We got married on September 23, 2016. On that day, our friends Lesha and Olya were joyfully dancing at our Italian wedding and hadn’t even planned on becoming parents. By August 23, 2017, they were already taking care of their adorable two‐month-old daughter Sofia, while we had just gone to collect our wedding photos – almost a year after the celebration… That’s how things work in Sicily; here they don’t like to rush or stress over deadlines (southern mentality, why hurry on a paradise island?).
I was heading to meet the photographers, fuming and ready to scold them in rubles euros for missing every possible deadline. But when I saw the results, I burst into tears. The photos turned out to be wonderful! So emotional… Every time I look at them, I mentally return to that endlessly happy September day when Ludovico and I became husband and wife before God and people.
Article Contents:
- An Italian-Style Proposal
- Welcome to Sicily! Or How Many People Should Be at a “Proper” Italian Wedding
- The Easiest Question – Who Will Handle the Organization
- Our Ideal Wedding Venue
- The Design Concept of Our Italian Wedding
- Italy – It’s Not a Country, It’s a Song
- Dress Code at an Italian Wedding
- Challenges
- The “Amazing Hands” Crew
The article features photos from the wedding of the agency founder Marina and her husband Ludovico.
1. An Italian-Style Proposal
But in the beginning was the word. And even a few words in Russian… 🙂 Ludovico proposed to me in the most romantic way…
No, it didn’t happen by the sea and not exactly as I had imagined in my rosy dreams, but perhaps that was for the best, because it was unexpected, genuine, and full of intense emotion.
Imagine: the Sicilian town of Noto with its opulent Baroque buildings, a romantic dinner, and then the evening continuing on a hotel balcony. Night, stars, the moon… Ludovico asks me to pose for a photo against this fairy-tale view, and of course, I gladly agree. I assume a graceful pose, gaze mysteriously at the town… totally insta-ready 😂 Then Ludovico asks me to turn around. I think, maybe it’s for another stunning shot. And then I hear again: “Marina… Marina…”. I wonder, what’s wrong this time?? I’m standing beautifully, aren’t I? 😀
I turn, and there is Ludovico on one knee with a ring in his hand, muttering something in a language I don’t understand… “What? What? What? What? What?..” It turned out that Ludovico was trying to say in Russian: “Will you marry me…” (and he had even learned this rather tricky phrase!). Somehow, I heard him asking for my hand in an Italian way 🙂 A thrilled “Yes!”, a pause with the ring – but on which hand should I wear it? And just like that, I became officially “fidanzata” (that is, bride in Italian). So, it’s partly a myth that with an Italian you must live in a common-law relationship for years before he finally proposes. True love doesn’t need extra time for “testing feelings.”
2. Welcome to Sicily! Or, How Many People Should Be at a “Proper” Italian Wedding
Ludovico proposed to me in August 2015, and a year later we got married. In Italy, it is absolutely normal—and even welcomed—for a year or even longer to pass between the engagement and the wedding. And now you will understand why.
I never wanted a big wedding; I always thought my special day would be intimate, surrounded only by the closest and dearest people. Although… that’s exactly how it turned out. On my side, there were only 16 people – my mother, my sister, and friends.
On Ludovico’s side, there were also only close relatives and best friends – in total… just… 103 people!!! An Italian wedding for 100 people is considered very modest. A wedding with 200 guests – 100 from the bride’s side and 100 from the groom’s side – is the norm. And 40 years ago, it was customary to celebrate the formation of a family with 300–400 guests. For example, at Ludovico’s parents’ wedding, there were 400 guests: a buffet table and Sicilian fast food (rice balls arancini and local focaccia pizza). Simple, yet delicious and fun!
3. The Easiest Question – Who Will Handle the Organization
The question of who would organize our wedding wasn’t even raised. Ludovico has been part of the organizing team of Sanremo, Italy’s largest music festival, for eight years. And I have been organizing events since school, even making a career out of it by handling both local events and national conferences for several thousand people in different cities of Russia.
