An Elegant Destination Wedding in Ravello with Pops of Citrus
The Amalfi Coast is home to some of the world’s best lemons, breathtaking coastlines and beautiful pottery. So when Alex & Chelsea decided to have an intimate destination wedding, Italy became the obvious choice. Tucked above the city of Amalfi, Ravello is perched higher in the mountains with jaw dropping views of the famous coastline, and Ema Giangreco Weddings planned an elegant wedding under olive trees with pops of citrus. Naturally we started packing our bags and dreaming of pasta as soon as we scrolled through all the stunning photos from Carmen Santorelli Photography. We guarantee you’ll feel the same.
From the bride and groom: Alex and I (Chelsea) are passionate about travel and have developed a really strong connection exploring new places together. When we got engaged, we were really torn between doing a big local wedding in New England with lots of friends and family, or a smaller and more intimate destination wedding. Ultimately, we chose to do a destination wedding because we wanted to have our special day feel more intimate and surround ourselves with our best friends and close family. Once we decided on having an intimate destination wedding (60 people), we knew right away that we wanted this to be more than just a wedding. We wanted to have a mini-vacation with everyone and create memories that would last us a lifetime. We just needed to decide where…
We knew we wanted to go to Europe but had difficulty narrowing it down; ultimately, we were able to eliminate countries because I wanted olive groves and Alex wanted to have a view of the water. Not many places have both, but Italy does, in the beautiful Amalfi coast. We didn’t want to feel boxed in by tourists so after we did some research we knew Ravello was the town in Amalfi for us: easy to get to from the airport, the perfect blend of coast/greenery, an area everyone would love to explore, and still had incredible hotels and great Airbnb’s for our guests to stay close by. After that the venue was an obvious choice, the Belmond Hotel Caruso in Ravello, Italy. We fell in love with what we saw through the gallery page on their website and their Instagram so much that we ended up putting a deposit on the venue without seeing it in person!
Ok how perfect is the little pop of citrus that just ties everything together for this wedding in Ravello? We are obsessed!
For style and color theme, it was so important for us to have the wedding be authentic and immerse our guests in the Southern Italy / Amalfi Coast culture instead of Americanizing it. So we played up the venue and the natural colors of Amalfi and used it as the focal point by accentuating its features without overcompensating, focusing on a neutral color pallet and integrating flora’s and citrus from Capri and Amalfi! We also wanted refined elegance without being too stuffy so we kept it formal with black tie attire but had dinner set up at one long table “family style” outside in the garden under the olive groves.
While the whole wedding was at the same venue, every part of the wedding felt so completely different to us since they were all in different spaces at the Caruso. Partying by the infinity pool was incredible.
It was also really important to create an adventure around our wedding for our guests since they were traveling so far us. We think the icing on the cake for us was having a boat trip to Capri the day after the wedding with all of our guests! It was spectacular, the perfect way to close out the wedding celebrations and start our marriage. Truly something that was so special and unique.
Italy holds a special place in our hearts thanks to the abundance of beauty and pasta and this gorgeous wedding in Ravello with the prettiest pops of citrus is just what our hearts needed today. Whether you’re planning a vacation, or a honeymoon along the Amalfi Coast, check out our ultimate guide to the famous coastline to get your planning started.
Wedding Vendors:
Planning + Design: Ema Giangreco Weddings
Photography: Carmen Santorelli Photography
Video: Alberto Daria Films
Venue: Belmond Hotel Caruso, Ravello, Italy
Florals: Capri Flor
Linens: Zsuzsanna Nyul
Stationery: Script Me Pretty
Dress: Lazaro