An Ode to Italian Elegance at Villa Grabau

A stunning coalescence of timeless romance and well appointed details were set against a rambling estate for this poetic Italian wedding, also inspired by Amalfi’s golden age and Aaron Slims for Vogue Italia.

Photography by Gemma Le Roex.

Set against the endlessly romantic Tuscan countryside, Xie and Paul’s wedding at Villa Grabau unfolded as an exquisite homage to Italian culture, intimate gatherings, and timeless elegance. Originally drawn to the Amalfi Coast, their venue search led them unexpectedly to this stunning estate — an 18th-century villa enveloped by vast gardens and imposing hedges, offering a breathtaking setting for their three-day celebration.

The weekend was designed as a guest-centered experience, ensuring that every detail reflected comfort, culture, and the couple’s love for travel. From the red-and-white Tuscan-inspired welcome dinner, where tablescapes were adorned with fresh tomatoes and dried pasta, to the Dolce Vita Pool Party – an ode to Amalfi’s golden age – and towels embroidered with guests’ names, the entire event was evocative of a beautifully curated Italian film.

For the ceremony, Xie envisioned an ethereal, all-white aesthetic, with gladiolus-lined aisles and an air of timeless romance. Dinner unfolded amidst soft drapery, where guests dined on wild boar ragu, Florentine steak, and local organic wines, culminating in a classic millefoglie cake.

Our Story

Names / Xie Antonio West and Paul West

Location / Lucca, Italy

Wedding Date / September 21 2024

Guest Numbers / 60

How We Met

We met in the digital realm through a buzzy app called Bumble. Our first date was in October 2016 near our current home in the East Village. After three hours of lively conversation where Paul showed his rap skills (“Wicka, wild, wild west”), he was able to advance to a second date. We moved in together in 2018 and have been together ever since.

Our Engagement Story

Paul proposed in Sonoma Valley, “between the vines” at Unti Vineyards. During our wine tasting tour, he finally built up the nerve at the fourth vineyard of the day. As we were leaving Unti, he asked me to take a walk with him to see the grapevines. There, he knelt down and proposed. After a mix of laughter and tears (and a “Yes!”), we made our way back to our Airbnb. Sitting by the pool, which overlooked the vineyard, we called our closest family and friends to share the exciting news.

What we love most about each other…

I love Paul’s humor, which lifts my spirits, and his caring side makes me feel supported. He’s smart and his hard work pushes me to be better. Paul, on the other hand, says he can’t get enough of my sweetness. He loves my creativity and athletic energy, saying “I’m always full of life.” Paul says I am great at taking care of others and feels lucky to have me. We truly value each other and bring out the best in each other.

The Setting

Wedding Location

We looked at multiple venues in Italy including Capri and Amalfi (we love the Amalfi Coast). While I was venue scouting in Italy, Paul received an email from a work colleague who knew we were searching for a venue and mentioned Villa Grabau. I rearranged plans last minute to see Villa Grabau with our event stylist. When arriving, we were both floored with the beautiful landscape, the vast estate, and the giant hedges. We loved that we could accommodate most of our family and friends within the estate for our 3-day event.

Aesthetic

We knew everyone was travelling great distances for us, and we wanted to make it worth their while. We wanted to make the weekend guest experience driven. During planning we tried to think of every small thing that they would need and make things easy like transportation to welcome party (since we had the other events within the estate), towels for the pool party, little amenities in the welcome bag, etc. The aesthetic was all about the Italian culture, its romanticism, traditional Tuscany aesthetics, and the “Talented Mr Ripley” Amalfi feel (especially at our Dolce Vita Pool Party).

Preparation

We dressed and prepped at Arancera di Villa Grabau, where we stayed alongside our 22 best friends. The most important thing for me was a calm morning, which started at 9 AM. A hair stylist did my hair and I did my makeup. Sidenote: I took a MasterClass with Johnny Thorpe in Milan to learn how to do my makeup for the wedding. My bridesmaids came over at 11 AM to get ready in our room. Paul dressed at noon and met his groomsmen at the other end of the villa.

Photography & Videography

The photos and video were taken by the husband-and-wife team Le Roex Media. We wanted to capture a lot of raw emotions and feel as if we were reliving the moment when revisiting the pictures. They did an incredible job capturing the weekend’s essence in the “highlights” video.

