My very first opportunity to be a London wedding stylist came about when the lovely Laura and Raffaele got married in the summer of 2019. The wedding ceremony was held in Raffaele’s birth town of Guardia Sanframondi in Italy and the reception took place at a nearby hotel and restaurant out of town, the Agrihotel La Vecchia Quercia, the “Old Oak”. Read below for a peak behind the scenes of how I helped them with the planning and styling of their very personalised wedding.
Planning the Wedding
We all met at our old place of work and Laura first asked me to help her with her future wedding in June 2016, at the Alice in Wonderland inspired event I had organised at work. At this point the couple was not even engaged yet! The bride has an Alice in Wonderland inspired tattoo, so the idea of reflecting her love for Alice in Wonderland with the styling of her wedding was a consideration. The groom has a fondness for Star Wars – that influenced the cake topper. When it came to actually planning the wedding, however, the couple decided to stick to more traditional Italian elements. However, the bride had the idea to style the wedding inspired by London and the London Underground map since this is where they had met and were living.
We met a few times in the months leading up to the wedding and as their wedding stylist I drilled down on their ideas and what was most important for them as part of their wedding. I went through a little questionaire with them and based on their answers I created separate moodboards for the Styling of their drinks reception, the wedding dinner and the 80s inspired party at the pool. I also made a list of relevant questions for their chosen venue.
When it came to the decorations, I made 1050 hearts out of a map of the London Underground printed on cardstock to scatter on the reception tables and cut papers for the rice cones as well as the decorations for the 80s themed evening party and designed the gift tags for the Table Plan.
Setting up for the Wedding
I arrived in Italy on Thursday, toured the venue, and put together the decorations for the sweetheart table which were 3D puzzles I bought from the London Bridge Shop. I spent most of Friday putting together all the other decorations, signage and setting up the seating chart. I even learned how to cork wine bottles for the table names for the drinks reception! Some of Laura’s friends helped me fold and glue the paper cones for the rice and the paper rubik’s cubes for the 80s party.
I had prepped the little gift tags for the seating chart back in London, printed and cut them but we made a few changes to the seating order due to last minute guest cancellations and the hotel let me use their computer and printer to redo a few of them. Every single one of the stations had meaning to the bride and groom. I did make a few locations of the stations on the map up as some of them aren’t part of the Underground network and are instead either national rail stations or overground stations or both.
In addition to the lovely location, the family that owns the restaurant and their employees are amazing, provide fantastic service, were always willing to help, even when I could barely make myself understood – my knowledge of the Italian language is really only existent when it relates to food or some art history. But demonstration, hand-and-feet or google translate did the job.
On the Day of the Wedding
Saturday morning I checked in with the venue team setting up for the drinks reception and the wedding breakfast. I then set up the balloons and the sign that the bride had painted before setting off with the guests who were staying at the hotel to the castle ruin in Guardia Sanframondi where the ceremony was held. After the confetti moment and the newlyweds had shared a glass of champagne with their Guests at the castle, the Guests returned to the venue for the drinks reception while the couple stayed in town with the videographer and the photographer.
The guests enjoyed a veritable feast during the drinks reception on the terrace of the hotel. Raffaele had from the beginning expressed how important it was for him that the food at the wedding would be a show stopper and it definitely was!
After the newlywed couple arrived at the hotel, they had photos taken with their guests – one with each couple or family which the photographers edited and printed during dinner and the couple then handed the printed pictures to their guests afterwards as a memento.
While the guests finished their dinner, I set up the decorations for the 80s evening party as well as the favour table while the venue team set up the cake and the confetti (sugared almonds in different flavours) tables and the bar.
After dinner and dessert the guests were invited to the cake cutting at the the top level of the hotel garden where the pool is located. The wedding cake was made by a local bakery in Guardia Sanframondi. It was a lovely, light lemon cake and it wasn’t cut into slices but the guests each received one of the round pieces. The restaurant set it up and decorated the cake table upstairs infront of the pool for the pictures and I ensured to add the R2D2 and BB-8 groom and bride cake topper right after the set up.
After the cake cutting, the 80s party began. The newlyweds changed into their “Dirty Dancing” inspired outfits and danced to “Time of My Life” complete with pretend lift. Quite a few of the guests changed into their 80s outfits too. The kids loved the neon light sticks – I was so glad I had brought several hundred of them! – and the whole party was very fun, complete with cocktail bar, espresso, ice cream and a rum and cigars bar for the adults.
Upon leaving, every guest received a favour box with the classic sugared almonds and a little horn which is typical for the region, going back centuries and supposed to bring luck – handmade by a charity organisation with a small explanation of its history. The charity packaged the little horns and I stacked them in a wooden chest.
A group of guests danced with the newlyweds into the night – I was told until 2 am – the DJs had been a wedding gift to the couple by some of their guests and the couple had made a list of songs they wanted to be played.
If you’d like some help with the planning and/or styling of your wedding, or setting it up on the day or planning any other part of your wedding, I would be happy to help, reduce your stress and help you to make budget friendly, sustainable and stylish decisions that reflect your personality as a couple. Please have a look at my wedding planning and wedding styling services here and please do not hesitate to get in touch if you have any questions.
Jess Creates Events 