Rural Romance in Italy

Photography by Stefano Santucci for Louise & Andrea

Enveloped in acres of vast scenery, Louise and Andrea wed in a wildly romantic, outdoor celebration under Tuscany’s warm pastel-toned sky.

A unique bamboo tipi delicately styled and symbolic of the night Andrea proposed, formed the couple’s simple ceremony. Adding to the venue’s rustic charm, wild roses, and rich greenery were intricately curated throughout.

Embodying the true ‘al fresco’ dining style Italy is renowned for, celebrations continued through the night under the stars in a translucent marquee.

Every detail and emotion was effortlessly captured by Lucrezia Cosso from Stefano Santucci Studio.

Our Story

Names / Louise & Andrea

Wedding Date / 7th September 2019

Guest Numbers / 85

Budget / $70,000 USD

How We Met

We met seven years ago during our university exchange program in Istanbul. I was finishing my bachelor’s, and he was finishing his master’s degree. We then came back to our cities, he was living in Rome and I in Paris, so we started a long-distance relationship until he decided to move to Paris two and a half years later.

Our Engagement Story

On my 25th birthday, lost in the middle of Sweden after an eight-hour drive, we arrived at this amazing restaurant that we had booked after seeing it on Netflix’s, Chef’s Table. We had finished our three-hour meal, drunk a little bit too much wine, and were outside under a tipi talking about life and how happy we were when he proposed. It was so spontaneous that he didn’t even have a ring, so he made one with a champagne cork (a bottle that we then shared with all the guests from the restaurant, we celebrated it with them until very late in the night). We had such a beautiful night, it’s a really nice memory.

Marriage to us Means

It means that I will now share the rest of my life with my best friend. I am so thankful to share my life with him.

The Details

Wedding Location

We chose to get married in Tuscany. My husband was born there and his family are still living there. We were very excited about the idea of showing our French friends this amazing place. A few weeks after he proposed we flew to Italy and visited two venues, and we immediately loved Locanda in Tuscany. When we arrived it was exactly what we were looking for, unpretentious and in the countryside with an amazing view of the Val d’Orcia.

Preparation

Our close family members, best men and bridesmaids were staying with us for the weekend at Locanda in Tuscany, so on the morning of the wedding the day, we all had a late breakfast together and then I started to get ready in the suite with my mother and my bridesmaids. It was a really nice moment, we drunk some Franciacorta (Italian sparkling wine) and talked about girl stuff.

Overall Aesthetic / Style

We wanted something intimate, rustic, wild, and romantic. I had this idea in mind of ‘dinner al fresco’. I wanted our guests to experience the Tuscany we love. Tuscany was indeed our main source of inspiration.

Ceremony Décor

We had a symbolic ceremony in the field in front of Locanda in Tuscany. Alessandra from Fluida Design created this beautiful tipi structure in real bamboo wood, with a mix of roses, greenery, and linen gauze that reminded us of the tipi under which he proposed. We didn’t want to have too much décor, the view was too amazing, it would have been a shame to distract our guest from that. Alessandra understood this and did such a great job, it was really nice working with her. She is really talented. Plus, we were very lucky that we had the ceremony during the sunset, so the light was just perfect.

Reception Décor

The decoration was mainly made up of the beautiful flower arrangements Alessandra did, a long table runner made with greenery and amazing wild roses. We kept the tables without any tablecloths to stay in a rustic style. We have reunited everyone around two very long tables under some string lights, again we wanted something rustic and romantic at the same time.

Wedding Planner

We didn’t really have a wedding planner, I thought we could manage it by ourselves as it was pretty clear in our mind what we wanted, and we were okay with the fact that not everything had to be perfect. But I have to say, Marika from Locanda in Tuscany had been a great help for us with organizing all the logistics and coordination between all vendors on the day of the event. It was great not to have to worry about all that on the wedding day, she had it all under control.

Photography

Lucrezia, part of Stefano Santucci Studio, was our wedding photographer and was amazing at capturing small details in a natural and authentic style, it was a pleasure working with her. She completely understood the style we were after, and I almost didn’t see her during the wedding day which was exactly what I wanted, as I’m not particularly comfortable with someone taking pictures of me. We met in Florence and I knew she was going to be our wedding photographer when she told me she wasn’t the kind of photographer that take tons of groups photo were people all frozen, exactly what we needed!

I love looking back at our wedding pictures, I think the pictures perfectly captured the atmosphere, they are a great souvenir of that beautiful day.

