An Italian Seaside Celebration

Photography by Anna Visintin for Mary & Sam

An intimate celebration along the rugged shoreline of Italy’s Amalfi Coast. With white washed linens and decor juxtaposing the clear blue waters of the glistening Mediterranean below, Mary & Sam wed with 65 of their loved ones.

Letting the small town of Praiano act as their source of inspiration for atmosphere and styling, their guests were serenaded by the natural beauty of the olive groves, bountiful gardens and oceanic views during the ceremony. Equally beautiful, was the candlelit reception at the villa’s hidden alfresco dining space, found at the end of a hidden pathway.

Each moment captured with such detail and intuition by the talented Anna Visintin.

Our Story

Names / Mary & Sam

Wedding Date / 3rd July 2019

Guest Numbers / 65

How We Met

We met on a blind date organised by our two best friends!

Our Engagement Story

On our last night in Paris, and after three days of attempting to propose (they say it never goes to plan), Sam popped the question in the pouring rain whilst walking through the backstreets of Saint-Germain late at night. It was a ridiculous cold snap in the middle of August (weather we had not prepared for) and we were completely drenched from head to toe and freezing. It was definitely a proposal from the heart!

Marriage To Us Means…

To us, marriage is an endless sleepover with your favorite weirdo who you couldn’t live without.

The Details

Wedding Location

We decided early on that we wanted to have an intimate destination wedding. Travel is something the two of us treasure, and has been an annual ritual since we met. We chose the romantic seaside town of Praiano on Italy’s Amalfi Coast – a quieter, more traditional alternative to its busy neighbor Positano, and a town particularly special to Sam’s family. The wedding was hosted over three days, with each venue selected to give our guests a different perspective of the Coast. We started festivities with welcome drinks down by the water at the beautiful Il Pirata, and finished day three with an Italian feast in the hills at La Tagliata. We cannot recommend both venues highly enough!

The wedding day was held at Casa Privata in Praiano. From the moment we stepped through the door, we knew we had found somewhere truly special. Hidden behind an old timber door, the villa unfolds through rambling flower-filled gardens, down to the waters edge. As we walked around the property, we could instantly visualise the day, and knew it was our perfect location!

We held the ceremony in the villa’s olive grove with the backdrop of the sea. Being married among trees, looking at the water, with the sounds of birds around us was such a magical experience. From there, we moved to the vine covered garden terrace for aperitifs, before leading our guests down a secret path to the villa’s hidden alfresco dining space and dance floor.

Event Aesthetic & Inspiration

Nature is a constant source of inspiration for the two of us, so we chose an aesthetic that celebrated the villa’s beautiful garden setting, with a subtle nod to the ocean.

Photography

Anna Visintin and her team were an absolute dream to work with! They told the story of our day perfectly – capturing the feeling and emotion of being there, and the details that made the celebration so special.

We spent months looking for the right photographer, but instantly fell in love with her candid approach to wedding photography and atmospheric aesthetic. We couldn’t be happier with the results!

Videography

We really had a dream team when it came to capturing our day. We chose the very talented Alessandro Pardi as our videographer who’s film bought our photographs to life, and transported us back to beautiful Praiano. We keep watching it on repeat!

Fashion Notes

Bride’s Dress

My first dress was a custom Calla Blanche that I had encrusted with small fresh water pearls. I fell in love with the fabric which depicted Australian wattle flowers – a nice reminder of home having chosen to have a destination wedding.

My second dress was lovingly handmade by my talented mum who insisted she designed me a dress that sparkled. I am so happy she did, because the dress was absolutely perfect for dancing under the night sky and our firework moment. I felt so comfortable and happy wearing the dress, and creating it with my mum is a such special memory that I will never forget.

Bridesmaids Dresses

The bridesmaids wore pale blue, flowy, silk dresses from Lover. I fell in love with the print which worked perfectly with the backdrop of the garden and ocean. They all looked so gorgeous on the day!

