An Opulent Italian Wedding at Villa Cora, Florence

Steeped in Firenze’s rich history, Villa Cora enchantingly sets the scene for the classically opulent wedding of Simona and Serafino to unfurl.

Surrounded by grand windows, celestial frescoes, and gold leafing, each visual reads like a Renaissance painting. While adorned mirrors and glassy surfaces reflected soft light, crystal candelabras and ivory blooms dotted the reception tables, distilling the atmosphere with notes of drama and timeless Italian elegance. From aperitivo hour to the traditionally Florentine four course meal, each detail was artful and decadent.

The bride wore a Pronovias Prive gown in a princess cut with Tom Ford heels and heirloom jewelry.

The wedding was elegantly captured by photographer E.T.Photography.

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Our Story

Names / Simona & Serafino

Location / Florence, Italy

Wedding Date / June 24th, 2024

Guest Numbers / 50

Budget / € 100,000

Our Engagement Story

It was a real surprise. He invited me to a romantic dinner and asked me to dress up. I arrived to a busy train station in London wearing evening gown, which definitely caught some attention to say the least. And then was greeted with a glass of champagne and taken to Belmond train for a beautiful Dom Perignon Michelin starred dinner. As we were enjoying the journey and the evening, Serafino got on one knee and proposed. Definitely a journey I will never forget.

What we love most about each other…

He is super kind and caring, puts me first a lot, super thoughtful, always on time (!!!), very romantic and still buys me flowers every week without fail. Serafino: What I love about Simona is her fierce Baltic roots, her kind and relentlessly generous spirit, and her remarkable ability to find joy in the simplest moments, whether this means cooking together at home or walking in the calming Lithuanian forest.

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The Setting

Wedding Location

We decided to have a wedding in Italy, not just because Serafino is Italian, but wanted it to be a holiday for our guests too, who travelled from abroad and we couldn’t think of a better destination than Italy. Food, good wine was a key for us too and again- cannot beat Italy. We were not focused on a specific region/city but more on a wedding venue itself. Once we saw Villa Cora it was an easy decision for us as it had the vibe we were after: full of history, with beautiful frescos, very grand, with beautiful gardens and close to city centre which meant easy access for our guests. Also it is a 5* start luxury hotel so we knew the service would be top notch.

Aesthetic

Surroundings, the wedding venue, guest dress code, our outfits all was very much classic style as for us personally wedding is an occasion that is asking for it.

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Photography

Ela Tatiana was our photographer and we couldn’t ask for more. I found Ela when I was looking for a wedding photographer for our legal marriage in London and just wanted someone to capture the special moment. I didn’t expect much, but oh boy, did she deliver. Pictures were Vogue worthy and everyone complimented how good they were as she really managed to capture the moment and the atmosphere. We initially wanted to hire another photographer for our wedding in Italy, but that changed when we met Ela. We really liked working with Ela’s but not only because of the quality of her work but also for the person that she is, how she is able to put you at ease. What was great that we didn’t have to leave our guest for hours to do the photography – she was able to capture it all without hijacking us – that’s a very special skill!

Videography

For videography I always knew it would be Dumas Wedding Films (even before I found myself a husband). Just love his style the emotion he is able to create. Been following his work for a while (he is also Lithuanian just like I am) and he also captured weddings of people I know and I loved the result. We are still waiting to see our wedding film but I have no doubt it will be beautiful. Dumas just like Ela was difficult to notice during the wedding- that is how discreetly he works, which we absolutely loved.

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Style Notes

Ceremony Décor

Given how grand the dinner room with all the frescos was, we didn’t want to overshadow it by too much décor, and kept it all simple with lots of candelabras, white flower bouquets and mirrored trays to reflect the light and the gorgeous frescas on the ceiling. Wedding reception décor was simple with white flower altar and petals- we had the ceremony in a beautiful cosy garden of the villa so again – wanted to keep it simple enough. The wedding flowers we chosen were mix of different white flowers, mainly roses. My bouquet was made of white fluffed roses and was just perfect.

