As if Italy wasn’t already pretty much top of my “Most Romantic Cities I Simply Must Visit” list. Italia Celebrations sent over a Rome wedding they planned, detailed, and captured beautifully. And now I am in love, and ready for my Roman holiday. The couple had just a handful of guests present on their special day, but from the custom gown to the get away Fiat, adorned with the words “Oggi Sposi” (the Italian equivalent of Just Married, for those of us who aren’t so lucky as to speak the language of love), the entire affair was filled with love, style, and passion. Make sure to waltz over to the full image gallery for more of this beautiful day!
I, Meline, am an aspiring actress and Coco, my husband, is a technology entrepreneur from Newport Beach California, met one evening while dining out with mutual friends. After that night, they were pretty inseparable.
I always dreamed of getting married in Italy. I have always had a passion for art history and so Rome’s monuments, architecture and history made it the perfect setting for our wedding day. We wanted something intimate with close family and a vintage vibe was a must for our special day.
Our wedding planner, Brenda Babcock of Italia Celebrations came highly recommended through a celebrity network in Los Angeles and we couldn’t have been happier, we worked so well together. When we started discussing details the movie Roman Holiday came to mind. It is one of our favorites and we loved the idea of darting around Rome on a Vespa just like they did in the movie. For practical purposes the Vespa became a vintage Fiat 500 from that same period. From there we added in my poppy red Christian Louboutin shoes, pink peonies, robin’s egg blue and kraft paper and twine.
Rain was in the forecast, in fact, it rained all week. Brenda prepared us for rain but, miraculously, it did not rain that day. The morning of the wedding no one could locate my mother, she had slipped out to the church down the street from our hotel to pray that it would not rain. We thought this was very funny but then it didn’t rain all day. It was such a relief.
We had a beautiful church ceremony before driving off in our getaway car. Our guests followed closely behind in a minivan. They didn’t know they were in for a tour of the city. We had photos taken around Rome. In Piazza Navona there was a street band and they started playing in our honor! The crowds cheered as our convertible pulled out of the piazza. We felt as though we had been celebrating with everyone in Rome. We went to St. Peter’s Square then up to the top of the Janiculum Hill which has a spectacular view over the center of Rome. On to the Fontanone which is a huge fountain built to honor the spot where an Ancient Roman aqueduct brought water into the city from the countryside. We all got to see parts of the city they would not have normally seen. It was exquisite and unforgettable.
Our reception was at Palazzo Manfreddi on an intimate terrace with a bird’s eye view of the Colosseum. The dining experience with the city lit up at night right in front of us was just incredible. The cuisine was so good that our guests want to go back to Rome just to dine there again. Brenda had blue linen table runners made and a traditional Italian Millefoglie wedding cake done in a way that suited our antiqued wedding topper perfectly. The pink peonies and roses with green hyperium berries were wrapped in an egg shell cloth with natural twine. We had vintage Vespa miniatures for our wedding favors. They were perfect for our theme, really adorable and a fun way to pay homage to the groom and his love of riding motorbikes. It was truly an unforgettable day, with memories we will cherish forever.
Wedding Planning: Italia Celebrations / Photography: Ruggero Farina for Italia Celebrations / Bride’s dress: custom made, silk / Bride’s bracelet: Tami Hickman for Relics / Bride’s headpieces: Erin Cole Couture / Bride’s shoes: Christian Louboutin / Groom’s suit: J.Crew / Groom’s Shoes: Santoni / Cake Topper: Goldbug Studio / Wedding Map: Natty Michelle / Welcome bag, Favors & Printing: Italia Celebrations