Our Tuscan Wedding
It was pretty much exactly a year ago that I came home after work to Ben with a brilliant idea: let's have a Tuscan wedding with just our immediate family. We weren't even engaged and I don't think we had even started looking at rings (well, I had). I was very adamant that before Ben popped the question, I needed to have an idea of how we were going to tie the knot. We knew that a big wedding here in Vancouver wasn't our jam, add on top of that we were (ha, and still are) saving to buy a place. Having been to Italy twice and being absolutely smitten, I knew I always wanted to take Ben there. Much to my delight, he totally went along with my crazy idea. Next up was to convince our families, which to be honest, took very little effort.
Fast forward 11 months later and we were on a plane to Italy. (I should mention here that we did have a party with all of our friends and family before we left, but I'll leave that for another post.) After scouring VRBO, we had found the perfect country villa in Tuscany, close to the town of Cortona. The plan was to spend the week with our families exploring the neighbouring towns and then top it off with a small wedding right on the property. There were fifteen of us in total, most from Vancouver and a few from England and Cyprus. It quite literally took us planes, trains and automobiles to make it to our home away from home.
The wedding itself took place on Friday, September 20th, a sunny day with just a touch of Autumn in the air. To say this was a DIY wedding would be an understatement. We used whatever we could find in and around the villa for decorations: candles, vases, ribbons, baskets and even bedsheets for tablecloths. Flowers were foraged from the garden. We even put our playlist together the morning of. The only people we hired for the day were an officiant, a photographer and a private chef. What more do you really need?
The ceremony was sweet and intimate. Neither of us like being in the spotlight and so exchanging vows in front of just 13 people was perfect. After the standard family group shots, Ben and I took off to a light-flooded field to take photos. These just might be my favourites : ) We had some very serious modelling to do but to be honest, I couldn't stop giggling. We capped the night off with a home-cooked Italian meal of truffle gnocchi, melon with prosciutto, baked sea bass and tiramisu. And of course, lots of wine and prosecco (but to be honest, that was every night).
The wedding itself was only one day but it was truly the week as a whole that made it so special. Getting to spend time with one another's family, exchanging stories and laughs, is something you just can't put a (tuscan wedding) price tag on.
I did my own hair and makeup (harder than I thought - ha!) but not without some help.
Ben's grandmother gave these cufflinks to his grandfather on their wedding day in 1953.
My dress was from Park and Fifth, a local brand that makes all of their dresses in Vancouver.
Ben's mum foraged my bouquet from olive trees, lavender and rose bushes on the property. It was so special!
While we signed the legal papers in Vancouver, our officiant had a symbolic paper for us to sign, complete with a beautiful folio made in Florence.
These cows were just down the road from the villa and I insisted on getting some photos with them!
My mum put the table together using a bed sheet, olive branches and candles scavenged from around the villa!
Cin cin!
After our wonderful wedding we took to the Amalfi Coast and Madrid for our honeymoon.
All photos by our wonderful photographer Federica Cavicchi