A Magical Celebration in Puglia

Drawn to Puglia’s dreamy palettes bleached of color, balmy weather and effortless style – Sanne and Jeroen set out to find the perfect Italian masseria for their wedding. Set on a private estate engulfed by olive trees, Masseria Grieco was the perfect canvas for their magical celebration that unfolded over three days.

In an intimate ceremony, Sanne and Jeroen exchanged vows in front of 30 guests on a historic staircase enveloped by cascading white blooms. Ask dusk fell, guests dined under a celestial blanket of fairy lights before dancing under the stars until dawn.

Capturing every magical detail was photographer Alice Mahran.

Our Story

Names / Sanne Woestenberg-Van Gestel & Jeroen Woestenberg

Wedding Date / June 8th 2019

Guest Numbers / 30

How We Met

We met each other when we were young in our hometown. Sanne, as clumsy as she is, fell down the stairs in a club, right in front of Jeroen’s feet. After the embarrassment of the fall but also a great first impression Jeroen asked Sanne a couple of days later on a date.

Our Engagement Story

It was the last day of 2016 and we were on a little getaway to London to celebrate New Years Eve. After a beautiful walk next to the Thames we were watching the sunset and talked about our future plans. After a while we stopped opposite of the Big Ben and Jeroen began to tell our story and how much I mean to him in the most beautiful words and popped the question. It looked like the last day of 2016 was one big party for our engagement with dinner at Nobu and fireworks next to the Thames.

Marriage To Us Means…

Unconditional love, trust and always have each others back. Challenge each other and make our dreams come true. Always keep dreaming and loving.

The Setting

Wedding Location

One of our dreams was to have our wedding in Puglia, Italy. The first time we went there we loved the effortlessly chic, down to earth style with the most beautiful colors in the south of Italy. After years of going there on a holiday we immediately knew that this was the place to have our wedding – beautiful weather, great food and the best wines are there to complete the full package. The ceremony, reception and party were all at Masseria Grieco. This venue gave, and still gives us, goosebumps when entering the amazing driveway with olive trees. It was the most beautiful location of all the locations we visited and it ticked all the boxes for our requirements. We wanted to spend time with and give love to the people we love the most, during a magnificent three days.

Aesthetic

We were totally inspired by the beautiful venue in neutral tones. The location is a blank canvas which we kept effortlessly chic using volumes of flowers. We wanted to create a style which will still be beautiful and classic forever.

On the first night we wanted to bring the Italian family dinner to the table in black and red colors. The wedding was full of neutral tones and flowers. On the third day we wanted the Dolce & Gabbana blue and white vibe at the pool party. Every day we wanted to surprise our loved ones.

Preparation

In the morning we began with a women’s breakfast, followed by a men’s breakfast. Everyone was dressed in personalized kimono’s with ‘Ti amo’ on them for the women and personalized t-shirt’s with ‘Ti amo’ on them for the men.

Photography

There was only one person right for the job and that’s Alice Mahran. If she wasn’t available we would have changed our date. She is an amazing photographer, has an eye for details and makes sure she catches every emotion. And we love pictures with emotions. She and her husband are divine and every picture taken is the best of the best. Besides that we loved her being at our wedding. Her classic style and beautiful character makes it a blessing to have her.

Style Notes

Ceremony Décor

When we first saw the beautiful stairs at the venue, we could instantly visualize our ceremony there. Since a lot of wedding are held at the olive trees, that was one thing we didn’t want. We wanted a blank canvas with a lot of flowers. The stairs were completely covered by white garden roses.

Reception Décor

The reception took place at the courtyard next to the little chapel. We created a Champagne tower with Champagne coupes covered with flowers for guests. After that we went into the local town of Ostuni to make the most beautiful pictures while our guests enjoyed the amazing antipasti buffet. We had market stands full of cheese, charcuterie, fish and many more.

Wedding Planner & Stylist

Lucette from House of Luce is the best wedding planner there is. This amazing woman lives in Amsterdam and her husband is from Puglia – she is both the most relaxed and powerful woman there is to organize your wedding. Lucette completely got our style (it’s not easy to work with a bride that is a stylist) and knows how to work her magic. Everyone needs a Lucette for their wedding.

