A Folk Wedding in the Tuscan Hills

Six months into their relationship, Emanuela and Andrew holidayed in the Tuscan Hills, on the sprawling Il Palgaio estate. Romanced by the villa’s aesthetic, Emanuela instantly decided that it would eventually play host to her future wedding.

Fast forward a number of years, and guests began receiving invitations in the mail, formally requesting their presence for a four day celebration at the very villa Emanuela onced loved.

With a history working events and a penchant for travelling the globe, Emanuela and Andrew’s wedding was influenced by all that they knew. From first meeting in Hong Kong to a proposal in the Swiss Alps, their wedding was an amalgamation of their story, a celebration that spanned four days of a Tuscan summer.

With a gown by Naeem Khan and bridesmaids in an array of bespoke Chinese silks, Emanuela and Andrew’s wedding played homage to the boheme, with wild flowers dressing ancient church walls and daisies woven into braided hair…

Photography by LANE handpicked photographer Cinzia Bruschini.

Our Story

Names / Emanuela & Andrew

Wedding Date / June 10, 2017

Guest Numbers / 200

How We Met

Andrew and I met in Hong Kong at a bar called Socialito under the neon sign “If life gives you limes make margaritas”. It was a very busy Thursday night and I randomly thought he owned the place as he stood confidently against the bar! I shyly ordered 5 margaritas from him only to then realize my faux-pas that really Andrew worked at Goldman Sachs! We ended up dancing the night away till morning in Dragon-I.

Our Engagement Story

Andrew proposed on a snowy New Year’s Eve in Gstaad at our friends beloved Chalet Montana. I was freezing as it finally had started to snow that evening when Andrew suddenly asked me to go outside. He began to recite a long list of the reasons he loved me, then took out a Cartier box from under a sheepskin on a bench outside and told me he wanted me to move to London with him. Thinking it was a very sweet gesture and a lovely gift I put the ring on my right finger and politely thanked him before asking if we could go inside as I was so cold. He had to then re-enact the whole thing as I was completely taken by surprise and I did not realize he was proposing.

Marriage to us Means

Marriage to us means partnership; a mutual respect for one and other, a promise which goes beyond a glitzy or memorable party, a celebration of our love with the people we love the most. Creating a new chapter of our lives which we write the pages of each and every day, we create the future we want for our kids and our little family.

The Details

Wedding Location

Being Italian there was no other country in mind I could think of which would measure up to the great food, wine, energy and atmosphere of Italy.

It was definitely a dream come true when Andrew made the venue of my dreams happen, we had our first holiday together in Tuscany when Andrew’s best man had rented Il Palagio, Stings beloved holiday home. Although I’ve worked for over 12 years in the events industry, I had never seen such a naturally beautiful and well-kept venue that didn’t even need to try to be spectacular – every plant and flower was in the right place in an effortless style, the epitome of chic and laid back. We had only been together for several months at this point yet by the end of the holiday I had made it clear to everyone including the incredible staff that I would get married here someday (hopefully to Andrew!). The staff still remembered that fondly and it was amazing that we could make that dream come true.

Theme & Style

I wanted to create a bespoke theme for each day that was different from any of the events I had previously created.

For the welcome dinner, we went with a theme of “Florence of Bohemia”. This made up title took inspiration from Florentine tiles, architecture, colours and Medici history as well as being heavily influenced by Morocco and bohemian style. I was also inspired by a photo I had seen of Margherita Missoni’s wedding with cushions on the floor in lots of prints and patterns.

For the actual wedding I wanted to create something that reminded me of where we met, Hong Kong. I opted for the title an evening of Toscanerie – a marriage between China and Tuscany – taking elements from both Italy and China to influence the design of the evening. This theme influenced everything from the invitation, to the custom plate design, floral designs which mixed in country rustic, daisies with mandarin trees, to bamboo bird cages and Ming vases contrasted with Florentine glasses by designer Mario Luca Giusti and rustic wooden tables and chairs.

For the pool party, the theme was ‘Tu vuo fa l’Americano”. We encouraged guests to show up in bold and bright prints from Dolce Gabbana adverts – the design element was not as important for the recovery, we focused more on the food, a spread of oven fire pizza, pasta, home-made gelato set by the pool filled with a sea of inflatables in the swimming pool.

Photography

Cinzia Bruschini: her aesthetic and eye to detail is remarkable, she is able to create an ethereal shot that transports you and makes you dream. I love that she and Matteo were able to capture all the little details and the atmosphere and the vibe of the day.