A Modern, Minimalist Italian Wedding at Masseria Moroseta

Against a backdrop of ancient olive trees, Sara and Alex were married at the iconic Masseria Moroseta – a modern farmhouse that sits on the edge of Ostuni, Puglia. With a canvas of sweeping country views and glimpses of the Mediterranean sea, the magic of their surrounds took centre stage, offset with minimal, modern styling.

Framed by suspended silks strewn from olive tree branches, Sara and Alex exchanged personally written wedding vows in an intimate ceremony, bringing together friends and family from different corners of the world. 

For Aperitivo hour, guests indulged in an artisanal cheese and charcuterie station, sipping on bespoke Moreseta Spritz cocktails and Prosecco. As dusk fell, a full moon illuminated a magical alfresco dinner party dripping with candlelight, all captured by Monika Frias.

Our Story

Names /  Sara & Alex

Wedding Date / September 10th, 2022

Guest Numbers / 65

How We Met

We met in Ibiza at Experimental Cocktail Club in 2018. I had just moved to London from Toronto a few months before. Alex was in Ibiza on a boy’s trip celebrating a birthday that weekend. We were both newly single and almost didn’t go because we both had quite a lot of other things on at that time. After dinner with a girlfriend that first night, the hostess came over to our table and asked if we could share a taxi with the boys sitting a few tables down as we were headed to the same part of town. We said hi to the group of 8 handsome English boys, and there was Alex. It just so happened that we were all headed to see the DJ, Black Coffee that night. We ended up spending the entire weekend with them, Alex extended his trip and stayed with us for a few more nights. And that was the beginning of the next four and a half years.

Our Engagement Story

Alex proposed in Palma, Mallorca before we headed off to his family summer home in Pollenca. We went to dinner on a Tuesday night at our favourite restaurant, El Camino. After dinner, Alex asked the waiter for a bottle of wine to take home. I was confused why we needed more wine on a Tuesday but he said why not sit on our terrace, listen to music, play chess and have another glass?

Then he came out with a book – A More Beautiful World Our Hearts Know is Possible by Charles Eisenstein, sat next to me and told me to open it. The first page read, Will you marry me? And there he was, on his knee with a ring!  There is a lot of meaning and significance behind this book for the two of us and how we chose to live our lives.

Marriage To Us Means…

I think there is real beauty in two people supporting each other wholeheartedly, through the good and the bad, to accept what life throws at you and grow together through it. The decision to join forces, to co-create a more beautiful future and bring our family and friends together. We are strong believers in the power of community and working hard to be an active and valued member in ours, personally and professionally.  Individually, we are all strong and capable of more than we know, but I feel we become even more powerful when we have our person rooting for us. At that point, even our wildest dreams feel possible.

The Setting

Wedding Location

Masseria Moroseta in Puglia, Italy. A chic white stone farmhouse overlooking the Adriatic tea and the town of Ostuni. Their feel is intimate, minimal and rustic which was what we wanted. We chose it for two reasons. Alex has been talking about Moroseta’s famous kitchen, led by chef Giorgia Goggi (and uses only local, organic and seasonal products) for years – he’s a big foodie and owns restaurants in London so it was at the top of the list when we explored Puglia in one of our first trips together, even though we couldn’t get a reservation at the time. I also have a house on the other side of the Adriatic, in Blace, Croatia where I’ve spent all my summers with my family since I was a little girl. The Adriatic Sea is my happiness and to get married on it was something so special for me.

Aesthetic

Modern and minimal – we wanted the beauty of Ostuni & Masseria Moroseta’s rural simplicity to be the backdrop – five hectares of olive groves, modern architecture and we even got lucky with a full moon.

Preparation

Living at Masseria Moroseta was a family affair – since this really was the second time in 4½ years that our parents and sisters were able to spend together. Moroseta does an incredible family style breakfast on a long table overlooking the olive groves each morning – the whole family in bathrobes drinking coffee – it was the perfect start to our wedding day.  Alex went for lunch with his boys, and I had lunch with the sisters and a few of my closest girls at Moroseta. I got ready with my mom & sister, Gala and one of my best friends, Diana in our suite at Moroseta. Gala & Diana were absolute angels, they helped organise everything for the day, from shuttles to steaming the dresses to reading through vows.