Style Notes

Pre Wedding Decor

Welcome party – This evening’s vision was red and white, inspired by Tuscany and a pasta, white and red, tomato theme. We used a lot of local produce, and our stylist created beautiful tablescapes filled with tomatoes, dried pasta, and other local elements.

Dolce Vita Pool Party – For this day, we were inspired by Aaron Slim’s retro Italian/Amalfi Coast photos. We focused on navy and white colors. We brought matching striped towels, with our guests names stitched by a local artisan. We traveled from NYC with “40!” pool floats in our checked luggage to enhance the theme.

Ceremony Decor

The only brief I had for the ceremony was that I wanted it be all white, chic, timeless, romantic and elegant. I knew I wanted Gladiolas but didn’t know that our stylist would line the aisle with the most beautiful set up.

Reception Decor

Aperitivi – We incorporated local produce (caprese skewers; carved prosciutto; cheese buvette), local refreshments (aperol spritz, cocktail hugo), and other local elements throughout the weekend. We also had my cousin bring in yards of fabric from the Philippines to use for the table draperies.

Reception – We went for an all-white, moody, romantic drapery. We kept everything low profile so people could converse easily, and our event stylist delivered.

Wedding Planner & Stylist

We didn’t know where to start in the beginning, but we knew we wanted to work with our event stylist, Gideon Hermosa. We met in 2021 (before we even got engaged!) and started throwing ideas back and forth. In 2022, we met in Italy to look at venues and fell in love with Villa Grabau (a last-minute addition to the tour at the suggestion of my husband, but well worth it). We met our planner, Lovely Weddings Italy, in 2023. As a local Luccese (lives half the year in Lucca; the other half in NYC where we live), she helped us book our Italian vendors and with the language barrier since she speaks Italian.

Flowers

I asked our talented event stylist to make everything white and to use lots of Gladiola flowers. And oh boy, he delivered! The whole aisle was lined with these beautiful flowers, which shipped from Holland the day before. As for the bouquet, I loved how chic and simple calla lilies are. Gideon used a piece of lace to match my dress, which was a lovely touch.

Stationery

We did an online save-the-date and sent out invitations from Craftsman Paper Co (on Etsy). They specialize in letterpress and created a custom, imprinted sketch of Villa Grabau. For the weekend stationery, we worked with Anne from Lovely Weddings Italy to design more playful prints based on each day’s theme.

Favors

We wanted to provide guests with everything they needed and some memorable keepsakes. Other keepsakes included tambourines hand painted with our guests names at the Reception.

Welcome party – We had goodie bags filled with weekend essentials – makeup and stain remover wipes, bug repellent, heel protectors, snacks, Aperol, a weekend itinerary in our “Newly Wed Times,” which was a labor of love by the groom, and Italian recipe books with every dish that was served that evening from Gli Orti (the restaurant we used as the Welcome Dinner venue in Lucca, Italy).

Dolce Vita Pool Party – We provided microfiber towels embroidered with guests’ nicknames by a local embroiderer from Lucca, Italy.

Wedding day – We had custom tambourines, which served as both seating charts and fun props for the party. We also placed bonbonniere to honor Italian wedding traditions. We provided comfy ballet flats for the ladies so everyone could continue dancing all night long.

Cake

We were unsure of a lot of things initially, but one thing we knew we wanted was a traditional millefoglie cake. It was a hit with the guests, and we still receive compliments on how delicious it was months later.

Food & Beverages

We love Italian food and wanted to take our guests on a culinary journey.

Welcome party – We had local appetizers, a three-course pasta tasting menu, and finished with Cacio e Pepe cooked on the spot by the chef and owner of Gli Orti, Samuele.

Dolce Vita Pool Party – We served freshly cooked pizza and had a gelato cart from Brindapino, local appetizers, and a biodynamic wine tasting corner from a nearby farm – Fattoria Sardi. This was complemented by our Spritz bar from Event in Bar.

Wedding day – Aperitivi – We served local cheese and charcuterie from Roland’s. Dinner – We went full Tuscan with wild boar ragu and Florentine steak, washed down with local wines from Frattoria Sardi (a local, organic vineyard in Lucca). We had an espresso martini bar to keep the energy going.

