Rebecca and Marc's Breathtaking Lake Como Wedding

R E B E C C A + M A R C

Marc had spent 12 months designing the perfect ring for Rebecca. He’d planned a romantic proposal in Paris but the ring came early and he was driven crazy trying to hide it in their apartment. He couldn’t wait any longer. Marc asked Rebecca to marry him one evening while they were watching a movie at home. Two years later, they said their wedding vows under the same arches that appeared in the movie when he proposed.

F R O M T H E B R I D E A N D G R O O M

We first met…

Groom: We meet in Sydney in late 2011 when we went out with friends. One of my friends took a liking to one of Rebecca’s…leaving the two of us to make small talk. I thought there was no way a stunning girl like Rebecca wasn’t in a relationship, it turns out she thought the same about me. After an evening of getting to know each other…the rest is history.

We knew it was love…

Groom: Despite knowing straight away that we were truly special for one another, in 2013 I was relocated to Melbourne for a 12 month contract and it was then that we really realised how difficult it would be without each other in our lives. Although we would see each other each weekend, our separation revealed just how much we loved each other. Relocating for those 12 months was one of the worst and best decisions of my life, as now I know for a fact that I can’t live without Rebecca and she can’t live without me.

The proposal…

Groom: We got engaged in Sydney in late 2014. I had spent 12 months designing a ring with Cerrone Jewellers and arranging a romantic proposal in Paris. However…when the ring was finished a bit earlier than anticipated, I was driven crazy hiding the ring in our apartment. One night just being how we always are, at home relaxed and watching a movie, I felt that then and there was more real and the exact reason why I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her. So, I asked her to marry me. As a result, we said our wedding vows under the same arches that were in the movie at the moment I proposed.

Our wedding photographer…

We meet Henri and Elie Azzi at their restaurant, Embers, on our four year anniversary in 2015 during Sydney’s Good Food Month. The restaurant was hosting a ‘Mum vs Chef’ night which Rebecca and I attended. After making a few alterations to the menu and possibly frustrating the ‘Mum’ versing the Chef, Henri and Elie realised it was our anniversary and made it a very special night for us. We began chatting about our destination wedding plans and couldn’t believe the odds that Henri and Elie specialised in destination wedding photography.

We visited their studio and fell in love with their artistic style, which is what we love most about our wedding photos. All the photography feels very real and captured the emotion of us, our families and our guests rather than traditional posed wedding photos.

T H E W E D D I N G

Our dream wedding…

We wanted to create a very traditional, family based Italian wedding. This included a lot of candles, flowers, golden lighting and rustic settings.

Ceremony location…

Our ceremony was held at the Villa del Balbianello, an 18^th century Villa overlooking Lake Como, Italy.

Reception venue…

Our reception was held at a beautiful lake side restaurant that we hired privately for the evening.

Pre-wedding celebrations…

The day before was spent hiking in the Italian Alps with all of the boys whilst the girls enjoyed high tea at the luxurious lake front Villa D’Este. In the evening, the two crowds came together for cocktails and canapés at a boutique wine bar in the town of Cernobbio, Lake Como.

The bridal party…

Groom: We had in total six bridesmaids and groomsmen as well as one flower girl and one page boy. The three groomsmen included my older brother and two closest friends whilst Rebecca’s bridesmaids included her younger sister, my younger sister and her best friend of 20+ years.

The bridesmaids wore…

The bridesmaids wore Alannah Hill red lace dresses with hand stitched ruby gems along with golden chandelier earrings.

The groomsmen wore…

The groomsmen wore custom tailored Italian suits in charcoal with tuxedo shirts.

The groom wore…

Groom: I wore a custom tailored suit, designed and personalised by myself which included an off white woollen jacket with silk lapels and charcoal pants to tie in the groomsmen. My bowtie was a rare find at the boutique Le Noeud Papillon.

The dress…

Bride: My wedding gown was based on the idea of something simple but elegant with an Italian twist. The design was a slim backless gown with long train made from crepe and hand stitched embroidery to the waist. The main feature of my wedding attire was the custom veil that I designed together with the wonderful team at Arynvere Bride. The veil was designed to be a long cape with a hood that could be thrown back to reveal a backless feature. The veil was made of silk imported from London and lace imported from Italy with hand stitched embroidery and crystals throughout the lace. Towards the end of the evening of the wedding, I was able to gather up the length of the veil, by wearing the ends as sleeves attached with little buttons that had been stitched in. This veil allowed me four different wedding gown styles throughout the evening being a long cape with hood for the ceremony, a long backless cape for the wedding photos, a short backless coat with sleeves for the welcome canapés at the reception and then finally just my wedding gown throughout the reception.

Wedding flowers…

The flowers were all chosen based on Italian native flowers. One of our photographers proposed on the trip and his fiancée is a florist. She visited the flower markets in Milan to arrange the bouquets.

The bridesmaids had short red berry like bouquets with small red flowers to replicate the lace and short length of their red dresses.

The brides bouquet was of long white Lunaria (also known as ‘the popes money’) which is an Italian native flower and replicated the simplicity and long length of the gown.

The groomsmen had Rosemary pinned to their jackets which was picked fresh in the morning from the garden of the Villa we were renting during our stay.

Reception décor…

The reception venue followed a colour scheme of off white, green and gold. The imperial table setting included an off white table cloth with golden place settings. A large vine of green Rosemary, Magnolia leaves and small white flowers ran down the centre of the table scattered with gold painted leaves and golden speckled candles. The interior ceiling was decorated with fairy lights over the table.

On the menu…

We had a pre-dinner cocktail and canapés for when all guests arrived to the restaurant via the boat. The canapés where a selection of local appetisers with fresh fruit, vegetarian and meats options together with mocktails, prosecco and sparkling water. The dinner was in traditional Italian style with primi, secondi and dessert.

For the primi we had alternating local baked plates of zucchini/ ricotta and eggplant/tomato.

For the secondi we had alternating white fish baked in paper and rack of lamb.

Our wedding cake was a tower of homemade cannolli’s.

Bomboniere…

All male guests received a silk pocket square and all female guests received a silk scarf. The silk was sourced and produced locally in Como (being one of Italy’s famous region’s for silk) The pocket square and scarves featured our wedding emblem that was designed and created by Rebecca.

Memorable moments…

Everything. We were really surprised just how beautiful and perfect the weather was as well as all of the venues we had chosen and had only ever seen online. We will also never forget the love and dedication of all our guests who flew across the world to share our day with us.

Wedding soundtrack…

Chris Issack – Wicked Game

M A R R I E D L I F E

The honeymoon…

We spent the next four weeks after the wedding in Italy. The first week was in Pantelleria, a small island off the coast of Sicily which was under populated, off the radar and with little speaking English. This was great for hiking volcanos, natural hot springs, mud baths and sailing around the local grottos. The next three weeks we spent along the Amalfi Coast where we toured Ravello, Capri, Amalfi, Conca Dei Marini and Positano.

Future plans…

Well….we are now excited for the next 12 months as we have recently purchased our first home and are expecting our first born to arrive in mid 2017.

In 40 years you hope to…

Renew our vows in Lake Como.