Romantic Destination Wedding at an Italian Castle

When a fashionista gets married in an Italian castle, this is the result! #destinationwedding #italy #romanticwedding see more: https://ruffledblog.com/romantic-destination-wedding-italian-castle

Michal + Aurelia’s romantic destination wedding in an Italian castle is seriously pulling at our heartstrings. Maybe it’s the glam meets Tuscan ruins aesthetic or the lush flowers that bring everything to life, but if we’re being honest, just wait till you see the way he looks at her walking down the aisle. Seriously stunning in a Naeem Khan gown, the bride lent her vision to Brenda Babcock Celebrations , and the result is this majestic black tie affair with personal touches throughout. Magnus Bogucki is the genius behind the lens and to him we say “grazie, mille!”

From the bride, Aurelia: Michal and I met working together at a restaurant in Edinburgh in Scotland where I grew up. One night after a few too many martinis we kissed, the next week we had our first date and the rest, as they say, is history! Three years and two countries later, we made the move to New York to follow my career in fashion and we’ve been here ever since. Our friends and family are sprinkled all over the place. Michal is Polish, I’m Scottish-American, and we wanted a venue that was a combination of everything we are as a duo – a little different, a little international and a whole lot special. I’ve had a love affair with Florence my whole life and it’s somewhere Michal and I have kept coming back to throughout our 6 years together. There’s something a little magical about wandering through the streets there – like you’re walking through history. And the gelato!!

While I was online looking at venues in Italy I stumbled across a picture of Vincigliata in the spring, purple wisteria cascading down the walls and this amazing tumbledown, romantic medieval charm that looked like it had been plucked right out of a fairytale. Brenda and the team at Italia Celebrations created an absolute jaw-dropper of a day around the natural beauty of the venue. I was working at Saks Fifth Avenue at the time and my dress, train and veil were all from Naeem Khan at the Saks Bridal Salon. Brenda really ran with the glamorous vibe of my dress and my frighteningly large Pinterest board and created what can only be described as magic. I cried twice that day – when Brenda revealed the courtyard she, her staff and the floral team had transformed for the wedding dinner and when I had to say goodbye to her at the end. I’m not sure I’ll ever find another person who will suspend chandeliers from out of thin air for me! The amazing Tifany from Gourmet Invitations did our whole invitation suite, including our monogram that was featured throughout the wedding weekend. Brenda recommended Magnus Bogucki, the best wedding photographer in the whole world and also the nicest guy ever. He put us completely at ease and we had so much fun with him, not to mention his pictures are just incredible.

We had our first look on the terrace of the hotel overlooking the Duomo, that moment is something I’ll never forget. To get to the ceremony I had to clamber down a little stone staircase where my Dad was waiting at the bottom to walk me down the aisle (in our family tartan) which was both terrifying and hilarious. The walk down the aisle towards Michal seemed to take forever but after that the ceremony flew by. We had always wanted to have our ceremony in both Polish and English and Michal’s cousin, Tomek, was kind enough to agree to be our celebrant and conduct the ceremony in both languages. My bridesmaids wore dresses in mix and match blush tones I picked from Jenny Yoo and BHLDN and walked down the aisle to my uncle singing “I Can’t Help Falling in Love with You.” There were so many special parts of the day and it went by so quickly I wish we could do it all over again!