Creative wedding, couple & family reportage photography covering Cornwall, London, UK and overseas
Italy in September feels like such a long time ago! Apart from a lovely engagement session with Lyn & Marc in Florence, there were also good times with good people. Here are some snapshots from my two weeks in Tuscany, I hope they’ll help you feel warm on these cold days!
Thank you to Villa Fontelunga for being the perfect place for our adventures and for hatching plans with some of my favourite people.
Oh, Florence, how I love thee. Last month I spent a couple of weeks in Tuscany (more on that later) and was very happy to fit in an engagement session in Florence with Lyn & Marc. Florence to me is just pure magic, it’s definitely up there on the list of cities I could live in. In the early hours of the day, we headed out to the almost empty streets in search of some gorgeous light, courtesy of the rising sun. And what a lovely morning we had. I think being a Florence-based photographer of couples in love should definitely be noted down somewhere in my life plan. Yup.
So, this is what went down in Italy, among other things. I have a whole heap of other things to process before I get to these two lovely couples, but I thought I’d give you a little taste of Tuscan colours to brighten up this very wet summer… (mind you, we did get rain over there as well!)
I don’t even know where to start this post… Ok, let’s start from the fact that I love Italy. I mean, I love Italy so much that I used to go there every year. Since starting this here photography business, I haven’t had much holiday (i.e. I don’t often choose where I get to go), and hence I hadn’t been to Italy since my honeymoon in Rome in 2007. I hope that goes some ways to explain how utterly excited I was when Emily & James booked me to photograph their wedding in Florence.
It was so very lovely to be back in my favourite country. Well, apart from the heat. When we set off to the Continentale Hotel where Emily was getting ready, the thermometer was showing +40C, and I’m pretty sure it just kept on climbing higher as the day went on. But that was all besides the point once we got to Emily, and the magic of the day started unfolding. Toni & Guy Florence were in charge of Emily’s hair, and she wore an adorable headdress by Jo Barnes. Azzura created her beautiful (heat-proof!) make up. Emily’s stunning wedding gown was Detalle by La Sposa and she wore the cutest Kate Spade flats for the day, love them!
The ceremony of Emily & James’ wedding took place at Chiesa San Martino a Maiano in Fiesole, just outside of Florence. From there we headed to the UH-MA-ZING reception venue, Castello di Vincigliata, on the hills of Fiesole overlooking the city. It was just… perfection. Gianni from Tuscany Flowers had created the most beautiful arrangements from (my favourite flower!) peonies, which matched Emily’s gorgeous bouquet. I also loved how all the bridesmaids flowers were different, but looked beautiful together in their whiteness. One of my favourite things were the escort cards hanging from a tree, how original and beautiful!
I want to say a huge thank you to wedding planner Rossana Sapori from Weddings in Umbria, who was an absolute star and kept everything running smoothly on the day. Preludio Catering was in charge of the delicious food and the incredible cake, and Alma Project took care of music for the evening. Other details to mention are the beautiful stationery designed by Emily herself (including a hand drawn invite), the adorable ring bearer bowl from Palomas Nest and fun drink stirrers from Miss Pickles Press.
Looking at these pictures now I get a warm glow inside (and it’s just not from remembering the heat). I had the best time of time and I can’t thank Emily and James enough for taking us with them, and for being so utterly nice to us throughout. I love you guys! And Italy… oh, Italy. Miss you already so much it hurts.