Wedding Rings

The talented team at Grew and Co made our beautiful wedding bands and engagement ring. Sam’s ring was created from the signet ring I wore as a child. We melted it down, and re-engraved my initials in the same way they were originally printed on the inside of his ring. It is beautiful!

Jewelry & Accessories

I have a slight obsession with pearls! To me they are a symbol of natural, timeless beauty. I wore baroque pearl earrings that I found the year before in Positano, a baroque pearl headpiece from Christie Nicolaides, and a beautiful pearl bag from Raela.

Grooms Attire

Sam wore a light blue Italian linen suit from Institchu. The team there are wonderful at creating bespoke suits, including adding the location and date to the inside lapel.

Groomsmen’s Attire

The boys wore natural linen jackets from Industrie, with cream chinos and woven leather shoes. They ended up looking like a latino boy band… it was hilarious!

Hair

I had planned to wear my hair in loose waves, but our wedding day was one of the hottest on record for the coast! My beautiful hairdresser Marloes Otjes suggested a half up style for the ceremony that was turned into a classic bun for the reception.

Makeup

My gorgeous friend, and makeup artist Georgia Madigan did my makeup on the day. We chose a soft, neutral smokey eye, utilizing a warm palette and a touch of gold. She kept my complexion lovely and dewy, opting for a coral cream blush, finished with a rose lip.

Style Notes

Stationery

Being a destination wedding, our invitations needed to fit a lot of information! We worked with The Distillery in Sydney to produce a beautiful booklet-style invitation made from a combination of letter-pressed and vellum pages secured with silk ribbon.

The rest of our stationery and details (shell name placements, fabric signage, menus, fans, favors etc) are from a selection of vendors on the wedding marketplace Two Lovers – a marketplace I founded during the course of planning our wedding day after struggling to locate unique and beautiful vendors we could easily buy from. My mum, who is a talented illustrator (‘Paper Loves Pen’ who is also listed on Two Lovers) created a series of drawings that we used to tie all of these details together.

Ceremony Decor / Reception Decor

For the ceremony, the decor was all about the outdoor setting. The aisle was playfully lined with tall pastel flowers that led to a softy draped arbor to frame the sea view behind us. The altar table was decorated with candles and coral (a hint to our reception space).

For the reception we wanted to incorporate a ‘nod to the ocean’. The tables were lined with large clam shells filled with pastel flowers, lots of candles, and pieces of coral. We used capiz shells as name placements, and small mother-of-pearl sea shells for salt and pepper. The outdoor ceiling was lightly draped with muslin cloth, fairy lights and rose vines – it was truly breathtaking!

Wedding Planner / Wedding Stylist

Rosa, the very talented owner of Casa Privata and her team truly made our dream day a reality! Her attention to detail was amazing and her understanding of our aesthetic was incredible. We had so much fun working with her to bring the day to life and couldn’t be happier with the process and result – a massive thank you!!

Music & Entertainment

I’m hopelessly in love with Enya, so it was only natural to walk down the aisle to ‘Only time’. Our after ceremony song was one of our favorites ‘La Ritournelle’ by Sebastien Tellier, and for our first dance we played the one and only Bob Marley’s ‘Is This Love’ (the Montmartre Remix) finishing the song with a fireworks display to kick-off the DJ and dance floor.

During aperitif hour we hired a local Neapolitan duo.

Honeymoon

We started with a ‘buddymoon’ in Capri with friends, which was such a nice way to finish off the wedding celebrations. From there the two of us traveled to Morocco, Spain and Turkey. Our highlights were hot air ballooning at sunrise in Cappadocia, swimming over thousand year old ruins at Phaselis, and taking some time to soak up the view in the Atlas Mountains.

Special Details

Sources of Inspiration

For inspiration we used Pinterest, lots of instagram stalking, and of course The Lane! The planning process not only inspired our wedding, but also a business! Our marketplace Two Lovers will launch early next year showcasing some unique and beautiful treasures from across the globe for couples to hire and buy.

A Memorable Moment

There are so many memorable moments, but finishing our first dance with fireworks starting was pretty spectacular. It was so nice looking around and seeing all of our guests smiling and enjoying themselves.