Wedding Planner & Stylist

We initially looked for a wedding planner, and while we were doing so, we also managed to find the wedding venue and the rest just naturally followed to the point were it didn’t make sense to hire a wedding planner anymore. I have to say all the admin is thanks to my husband who has the patience of the saint, an the vison of the décor etc was all mine. We did however hire coordinators for the day just to make sure everything runs smoothly – it is a must I have to say!

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Stationery

Wedding stationery is something we loved doing and invested lots of time in it. We used Cartalia Studio in London to help bring the idea to life and it turned out to be everything we wanted. They created invitations, menus, name tags, order of the day fans and tableau for us. I think having beautiful invitations is super important as creates a mood and anticipations for the guests and the couple too.

Favors/Bonbonniere

We had organized a welcome dinner for our guests who traveled from abroad and created little hampers with local delicacies like pasta, wine, olive oil etc.. We found a local farm to source all of it, and I have a lovely memory of going there to taste it all…

Cake

Wanted something grand so I had tier cake in retro style. Pistachio and raspberry flavor.

Food & Beverages

We started with aperitivo, which was cocktail style, with all kinds of different canapes served and drinks. We had our favourite cocktails served, which were French 75 and Negroni, but of course Aperol Spritz too – we were in Italy after all! Following that we had a four course sit down typical Florentine menu candle lit dinner accompanied by Tuscan wines inside the villa.

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Fashion & Beauty Notes

Bride’s Dress & Shoes

The dress was Pronovias Prive. I wanted clean lines and beautiful, expensive fabric. Wanted something that I would never be able to wear again so it had to be princess cut! The wedding veil was very important to me too as it created some drama and again – how often do you get to wear it? My party dress was from Clio Peppiatt, the designer I love. They celebrate traditional craftsmanship and subversive femininity. It was hand beaded and hand embroidered.

Wedding Rings, Jewelry & Accessories

My engagement ring is an oval cut diamond and is exactly what I always dreamed of- I still cannot stop staring at it! We both had a vison for our wedding bands and designed it with a jeweler. My wedding band is full eternity in smaller oval diamonds to match the engagement ring. Serafino’s band is full eternity in black diamonds.

The earrings I wore for the ceremony were a gift from my husband and belonged to his late mother, which made it even more special. They are pave diamonds and Mikimoto pearls. They are very precious to me!

Hair & Makeup

My hair was in a simple low bun and so was my makeup – all I wanted was to enhance my features. Ausra did an amazing job.

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The Details

Transport

As we stayed at Villa Cora there was no need for a transport. Most guests stayed around Florence city centre, which was super convenient as only 10min drive away from the venue and allowed guests to explore the town too.

Honeymoon

As this was our second honeymoon already (decided to go on a mini moon after the legal ceremony also), we decided to make the most of the Tuscany region and travelled around visiting all the gorgeous little towns, drank amazing Tuscan wine in some picturesque wineries, ate most delicious food and indulged in breathtaking sceneries.

Entertainment

During the ceremony we had a string quartet in beautiful dresses and then a crooner during the aperitive hour. We had some live background music during dinner too. We asked our guests to share the songs that would get them on a dance floor, which were then played by the DJ on the dancefloor accompanied by electric violin.

Celebrant

We decided to ask our very dear friends to be our celebrants and that was absolutely the best decision ever. The speeches they wrote were very emotional and personal which we absolutely loved. Given how intimate the moment is it just makes it even more special.

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Our Advice

A memorable moment…

A particularly memorable moment was how emotional everyone got during the speeches… We initially didn’t want to ask people to make speeches as though it might be a bit forced, but then decided to ask some of our closest family and friends and that was the best decision – I have so many pictures of guessed wiping tears.

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

Worry less – everyone says that, and it can be easier said than done; however, from our personal experience, most of the things that don’t go as planned are the things only you know about… Anticipate everything and have a plan B in case of rain. We didn’t want to risk it and planned to sit down for dinner outside in case of rain. We were lucky with Villa Cora as the moment it started raining we could enjoy our beautiful dinner inside without any worry. It does rain in Italy too!