Lets get destination-dreamy for a Friday afternoon :-)

Caroline and John were married in March just outside of Rome in Italy, at the beautiful Borgo di Tragliata. They decided on a destination wedding after not being able to choose between London or Ireland for their day.

They wanted a relaxing and fun weeekend away, with good food and good drink. They kept things simple, and focused on the atmosphere of their wedding. And boy oh boy does it looks amazing.

Thanks so much to the amazing Johnathan Clover Photography for sharing his photographs with us today.

Names…. Caroline & John

Wedding Date…. 31/3/2012

The Proposal…. After being together happily for 11 years (without really ever discussing getting married any time) John proposed to me at the end of a meal celebrating my birthday.  He was acting all nervous and was knocking back double whiskies at the end of the meal, I couldn’t work out what was going on with him.  Then all of a sudden he proposed to me in the restaurant with a beautiful antique cluster ring which was just perfect.  I had no idea what he had planned and kept laughing as I thought it was some kind of joke to begin with!

The Vision for the day…. We wanted a relaxing,  fun weekend away with close family and friends.  Somewhere where it was rural with lots of good food and wine and where all our guests could stay.  It was important that we had a church on site and a bar that didn’t close. 

The Planning process…. We decided to get married in Italy just outside Rome as we couldn’t decide whether to get married in Ireland (where we grew up) or near London (where we live).  One of our friends had been to a wedding at the Borgo di Tragliata a few years ago and had said how beautiful it was and it had stuck in my mind.  John was in Rome on a business trip so he went to visit the venue and was so blown away that we booked it on the spot!

We didn’t have any preconceived ideas about what the wedding was going to be like other than we just wanted it to be relaxed and wanted everyone (including us) to have a good time.  Once we found the venue, everything else fell in to place, mainly as the venue’s coordinator, Steve, did all the hard work, he was perfect!  Having a destination wedding at a single location made it really easy and stress free to plan.  The only thing left to sort out was the guests travel arrangements.

We used a website provided by www.gettingmarried.co.uk which allowed us to provide all our guests with the relevant travel information so it was all very easy to coordinate everyone coming in to Italy from different countries at different times.

The Venue… Our venue, the Borgo Di Tragliata, was located just outside Rome in the Italian countryside and was everything that we wanted.  A truly wonderful venue, it had everything that we needed;   locally produced food and wine, church on site, accommodation for our 100 guests, pool for the kids (big and small!), amazing views, a relaxing and rustic feel and a bar that didn’t close!

The Dress + Accessories….. I wore a beautiful dress by Jasmine Bridal.  The only thing that I accessorised with was with a veil.  I was uncertain about whether to wear one or not but one I put in on it felt complete and was ready to walk down the aisle.

Finding the dress…. The dress was bought from the Bridal House in Aston Clinton close to where I live. It was only the second dress that I had tried on and first shopping trip.  I trusted the opinion of my eight year old daughter who fell in love with it.  It had a romantic feel which I thought would be perfect for Rome.

Groom’s attire… John wore a Hugo Boss suit, the only thing John was really fixed on was that it had to be a blue suit.  There was a bit of dilemma on the wedding day as John couldn’t decide on whether to wear a belt or braces and switched between the two about five times!

The Readings + Music…. The reading was done by our daughter who had us close to tears, the singing was done by my cousin who really made the church experience for us so special and memorable.  The songs were all sung in Italian and this really added to the ceremony.

Beautiful bridesmaids….. My sister Olivia who wore a beautiful midnight blue dress from La Boda in Northern Ireland. I didn’t mind what colour it was as long as she was happy with it.  We also had our two daughters and our Niece as flower girls which was great and got them involved in the day as well.

The Flowers… The flowers were from a local supplier called Donatella.  She doesn’t speak much English but the flowers were just perfect. She had two baskets of petals for our daughters which was scattered while they were walking up the aisle a really nice touch.

The Cake… We wanted to have an Italian style wedding cake and had just asked the venue to provide it without giving them any real direction or specifications.  It was a traditional Mille Fuille and we were absolutely stunned at the size of it, it was massive!

Your Photographer…. Johnathan Clover was the photographer at one of our friend’s weddings last year and we loved the photos he took and the way he worked on the day.  We were so pleased with the type and style of the photos, very different and unique and really suited us.  He was great to work with and we didn’t really know he was around, he was so relaxed which was great.  He captured all the key moments and highlights of the day with no fuss or prominence allowing us to get on and enjoy our day.  The whole day would not have been nearly so memorable or relaxing without him.  The photographs captured the beauty of the surroundings and the happiness of the day.  We could have not have been happier with our choice of Johnathan as our photographer and we will treasure our memories and pictures of our day.

The Details + Decor…. Our florist Donatella used the flowers from the church as our centre pieces for the tables so this was great.  We had guests from Ireland the UK and elsewhere so used pub names where we socialised with our friends as our table names.  We didn’t really feel the need to decorate the reception room too much as the venue and surroundings were so stunning!

The Honeymoon…. 10 days in the Maldives…

Memorable moments… The emotion of the church and our amazing band, ‘The Gloves’ who started a conga line before  before we had even cut the cake and did not stop playing till 3 am! Mainly it was having a lovely weekend with our friends and family and not feeling any stress or pressure in the fact that we were getting married too.

Advice for other couples… Really relax and enjoy the day and the run up to it, everyone is there to have a great time and you will too.

Credit where credit is due…

Dress designer: Jasmine Bridal - www.jasminebridal.com

Dress shop: The Bridal House – www.bridalwearaylesbury.co.uk

Bridesmaids dress – La Boda – www.labodabridal.com

Venue: Borgo di Tragliata – www.tragliata.it

Flowers – Donatella (sourced through Venue)

MUA – Louise Faulkner – louise.faulkner@yahoo.ie

Band: The Gloves – www.thegloves.it

Photographer: Johnathan Clover – www.johnathanclover.com

Oh how i want to travel to Italy, doesn’t it look sooooo romantic? Im off for a Friday day dream ;-)

Thanks so much to Caroline and John for sharing their beautiful day with us today XOXO Lou

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