Photography

Our wedding photographer was Monika Frias, she’s based in Barcelona. I was drawn to editorial photography and loved black & white and really wanted to deviate from the traditional wedding photography. I wanted to keep it simple, chic and creative – and I really didn’t want an entire production. And wow, Monika – I knew she was cool but she was even better in person. Such a special energy – everyone fell in love with her. She captured it beautifully and we couldn’t be happier with the outcome! 

Style Notes

Ceremony Décor

Our vision was a minimalist but modern & chic setting – we wanted to let the beauty and simplicity of Masseria Moroseta be the backdrop. We didn’t want flowers when we had hundreds of olive groves all around us, but we did end up scattering rose petals for the ceremony. We got married under an olive grove with white silks suspended from the branches. 

Reception Décor

The aperitivo was under the Pergola – again we let Moroseta’s magic be the backdrop. Guests could sit under the olive trees or mingle by the pool. We had dinner in the cobblestone courtyard lit by little fairy lights – 3 long tables with white draping tablecloths and a sea of candles and plates made in Grottaglie. We really wanted it to feel like a glamorous family dinner under the stars.

The party was by the pool. We had the DJ set up, cocktail station and a real life disco ball – the full moon.

“We wanted the beauty of Ostuni & Masseria Moroseta’s rural simplicity to be the backdrop – five hectares of olive groves, modern architecture and we even got lucky with a full moon.”

Wedding Planner & Stylist

Santa Vigante was our wedding planner – she is based in Italy and helped bring our vision to life the day of. 

Flowers

Really just the 5 hectares of olive groves – untouched, beautiful and dramatic, especially as we went into the night. We had rose petals scattered down the aisle during the ceremony and I chose elegant white roses and a white silk wrap for my bouquet – I wanted to keep it simple.

Stationery

I designed the wedding stationery on my own – save the dates, wedding invites, menus and seating charts. I knew what I wanted so I thought why not do it yourself. It definitely took time though!

Cake

We didn’t want a traditional wedding cake, so we decided on a beautiful Millefeuille by Masseria Moroseta – a light artisanal puff pastry with lemon scented chantilly and berries. I am still dreaming about this cake. 

Food & Beverages

The Aperitivo was under the Pergola – with a cheese station by Caseificio Lanzillotti with fresh and cured cheeses, a charcuterie station by Salumificio Santoro and foccacia, tarrali, veal meatballs, gazpacho and mini tartare sandwiches. Moroseta served their delicious Moroseta Spritz (made with housemade shrubs with fruit and herbs from their organic garden), prosecco, wine and beer.  For dinner, there was a two-course menu in the Courtyard – Raviolo with ricotta and herbs filling, tomato reduction and then Grilled octopus with chickpea puré, honey glaze, tropea onions and sweet paprika.  We had a cocktail bar for the afterparty, run by Quantobasta from the historic town of Lecce. We had espresso martinis, margaritas and palomas – these cocktails are epic. We discovered this spot during our first visit to Puglia 4 years earlier. Their cocktail bar is worth a visit to.

Fashion & Beauty Notes

Bride’s Dress & Shoes

My wedding dress was a Galvan Silk Mayfair dress. I wanted effortless and minimalist but glamorous at the same time. This Galvan dress channels old Hollywood glamour, with an asymmetric neckline. I ended up dropping the back to make it a bit sexier! I changed into a silver crystal-embellished Area NYC dress which made me feel like a little glamorous disco ball for the dance party. It is now framed in our London home to remind us of the special day. I wore Miu Miu silver & white heels.

Bridesmaids’ Dresses

My sister was my maid of honour. She wore a hot pink dress from Solace London.

Wedding Rings

Our rings were designed by Sophie Breitmeyer in London. For my engagement ring, I was inspired by an art deco style with white sapphire and diamonds on a platinum band, and for our wedding rings, we chose matching gold bands.