Flowers

Peonies are my absolute favorite flower in the world. Together with Flower Addicted we accompanied these flowers with white garden roses and roses. We used all-white flowers for the ceremony and for the dinner table we used pampas grass.

“The location is a blank canvas which we kept effortlessly chic using volumes of flowers. We wanted to create a style which will still be beautiful and classic forever.”

Stationery

The colors of the Masseria were incorporated in the wedding invitations with paint stripes. The background of the invitations featured the same materials and flowers used in the wedding, overlaid with classic text. Even the postal stamps were customized with our first letters S&J.

Favors

We gave our guests a little goodie bag in the room together with a handwritten letter for every one. Inside were white kimono’s with ‘Ti amo’ embroidered for the women and white t-shirts with ‘Ti amo’ embroidered for the men. We gifted caps for the men for during the day and hair clips for the women. We finished the gift bags wtih orrechietti pasta with a by La Lettre designed recipe.

Cake

We went for a classic round tart in three layers Italian cake. Since we are not a huge fan of cake it was more the moment and look and feel of the cake we went for.

Food & Beverages

A classic Italian menu, 2 courses since we had the anti-pasti.

Fashion & Beauty Notes

Bride’s Dress

My ceremony dress was from Ersa Atelier. I slightly changed the shape of the dress a little bit to make it perfect for me. The turtle neck and short sleeves made the dress, as well classic the embroidery. For the party I designed my dress myself. It was a transparent golden embellished dress made by a friend. I also designed a black tulle dress that I wore on the first day’s celebrations.

Bride’s Shoes

Manolo Blahnik – the perfect nude satin high heels with a crystal embellished ornament.

Wedding Rings

Custom designed white gold rings (with diamonds for Sanne) by Daniel Moesker.

Jewelry / Accessories

I wore the rings I always wear, from Cartier and minitials to an own design.

Hair & Makeup

I did a hair and makeup trial with Marije Koelewijn. I wanted to have a classic bun with my veil for the ceremony and loose hair with a lot of curls for night. I went for a classic during the day and something more fun for the reception.

Marije Koelewijn did my hair and make-up and I know her already for years. We worked together on several photoshoots and she completely knows my style and look and feel. My makeup during the day was effortlessly chic with shine and neutral/gold tones. During the party I used a little bit more shine and darker eye shadow. Marije also did my hair and makeup for the day before and the day after…and it couldn’t have been more perfect.

The Details

Honeymoon

We went to Bali with our 2 year old son for five weeks and went to Tromsø, North Norway with the two of us to see killer whales in real life and discover the beauty of the cold and ice which was a dream of us.

Wedding Songs

Ceremony – Arrival of the Birds and Transformation – Cinematic Orchestra played live by a string threesome.

Our first dance was on Viva la Viva from Coldplay. It started classical, played by a string threesome and during the chorus moved into the original Coldplay music in time for fireworks. It was one of the best moments of our wedding, followed by the tunes of an amazing DJ.

Entertainment

After dinner we had a traditional Pizzica band and danced together with the beautiful singer. DJ Sascha ter Haar was our DJ and we danced outside on a mountain under the stars until 5 o’clock in the morning. It was the best party ever.

Celebrant

Our celebrant was an uncle who knows us really well.

Readings

We wrote our own vows and they are really intimate and special to us. Saying out loud in front of the people you love how much you husband/wife to be means to you is the most intimate thing you will ever do.

Our Advice

A memorable moment…

Everything, it’s just so intimate. One of the most fun moments was our first dance, starting with classical music and during the first chorus going crazy with fireworks on top of the mountain overlooking Ostuni and a sky full of stars.

One thing I wish I knew before I started my wedding plans…

Budget budget budget. Getting married is expensive.

If I could give other brides to be one piece of advice…

Please be your unique self and don’t go crazy on Pinterest or the opinion of others. Be true to yourself and husband and be who you are. You will do this only once so make it perfect for you and your husband.