Organizing an event for 116 people, who were coming to Sicily from various cities in Italy, Russia, Belgium, Germany, the UAE, arranging accommodation, ensuring transfer, and entertaining them, didn’t seem like an insurmountable task. However, I do not recommend trying to replicate our virtuoso trick by organizing your own wedding if you are not professional organizers: it’s an extremely stressful endeavor that won’t allow you to enjoy every moment of your special day as a couple. Be the bride and groom, celebrate your new status to the fullest, and leave all the organizational details and nuances to a wedding coordinator with excellent recommendations.
4. Our Ideal Wedding Venue
We quickly decided where to hold our grand Italian wedding – it was hard to imagine a better or more convenient option than Sicily. Hidden among the picturesque Sicilian hills is the tiny village of Pezzolo, where my husband’s parents live during the summer. That was where our wedding ceremony was to take place.
And our ideal venue for the wedding dinner was found by chance: we were out viewing yet another villa devoid of soul and history, and at a traffic light, we noticed an old, worn-out advertisement. Despite its appearance, my intuition told me this was what we were looking for. We called the number on the poster, and within two hours, we were touring Castello San Marco.
Castello San Marco is a hotel housed in a medieval castle, featuring a luxurious park area, a swimming pool, and a private beach. We fell in love with it immediately because it had everything we were looking for – history, atmosphere, and all the facilities needed to create an unforgettable wedding day, from a magnificent hall for the welcome aperitif to a digestif by the pool and an after-party to the sound of the surf.
Initially, we planned to hold the entire event outdoors, but the unpredictability of autumn weather—even in sunny Sicily—forced us to adjust our plans. In the end, we decided not to take any risks and arranged the banquet on a covered summer terrace that would shield us from potential rain.
5. The Design Concept of Our Italian Wedding
By the way, the venue for the wedding dinner set the theme for our wedding. A castle… A princess descending from the heavens in a balloon… A prince on a white horse…
No, we could no longer indulge in such childish fairy tales in the age of a maturing king and queen😊. Instead, we fell in love with the “Great Gatsby” style and the roaring twenties with their chic attire and an atmosphere of unbridled fun.
“Pff… What’s with Gatsby? That movie hit the screens like 5 years ago. The theme is long outdated!” – commented my friend (love her 😘).
In conservative Italy, where weddings are traditionally all about eating—and then eating some more—a Great Gatsby-style wedding party was incredibly fresh and interesting.
I searched for inspiration for the visual concept of our wedding in the treasure trove of the internet – on Pinterest, and our wow-designer Irina Samoylova helped bring all the ideas to life. Here’s what we achieved.
6. Italy – It’s Not a Country, It’s a Song
The most important thing was that my then-fiancé completely supported the idea of a Gatsby-style wedding, something not exactly standard for an Italian wedding. Ludovico immersed himself in the theme with me and helped bring various creative ideas to life.
I remember on one of his days off, while we were editing our wedding video, I sat next to him, looked at his focused and beloved face, and thought:
“Thank you, Lord! He is exactly as I envisioned my ideal husband: open, creative, kind, caring – my support and rock in everything.”
Yes, yes! You have to “plan” and imagine the man of your dreams, envisioning his looks and the qualities he should possess. 🙂
And what about the video? Our wedding simply couldn’t be without songs that both Italians and Russians love. So we came up with an interesting idea – to edit a musical video featuring our family and friends.
The unifying song turned out to be “Felicità” performed by Al Bano and Romina Power, a hit in both countries. I handed out two lines to each of our Russian guests, while Ludovico made his guests sing the entire song 🙂. I remember the uproar afterwards – “Why do Italians sing by reading off a paper, isn’t this their native language??” By the way, the Russian crowd even expected Italians to sing in Russian. But I couldn’t let that happen… they would have later reminded me of such an execution.
In the end, Ludovico edited the happiest video ever, which graced our evening, became a delightful gift for us, and a surprise for our guests. Every time we watch it, we return again and again to that happy day when we called each other husband and wife.
