Sally and Greg married at a castle overlooking one of the most beautiful cities in the world, Florence. For Sally, it was the realisation of a dream she had when she was a little girl. High up in the hills of Fiesole, the couple celebrated at the incredible venue of Castello di Vincigliata with a traditional Italian ceremony decorated with touches of coral and gold. It all came about with the help of planners Distinctive Italy Weddings, and was captured by the team at Rossini Photography.

DECIDING ON THE DESTINATION

"Ever since I was a little girl, I always dreamed of getting married in a magical castle abroad. When my husband and I first walked in through the grand gates of Castello di Vincigliata high up in the hills of Fiesole we knew we had found the perfect venue. The views overlooking Florence were breathtaking, the various rooms and cloisters were beautiful and versatile, and the icing on the cake was the courtyard: stunning and yet intimate, exactly what I had been imagining. I saw my wedding day come to life right there. The place had such a wonderful charm and history and indeed a love story of its own: it is said that the spirit of a beautiful young girl named Bianca roams the castle walls, protecting those about to be married after her love was killed before her eyes on her wedding day. It really was the stuff of fairy-tales!

STYLE & THEME

Our colour scheme of blush, peach, cream and gold ran through all aspects of our day from the invitations, flowers, bridesmaid dresses and shoes, to the ushers' ties and pocket handkerchiefs and even to the coral and gold champagne lollipops. Gold features were increasingly added to the colour scheme as we quickly realised that it was needed to strike the right balance between romance and the grandeur of our venue. We named our tables after Italian cities to reflect the location of our venue and the head table was named Florence, of course! A last minute decision to include a photobook was one of the best decisions we made. It was such fun reliving the memories and reading family and friends' messages with their hilarious polaroid photos stuck next to them. The "how well do you know the bride and groom?" quiz really brought the tables together and got people talking, albeit it did get very competitive in the end with countless occasions of flagrant cheating!

CHALLENGES

It poured with rain up until the second I arrived at the venue and this involved a lot of last minute changes (everything was supposed to be held outside from the ceremony to the dinner to the dancing!) but I was totally blown away by the efforts of all the people around us that worked so hard to make the day run perfectly. It was a long day for all of them but their energy and professionalism was amazing and we couldn't have done it without them.

BEST MOMENTS

It would be very hard to pick out what I loved most about our wedding. Seeing my husband get emotional (something he rarely does!) as I walked down the aisle was incredibly touching. Seeing all the beautiful little touches come together was incredibly gratifying. Watching my grandparents dance in one another's arms to Backstreet Boys was heart-warmingly sweet. But the best thing was looking around the beautifully lit courtyard, and seeing so many people I love in one place, mixing with one another, dancing, laughing and having such a wonderful time. I felt incredibly lucky, loved and special in that moment and it was a day my husband and I will never ever forget."

Photographers: Rossini Photography | Wedding Planners: Distinctive Italy Weddings | Venue: Vincigliata Castle | Catering: La Delizia Ricevimenti | Floral Design: Stiatti Fiori | Music & Lighting: Alma Project | Vintage Fiat 500: La Vettura | Hair & Makeup: Armilla Eventi | Invitations & Table settings: Paperknots | Photobook: Blue Sky Papers | Bridesmaid Hangers: BaileyzDesigns on Etsy | Bridal Hanger: Clouds and Currents on Not on the High Street | Lollipops: Sweet Caroline Confect on Etsy | Bridesmaid Dresses: Maids to Measure | Bride's Dress: Watters Wtoo Noella from Morgan Davies | Bridal Sash: Sash&Co | Groom's Suit: Gresham Blake | Confetti Cones: The Confetti Cone Company | Place Name Cards: Ginger Ray | S&G Ribbon: Victoria Low | Fans: Beaucoup | Flip Flops: Wedding Flip Flops