Videography

We didn’t think about having a video of our wedding until really late, but in the end, Lucrezia suggested for us to get in touch with 2become1 and we absolutely don’t regret it!

Fashion Notes

Bride’s Dress

I was fortunate enough to have Ermanno Scervino design my wedding dress, he is a very close friend of the family so I trusted him completely. I gave him some insight into what I had in mind but in fact, he had carte blanche. We chose the lace together, then I went to Florence three times to his atelier for fittings and the dress was ready. He also made me a very long veil that I wore during the ceremony.

Bride’s Shoes

I wore two different pairs of Gianvito Rossi heels.

Bridesmaids Dresses

I didn’t impose anything on my bridesmaids, I trusted them to choose something great that they would feel and be beautiful in, and I was right.

Wedding Rings

I wanted my wedding ring to look vintage, like a family ring that my grandmother could have given me, so we chose a ring from Oona – a handcrafted jewellery brand.

Andrea wore a thin classic wedding band in brushed gold.

Jewellery / Accessories

I wore vintage diamond earrings that belonged to my grandmother, and a diamond necklace that Andrea’s parents gifted to me for the wedding.

Groomsmen Attire

Andrea wore a blue suit from De Fursac with a linen white shirt, he had the perfect Italian look.

Hair

I didn’t want anything too sophisticated, so I decided to go with a long braid.

Makeup

It was a big challenge. As I usually don’t wear any makeup, I wanted something as natural as possible. Ilaria who did my makeup understood this perfectly.

Style Notes

Stationery & Invitations

Laura E. Patrick did our wedding invitations, as well as all the other stationery we used (table plan, name cards, menu). She is quite simply the best. We chose the most beautiful handmade papers for the invitation and for the menu together. We chose all the papers in a natural palette of colors. She created something very elegant and refined. She made a custom gold seal with a logo she had designed for us, and we decided to use it on the envelopes. She was always very available to us. I would recommend her to anyone!

Favors

As olive oil is a typical product from Tuscany, we decided to give our guests a small bottle of olive oil with our names and our wedding date.

Flowers & Bouquet

Again, I wanted something wild and romantic, not too perfect with a mix of antique roses and greenery.

Cake

The caterers who did our cocktails and dinner also did our wedding cake. It was an Italian-style wedding cake with chantilly strawberry and meringue, styled with some flowers.

Food & Beverages

Food and wine were really important for us, as Andrea works in the wine industry and I consider us “foodies”, traveling all around the globe just to try a restaurant, so this part had all our attention. We chose Lodovichi Ricevimenti as the catering company. For the cocktail party, we had eight different food stations and each one was dedicated to a Tuscan food specialty. We also had two other stations, one for the wine, and another one for spritzes and negronis (Andrea’s favorite cocktail). For the wine, Andrea decided to import all the bottles directly from his favorite vignerons.

For dinner, we had a three-course meal starting with some tortellini with butter and sage, then we had pici (traditional pasta from Tuscany) al ragu Bianco and finally the la bistecca alla Fiorentina, that was prepared in front of all our guest.

We had a dessert buffet and an open bar for the party. At midnight we decided to serve the traditional porchetta so that everyone could go until the end of the night!

Honeymoon

It should have been in Japan in May during the cherry blossom season for two weeks, we had a really nice itinerary planned, but unfortunately, because of the COVID situation, it has been canceled. I’m pregnant now so we might think about another destination.

Gift Registry

It was already the best gift for us to have all our friends reunited, but for the ones who wanted to contribute to our honeymoon travel, we created a pot.

Wedding Songs

I walked down the aisle to our favorite song, ‘Space Oddity’, by David Bowie, played and sang by our live band, it was such a beautiful moment.

Entertainment

We had a live band, Andrea’s former guitar teacher. He played during the ceremony and cocktails, and then as soon as we started the dinner, we had a DJ.

Celebrant

We wanted someone able to do the celebration both in French in Italian so that everyone would understand it. Tuscan Pledges had been recommended to us and we were very happy with it.

Special Details

Sources of Inspiration

I have to say, I spent a lot of time on The Lane. All the weddings are so inspiring.

A Memorable Moment

Right after the cutting of the wedding cake, Andrea organized beautiful fireworks as a surprise. We were all gathered under the amazing Tuscan sky, looking at these incredible fireworks, I couldn’t stop smiling, I was simply too happy.

If I Could Give Other Brides to be One Piece of Advice…

Everyone will tell you that your wedding will be over in a minute and that is so true, so don’t stress about details that only you will notice, just enjoy the preparation and the big day! If you accept that everything can’t be perfect, you will have the most magical day.