Jewelry / Accessories

For wedding accessories I wore A.B. Ellie’s Celine ivory studs knotted with pearls for the wedding and changed to a pair of Cult Gaia crystal earrings to match my party dress.

Groomsmen

Alex wore a custom designed olive green Casely Hayford suit from London.

Hair & Makeup

I wanted “less is more” for everything. My makeup was more minimal but glowy and bronzed and my hair was up in a loose bun for the ceremony and then dropped into a light wave for the dinner (only for me to put it back in a bun on my own for the dance party!)

Entertainment

For our wedding entertainment we used Finn & Sian, a spiritual and incredibly special acoustic duo from the UK, performed vocals, drum and bass at the ceremony & start of the party. For the party, we wanted fun party disco house vibes and dancing into the early hours of the morning. Our friend Josh Parkinson flew in from London for the party and was joined by GiuMa & Giulio, a duo from Italy. 

We actually came across GiuMa & Giulio at our welcome party the night before, which we held in this secluded garden run by Riccardo’s (a cool cocktail bar in Ostuni Old Town) – the team there brought in these two DJs to play the party, and our friends and family could not stop dancing. They were so cool so we asked them if they’d come and join for the wedding too. The 3 of them created some magic under the full moon and the party went on until the next morning.

Celebrant

Our wedding celebrant was Jono Remington-Hobbs – Alex’s close friend and business partner. We’ve known Jono for a long time and have done a lot of personal development & growth work with him – he’s helped us both get to where we are today so we couldn’t have asked for a better person to marry us. He even had 2 stars in the sky named after us.

Readings

We wrote our own wedding vows after being inspired at my best friend’s wedding a month before. Someone gave me two pieces of advice that night: 1) spend a lot of time together on the wedding night and 2) write vows to each other that you can keep. Bringing together the 65 most important people in our lives, it really was the perfect place to be honest and share our vision for our lives together. If I could give any advice – it’s to write these words to each other. 

Our Advice

A memorable moment…

For us, the most incredible moment was bringing our two worlds together for the entire weekend and seeing them come together. A lot of my friends and family are in Toronto and Alex’s in London. This was the union of our two worlds and was the first time we had them all together in one place. I can’t explain the significance of that feeling.

We also arrived in Puglia 5 days before the wedding, and when we got to our farmhouse in Ostuni that night – I saw the moon in the sky and I had a funny feeling that it might just be a full moon on our wedding night – and it was. I couldn’t believe that our tribe was going to get to dance under the full moon all night. That was pretty magical for us.

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

If you are anything like me, you make the assumption that planning this can be chilled and easy – but in some way or another it gets you. It definitely had its stressful moments, especially because I wanted to plan so much of it myself. We were also hosting our families a month before in London for our ceremony and it was their first time meeting. The 3 months leading up to the wedding were a whirlwind, but even with the stress, I don’t really regret any of it. It just made the coming together of the weekend so much more special, knowing that we were involved in every detail. Alex might say otherwise though haha. 

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

I will give 4 pieces, because they are all pretty important to me looking back:

• Do the wedding for the two of you and don’t be afraid to be selfish – if your people love and care about you, they will be happy either way.
• Be involved in the wedding process! I know that the purpose of a wedding planner is to make your life easier, but make sure you don’t give it all away. It’s a fun process watching your vision come to life and you only do it once.
• Write vows and only write vows you can keep.
• Spend a lot of time with your husband during the wedding day!

Our Contacts

Wedding Venue /  Masseria Moroseta

Wedding Stylist & Planner /  Santa Vigante

Photography /  Monika Frias

Bride’s Dress /  Galvan London

Bride’s Shoes /  Miu Miu

Bridesmaid’s Dresses /  Solace London

Groom’s Formal Wear /  Casely Hayford

Wedding Rings /  Sophie Breitmeyer

Jewelry & Accessories /  A.B. Ellie

Hair /  Massimo Il Moro

Makeup /  Stefano Comelli

Cake & Catering /  Masseria Moroseta

Celebrant / Jono Remington-Hobbs (friend)

Honeymoon Destination / Menorca, Spain

Entertainment /   Josh Parkinson, London – DJ & GiuMa & Giulio