It’s easy to get swept up in photographs of a really beautiful destination wedding, but looking at Johnny and Emma's real wedding at Borgo di Tragliata in Italy, captured by Chris Copeland Photography, I find myself wishing that I could go back in time and wrangle myself an invite! Johnny and Emma’s big day was actually three big days of merrymaking, with a wedding in the middle! This celebration was all about kicking back with friends and family in the stunning Italian countryside - just wait until you see where these guys had their reception dinner...
It was only when they started dating, that Johnny and Emma realised they had actually met a lot earlier! “It turned out that mine and Johnny’s mums had both worked together when they were each pregnant with us, and so they had known each other far longer than we had! Johnny likes to say he started making moves in the womb!"
The venue for Johnny and Emma's incredible weekend was Borgo di Tragliata, a venue just 30 minutes from Rome, which the couple spotted at a wedding fair in Belfast. "It was everything we were looking for,” Emma remembers. “It was a short journey from the airport and everything was on site, including a church, enough accommodation for up to 150 people, a bar, a couple of swimming pools and a number of different reception venues. It also helped that it looked like something from a Woody Allen movie!”
The deal was sealed when the couple went to view the venue. “We were just blown away by the scenery, food and wine. After eating and drinking our bodyweight in pasta and Italian wine, it was an easy decision from there!"
Like many couples, Johnny and Emma were unenthused by the idea of taking hundreds of wedding portraits - let’s face it, it’s not the most natural thing in the world! "We didn’t want to spend our day getting the traditional posed photos,” she says. “We wanted unobtrusive and natural photos that captured the spirit of the day. Chris Copeland and (videographers) Forever Social were beyond amazing. They were such fun to be around that the portrait session ended up being one of our favourite parts of the day!”
This pair make a pretty good case for having a destination wedding! "We loved it because instead of one day where we were rushing around trying to speak to everyone, we had three days of relaxing with everyone we loved. It just felt like we were on an amazing holiday with all of the people we love most in the world.” That’s the dream right there!
Johnny, Emma and their guests ended up partying until 6am for two nights on the trot, so ater all that excitement, they needed another week in Italy to recover! "We spent three nights in Capri and four nights in Positano on the Amalfi coast, both of which were magical. Our friends were staying in nearby Sorrento, so we were even able to continue the party by hiring a boat around Capri one day.” Swoon!
What an amazing spread! It makes sense that food was one of the couple's biggest priorities from the get-go. "Whilst it’s pretty hard to go wrong with Italian food, The Borgo is Agriturismo-certified, meaning that everything you drink and eat on site has been produced either on site or within a radius of 10km and, as a result, the food was pretty incredible," Emma says.
"It’s important that your wedding reflects you as a couple," she adds, "but, realistically, no-one is going to care if you don’t have the most creative wedding favours! What they are going to remember is good food and wine and having a great time!" Here, here!
Although this wedding kicked off the moment the wedding party stepped off the plane, the day itself still felt special. “It was like a dream and we both just couldn’t stop grinning from ear to ear,” Emma says. “We had possibly the best party of our lives. We had an eight-piece Italian band for the after-dinner dancing and they had everyone on the dance floor until 6am that morning. We even had some locals turn up at one point – the Italians definitely know how to throw a party!"
Is anyone else struggling with a serious case of wanderlust right now? Thanks so much to Chris Copeland Photography for sharing his gorgeous photographs with us and, of course, to Johnny and Emma for giving us a peek inside their Italian adventure!
The Wedding Details
- Photographer: Chris Copeland
- Wedding Venue: Borgo di Tragliata
- Videographer: Forever Social
- Wedding Dress: Suzanne Neville at The Mews Bridal, Clifton
- Bridesmaids dresses: Sorella Vita at White Butterfly Bridal
- Shoes: Pink Paradox (Bride) /Kurt Geiger (Bridesmaids) / Loake (Groom) / McReady's (Groomsmen)
- Flowers: Donatella Luipi
- Groom(smen)’s suits: Bogart
- Accessories: The Wedding Veil Shop (Veil) & Newbridge Silverware (Jewellery)
- Cake: The Borgo Baker
- Stationery: Friend of the couple
- Make Up & Hair: Janita Helova
- Wedding Band: The Gloves
- Second Day Music: Salvatore Benintende from The Waistcoats