7. Dress Code at an Italian Wedding
Considering that a typical Italian—and especially Sicilian—wedding is all about eating well, we certainly broke all the possible conventions. We had videos, dancing, contests, and even a dress code.
My poor Italians! It was their first time receiving dress code requirements… Gold, silver, black, soft rose, and amaretto – those were the restrained and stylish colors we hoped to see on our guests and relatives. That was the expectation.
Ludovico’s mother and sister quizzed me for a long time about the recommended colors, scrutinized photographs with examples, and a week later even went to Milan, only to finally, after numerous discussions, purchase these dresses…
But I still love them both; at the wedding, they looked like true Italians – bright and fresh, like two luxurious roses.
8. Challenges
The hardest part was finding a florist. After the floral masterpieces I had seen in Moscow, the work of Italians seemed like clumsy child’s play… Yes, yes, it’s hard to believe!
But visits to castles and villas in Italy, along with discussions with my floral mentor Olga Sharova (a European floral championship participant), only confirmed my thoughts that wedding décor in southern countries is underdeveloped simply because there’s no need for it. Everything blooms 365 days a year – why create something when everything is already beautiful?
Yes, Italians are masters of landscape design, but for some reason, they love to set unpresentable artificial flowers on tables…
It should be added that there is no tradition of giving flowers to women in Italy (including at weddings). And when there is no demand, as we know, there is no supply. Or rather, there is supply, but the quality is always rather dismal. In short, I decided to take the floral arrangements for the wedding into my own hands, both literally and figuratively.
Since I already had positive experience with flowers, I enrolled in professional floral design courses in Moscow. My idea was to completely handle the floral décor of the wedding myself. But as the big day approached, my ambitious plans began to seem increasingly unachievable.
In the end, with trembling hands on the wedding day, I managed to create only a small bouquet for myself, and for everything else, I prepared step-by-step instructions: a) for the florist, b) for the location team, and c) for my friends who were to oversee everything.
Overall, I was satisfied with the work of the florist and his family (kudos to Italian family business!). I only regretted not making the boutonnier for Ludovico myself…
9. The “Amazing Hands” Crew
Not only did flowers make it to my décor shortlist. I made the seating board, candle holders, and bottles in a Gatsby style myself. The Italian family of my future husband was mildly shocked as they watched me spend the whole summer collecting empty wine bottles, then in August stripping the labels and painting the bottles in 40-degree heat. 🙂 
Italy has a lovely tradition – giving guests mementos of the wedding (la bomboniera). Usually these are candle holders or small figurines, but regardless of the souvenir itself, they always include 5 sugared candies. Each candy symbolizes health, wealth, longevity, happiness, and fertility.
At a Russo-Italian wedding, there could simply be no room for banal and forgettable bomboniere. We gifted our Italian guests Russian matryoshkas in the colors of the Italian flag with vodka inside, and our Russian guests received a traditional Sicilian wedding carriage with pistachio liqueur, which our guests affectionately nicknamed “Green Compote.” 🙂
The last days before the wedding were absolutely crazy: assembling the gifts, transporting all the materials to the venue, buying a few extra things, redoing some details, editing videos, greeting guests, arranging accommodations, answering countless phone calls… Clearly, for that, you need a wedding coordinator or nerves of steel. 🙂
Моя папка с инструкциями для всех
Other articles on this topic:
Italian Mom. Stereotypes and Reality
Italian Wedding. Traditions, Differences, Features
Why Choose WowItaly Weddings?
Our portfolio speaks for itself. Couples who have entrusted us with the organization and coordination of their weddings recommend us to their friends and come back to us for other events.
We have been organizing weddings in Italy for 7 years, have an extensive network of contractors, and we even know how to persuade them! Even during the high season, when they are extremely busy and turn everyone down. 😉
Submit your inquiry in any convenient way and receive a free consultation on organizing your wedding in Italy, as well as our insider cheat sheet for brides.
