We're on a bit of a roll with the beautiful sunny destination weddings at the moment, so we hope you love today's colourful and original Italian wedding celebration as much as we do.
Kelly & Ian were married two years ago in the heart of Chianti (the place not a bottle of wine) in the centre of Italy. Their wedding combines the best of an Italian wedding - sunshine, great scenery, amazing medieval Castello, beautiful food and lots of laughter. So inspired was she by her experiences, Kelly has gone on to set up her own wedding & party planning business - Plan My Party (more about that later). The wedding photographer del giorno (parlez vous Italiano?) was Tara Aherne and we are delighted to be able to show her gorgeous photos and get you lusting for sunshine and olive groves...
These two know how to make an entrance, so while Kelly arrived in a cutesy little Fiat 500 (ever seen the Italian Job), groom Ian and his bestman arrived on Vespas...
This picture is very special to Kelly & Ian as it captures one of the most magical moments of their wedding day "After the ceremony myself and my new husband had a few moments together (well with the cleaner) ha! After this we walked down the Town Hall steps together to whoops and applause from all our guests and confetti being thrown- a moment we will never forget!"
These guys were very much a "wedding party" - they didn't hurry on to the reception straightaway, instead they headed "into the local bar in Greve town square for an impromptu chilled glass of prosecco, the tourists got quite a show and our friends and family just lapped it up!"
Kelly's wedding dress was fated to be the one..."I first saw the dress while travelling in Australia! Turns out it was an Australian designer and was stocked here at Town Bride. My fiancé at the time spotted in my scrap book that I'd pulled out 2 different pictures of the same dress so I took this as a sign, secretly tried it on and then fell in love!. My headband and veil were made by friends of the family and the lace from my head band were the sleeves from my dress and all came about after my first fitting in Dublin"
After the wedding ceremony, the wedding party travelled up to the Castello Il Palagio high in the Tuscan hills. This beautiful Italian castle dates back to the 13th century, and the entire building centres around the magnificent medieval courtyard where Kelly and Ian had their wedding reception. Kelly chose to keep the reception decor elegant and simple using herbs and the local sunflowers of the region, while the table names hung from olive branches on the tables.
Kelly & Ian also chose to forgo a heavy Irish fruit cake and chose to have a Millefoglie - the traditional Italian wedding cake made of layers of pastry with chantilly cream and red fruits
But after the food was over, it was time to party and Kelly and Ian had a special surprise for the guests in this medieval space "We transformed the courtyard with red uplighters for the dancing, this really added to the atmosphere!" Spectacular.
Any advice for other brides and grooms planning their day Kelly? "Don't get too wrapped up in the small details, try and get both you and your grooms personality across on the day but most of all enjoy and savour it with all your loved ones as it is a day to remember!"
After returning home Kelly decided to combining ideas she had had for a number of years and her experience with corporate events, she set up a party and wedding planning business called Plan My Party. Currently she is planning a wedding in Il Palagio for 5th August which she says herself "will be a pleasure and honour to be part of another Tuscan dream, almost 2 years to the day!"
Huge thanks to Tara Aherne for allowing us to feature her beautiful pictures - there's lots more of her work to see over on her website Taraaherne.com
All the Wedding Details...
Ceremony: Comune Di Greve in Chianti | Reception: Castello Il Palagio | Wedding Dress: Town Bride | Bridesmaids dresses: Made by a family friend, Silk from Roisin Cross | Brides Shoes: Gina | Flowers: Local Florist in Mercatale-Floridea | Groom(smen)’s suits: Ted Baker
