Modern Romance in Ravello, Amalfi Coast

Weddings

Oct 26

Fell in love with the beauty of Ravello years before the wedding, Alex and David had no question about where they wanted their wedding to be. The pair exchange their vows surrounded by their loved ones in a manicured Italian garden of Villa Eva and its picturesque view. With the help of Blooming Eventi and Malafronte Fiori, they created a modern romance with white-black floral arrangements beautifully contrasting the vibrant colors of the Amalfi Coast.

After the ceremony, the newlyweds took a walk through the town, danced in the town square—and even took Limoncelo shot with a local store owner, celebrating their new life together.

See the day full of laughter and happy tears, beautifully captured by Lace and Luce.

Our Story

Name: Alex & David

Wedding Date: 15 June 2022

Guest Number: 40

Location: Ravello, Amalfi Coast

We met at an advertising agency in February 2015 when Alex was asked to show David the ropes during his first few weeks on the job. It was obvious from the start that we wanted to be more than coworkers as we both made every excuse to spend more time together. From David continuing to ask Alex the same work questions over and over to Alex offering to help David build his dining room furniture (a natural handy-woman), no matter how silly the reason, we kept finding ways to cross paths.

Side note: that furniture lasted years without any breaks or accidents. Looks like David made the right decision in asking Alex for her help... and for her hand.

The Engagement

From The Groom // Something that I will always remember is Alex telling me that she wanted me to ask her to marry me when I couldn’t wait any longer. Little did she know, that was the easy part- she is the most beautiful, caring, thoughtful, funny and kind person I have ever met. The hard part was coming up with the perfect way of asking her.

Thursday 12.19.2019, I kissed Alex and sent her on her way to work. I faked a work call so I could stay home and prepare our apartment for the proposal. Once Alex left for work, I started to put the candles, roses and picture frames in place. I remember stepping back, seeing everything together and just knowing this was it; this was how I was going to ask my best friend to marry me.

I will never forget walking into the hallway of our apartment building and seeing Alex at the end of the hall. It was the best feeling in the world to see my future wife. I walked her through our apartment, showed her pictures of our lives together so far and eventually got down on one knee in the middle of our apartment. with an empty picture frame behind me reserved for a picture of our future together.

The Style

I would describe our wedding style as romantic, classic with modern elements, formal with personal touches, neutral (all-white color palette, with minimal black accents), and unique. While there were so many styles that we loved, we ended up selecting ours because it felt the most like us -looking around our home, our closets, and the things we gravitate to, they all pointed us back towards this style. We also felt strongly about selecting something that would remain "in style"; we wanted something timeless. Lastly, this style gave us the room to incorporate unique and personal touches, while also really letting the beautiful setting where we were getting married shine.

Inspiration

I work for Pinterest, so I spend a lot of time on platform pinning and planning. I also get a lot of inspiration from seeing other weddings. So many of the elements from our wedding were things I'd seen in other places and modified to fit our theme, style, color palette, etc.

The Venue

Our venue was the beautiful Villa Eva; a traditional Italian villa perched at the top of Ravello's cliffs. When selecting our venue, it was important to us to find a space that would lend itself to our vision (natural beauty, picturesque views, intimate). Villa Eva quickly revealed itself to be the right venue for us with its classic villa focal point, the gorgeous cliffside background and the chic, tent-framed marquee. We also loved that Villa Eva was completely private - we could have the entire place to ourselves - yet large enough to allow us to create distinct spaces for each moment of our day. It was also the only venue in the area that allowed us to have a reception late into the night, which was important to us.

The Bridal Look

For our ceremony and dinner, I wore a mermaid-style gown with a sweetheart neckline from Calla Blanche. The romantic lace and dramatic train fit perfectly within our larger vision for the day. I incorporated my "something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue" into my ceremony look too (pearl earrings from my maternal grandmother pinned into one of the layers of my dress, a bracelet from my paternal grandmother wrapped around my bouquet).

When it came time for dancing I changed into a white, sequin-covered mini-dress from Retrofete, white tennis shoes on that I’d written our wedding date and last name on, and a jean jacket that was embroidered with my new last name (a gift from my groom).

David wore a classic black tuxedo from The Suit Shop. To stand out amongst his groomsmen, he accessorized with cufflinks from his favorite team (Chelsea FC), a black paisley bowtie and a pocket square embroidered with a short love letter I'd written him.

The Wedding Day

As cliché as it sounds, our wedding day truly was the best day of my life. We'd spent the night before the wedding apart, so when we work up we both went to our respective places to get ready with our wedding parties.

My bridesmaids and I got ready and spent the full day at Villa Eva. It was so special getting that uninterrupted time with my best friends- laughing, telling stories and celebrating. Once David was done getting ready, I surprised him with a vintage Alfa Romeo convertible for him and his groomsmen to drive around and take pictures in.

Right before our ceremony, my husband and I did a 'no look first look' where we stood back-to-back, read letters to each other and exchanged gifts. Because we'd waited so long for our wedding, we wanted the first time we saw each other to be when I walked down the aisle. Getting to hear David's voice one last time as my fiancé, overlooking our favorite place, was the perfect way to close our chapter of being engaged. It was so special to get to speak with each other before the ceremony and it made seeing each other at the end of the aisle that much sweeter.

Once it was time for the ceremony, my bridesmaids and I spent a few moments in prayer and then my dad walked me down the aisle. I'll never forget the excitement I felt seeing David, nor will I forget the sweet emotion he displayed when he saw me walk down the aisle. Our ceremony was everything we ever could've dreamed of and more. A dear friend was our officiant and he did such an incredible job with our ceremony. He tailored it perfectly to us and made us feel so comfortable, we were able to take in the moment and allow all our emotions to rush over us. We laughed, we cried happy tears and felt true bliss.

After our ceremony, our guests enjoyed some live music and Apéritif while David and I took a walk through Ravello down to the town square. It was important to us to have some time during the day just the two of us, and to spend a few moments as newlyweds celebrating in the town we love so dearly. We danced in the town square, stopped by the ceramic shops, even took a shot of limoncello with a local store owner. Not only were we on cloud nine, just getting done with our 'I Do's', but it felt like Ravello was just as elated as we were, cheering with us, clapping, dancing. And that was why we fell in love with Ravello so many years prior. It was such a beautiful place with kind people, and the perfect setting for us to spend this special time in our lives. We headed back to Villa Eva to join our family and friends for dinner, followed by a night of dancing. We stayed at Villa Eva until 2am, singing, dancing and taking shots of limoncello.

Something I wish I knew before

Your wedding week (and day) are busier than you think they will be. Make sure to give yourself extra time for things and when possible, build in time to just enjoy and relax! It only comes around once :)

Advice for Italian Bride-to-Be

Spend as much time in Italy as possible before/after the wedding! The days right before/after our wedding, in our favorite place in the world, with our favorite people in the world are some of my most cherished memories. Our wedding day of course was a dream, but I fully believe it was made that much more special due to the fact that we got to spend so much time during that whole week with everyone in beautiful Ravello.