Fashion & Beauty Notes

Bride’s Dress & Shoes

I designed a dress initially, but that idea fell apart last minute when the designer could not deliver on time. A month before the wedding, I emailed every designer I’d previously visited, hoping to buy something off the rack in NYC. At Bridal Reflections, while looking for another designer, I spotted the Galia Lahav Couture gown I’d tried on seven months earlier – and by pure luck, they had a brand-new one in stock. We took fabric from shortening the hem to create a long-sleeve topper, expertly crafted by Vera. With just enough time for one final fitting, I hand-carried the finished gown to Italy – an extremely stressful process, but ultimately a blessing in disguise. Remarkably, the dress I’d envisioned—a basque-waist corset in guipure lace – was exactly what I wore on my wedding day.

Wedding Rings, Jewelry & Accessories

Engagement and wedding rings were co designed with Hamra Diamonds. My engagement ring is “toi et moi” which means “you and me” to symbolize me and Paul. Paul’s wedding band is a chic flat matte band, and my multistone eternity band symbolizes our multifaceted lives.

Most of my jewelry are heirloom and some were accumulated through the years. I considered a cleaner look but, in the end, decided to wear all of my earrings and rings (I have a lot) to stay true to my personality.

Hair & Makeup

I wanted to keep it polished and chic, wearing my hair down with soft curls and a sleek middle part. I never usually get my makeup done, but I really wanted to book Johnny Thorpe. Unfortunately, he was unavailable. I stayed in touch with Johnny for months, and when the chance came to meet in Milan, I grabbed it and took a one-on-one lesson with him. He taught me how to foolproof and weatherproof my makeup.

Groom’s Attire

The guys wore traditional tuxedos with peak lapels, complemented with boutonnieres from our event stylist.

Bridesmaids Attire

I presented my girls with a simple slip dress silhouette in ivory – champagne shades and wanted my bridesmaids to pick a style they wanted. Coincidentally, they all picked similar tones.

Pageboy Outfits

The boys wore tuxedos.

The Details

Transport

We flew into Rome and our driver took us to Lucca. We had a private driver through the weekend – one thing less thing to worry about.

Honeymoon

We flew straight to Puglia (southeastern region of Italy) and then sailed on a private catamaran in the Greek Islands. We didn’t plan a strict itinerary and let our captain and the winds take us from island to island. We used this time to unwind. It was so great to have that time off. We found ourselves reminiscing on the fond memories of the wedding events throughout our honeymoon.

Gift Registry

We didn’t have a registry and only asked for people’s presence at the wedding as our gift. We did receive some thoughtful art from friends, however.

Wedding Songs

Walked down the aisle to All I want is You by U2 and the first dance was Until I Found You by Stephen Sanchez.

Entertainment

Welcome party – we had a trio folk band serenade our guests, and members of our family – Skip, Mika and Jeff – led the group with their guitars and voices and everyone sang along during dessert and coffee hour; we were going for a Piano Bar vibe and it worked spectacularly.

Dolce Vita Pool Party – we had a playlist that we shared with our dj to set the Dolce Vita Pool Party mood.

Wedding day – There was a string duo for the ceremony, a string quartet during Aperitivi, an 8 piece band started the reception dance party, and at the end a DJ kept us going until the wee hours.

Celebrant

Our good friend Nnamudi Amobi was our officiant. The ceremony was very personal. My family friend Will Mclelland explained and read the Filipino traditions.

Readings

We wrote and cited our own vows. We could barely get keep it together but it was so worth it.

Our Advice

A memorable moment…

Completing a large project with my fiancé, which turned out to be the best thing we’ve ever done together and might ever do!

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

That it was going to be very stressful. If I knew to what extent it was going to affect me, I would have learned how to manage my nervous system.

If I could give other couples one piece of advice…

Have a discussion early on and write down all your nice-to-haves and must-haves. Set your priorities and, more importantly, have each other’s backs. Planning is the most stressful part, but it’s worth it if you work together. My husband created a shared wedding email for us in gmail where we could jointly send and receive all wedding correspondence. This saved us the hassle of emailing back and forth and cc’ing (or forgetting to cc) each other on emails to vendors, family, planners, and stylists, etc (I said he was smart!).

Sources of inspiration…

We researched a lot of Aaron Slim’s Vogue Italia weddings and pulled Pinterest boards for each event that we shared with our suppliers to ensure we were visually aligned.