lot of humour through it all.

The proposal
If you talk to Victoria about living in New York it is only a matter of time before she mentions that Washington Square Park is by far her favourite place in the city. On Sundays we would often wake up and take a walk to the park to sit and have coffee. May 1, 2022 was turning out to be an especially nice Sunday – it was an absolutely gorgeous day in New York and we had woken up early to go run a race in New Jersey. After coming home and getting ready for the day, Jon suggested that we go to the park before heading out to Brooklyn for some plans we had made. The park was its usual hodgepodge of people – which is exactly why Victoria loves it so much. Every corner of the lawn was filled with students, West Village residents (who had probably been there since the ‘70s), and the usual protesters and vendors. We found an opening in the grass and, as we were chatting, Jon asked Victoria if she would like to get married. Without hesitation she replied “of course.” What Victoria didn’t know was that Jon had come prepared with a ring; a ring that had belonged to his grandmother and that he had gotten from his mom several months prior while visiting his family in the UK. The engagement was so wonderful because it felt exactly like us. We loved knowing that a moment that was so special to us was just an ordinary day to so many in that park and, in that sense, it was wonderfully intimate and sincere.

The photography 
We loved every element of our wedding, and having photos that so perfectly capture the day has been a perfect way to relive the entire weekend. We really wanted a journalistic point of view for our photos, so when we found Liam and Stam’s photography we knew they would be a great fit for us. What made it all the more perfect was how little direction we had to offer the day of and how well every detail and moment was captured. When Liam and Stam arrived they were very much everywhere yet nowhere that was noticeable – they somehow effortlessly captured us and all of our guests in our best moments. We especially loved the mix of black and white photography along with the colour images. We know we are biased, but so many of our guests told us these were the best wedding photos they had ever seen. They truly captured everything perfectly.

The Dress
Victoria’s mother came to New York in September of 2022 to go dress shopping. At that point I (Victoria) had been looking at a lot of photos online of what I wanted, and was leaning towards having something very simple. I knew that we weren’t getting married in a lavish, indoor venue and that I wanted something that would – much like the wedding – feel timeless and effortless. I chose to visit Jenny Yoo’s showroom because she specializes in really beautiful, simple gowns. This would allow me to try on a variety of sleeve and fabric styles until I found the one I felt my best in. The dress I chose had a band that could be worn in a variety of ways: across my chest to make the dress strapless, over one shoulder, or over both shoulders. I felt so comfortable on my wedding day, and I thought the dress photographed beautifully.

Theme and colour scheme 
As we started the wedding planning process and thinking about what type of wedding ceremony we wanted to have, we landed on describing it as “a giant dinner party for 100 of our best friends and family.” We wanted it to feel organic, intimate, and timeless. We picked a lot of neutral shades and instead of opting for a lot of elaborate florals, we kept the focus on the beautiful countryside and brought in a lot of candle lighting. The look and feel of the wedding turned out even better than we expected, and we are happy in knowing that the photos will always look timeless.

Flowers
We went very minimal on the flowers since we were getting married outside. We had two large standing pieces that we stood in between for our ceremony, and they couldn’t have looked more beautiful. We provided our wedding planning with a colour scheme, and what they put together was absolutely perfect. They stood on rock columns and again it all added to the feel of it feeling very organic and simple. For her bouquet Victoria simply provided the planner with a size and colour, and what they put together was so unique but absolutely perfect. It was lovely to see it all come together so nicely.

Food
The food at our wedding was absolutely delicious! The Casale partners with a local restaurant, and we were able to do a tasting in June during our first visit to sample a few dishes. We served a variety of small bites during the cocktail hour and chose a four course dinner of traditional Italian dishes for the main meal. The meal was really important to us, and it was great to work with a vendor who was able to accommodate so many dietary requests while serving a wonderful meal. Moreover, given the partnership between the restaurant and the venue, the Casale was able to pair wines with the meal which very much added to the dinner party image we had envisioned.