Photographer: Irina Morina
Videographer: Danil Onishev
Wedding Planner: @wowitaly_events
Wedding Venue: Donna Camilla Savelli, Rome

Giulia and Stefano first met at a stand-up comedy event, where Giulia was working as one of the organisers and Stefano happened to be among the guests. He had already shown an interest in her on social media, although when they finally found themselves in the same room, he was too shy to approach her.

Giulia remembered his smile, however, and later found a reason to message him, giving their story another chance to begin. Their relationship developed gradually, until a concert they attended together became the start of something much more serious.

As the years passed, travelling became one of the things they loved doing together, and Italy found a particularly special place in their lives.

During a trip to Venice in September 2024, Stefano suggested a gondola ride, and as they passed beneath the Rialto Bridge, he asked Giulia to keep filming before getting down on one knee and proposing.

It was one of those moments that seemed to bring everything together. They were in a city they loved, enjoying a beautiful Italian experience, and suddenly Giulia found herself imagining what it would be like to get married in Italy too.

Venice had given them their engagement, but for the wedding itself, they chose Rome, a city Stefano had always particularly loved.

Their wedding celebrations began in Tivoli, a historic town just outside Rome, known for its remarkable villas, Renaissance gardens, and fountains.

Here, Giulia and Stefano officially became husband and wife during a civil ceremony at the town hall, choosing to give this occasion its own day rather than trying to fit the legal formalities into the schedule of their main wedding celebration.

We love this approach because it allows couples to enjoy their civil wedding as a meaningful experience in its own right, especially when there is an opportunity to combine it with a beautiful location for photographs.

After the ceremony, Giulia and Stefano made their way to Villa d’Este, one of Italy’s most celebrated Renaissance villas, where terraced gardens, historic architecture, and spectacular fountains provided the setting for their first photos as a married couple.

Rather than treating the photoshoot as something to squeeze between appointments, we built it into the day’s itinerary so they could enjoy the gardens and take their time exploring one of the most beautiful places near Rome.

The afternoon continued with photographs around Tivoli, where the historic streets offered a different atmosphere from the formal gardens, before the couple ended the day with dinner at Il Ciocco, a restaurant in the town’s historic centre.

It was a lovely way to begin their wedding journey, combining the significance of their legal marriage with the pleasure of discovering Italy together.

The following day, Giulia and Stefano travelled to Rome and checked into Donna Camilla Savelli, the historic hotel they had chosen for their main wedding celebration.

Set within a former 17th-century convent in Trastevere, the hotel has retained much of its original architectural character, with peaceful courtyards, historic interiors, and a rooftop terrace overlooking the city’s rooftops.

It was a particularly fitting choice for a wedding weekend because it offered the couple and their guests somewhere to stay together, while also providing several distinct spaces for the wedding itself.

But before the main celebration, Giulia and Stefano wanted everyone to have the chance to meet, relax, and enjoy their first evening in Rome.

We therefore arranged a pre-wedding dinner on the rooftop terrace of Six Senses Rome, where the guests could gather over dinner while looking out across the city.

There was no need for a formal programme or a tightly planned evening, because the purpose was simply to spend time together, introduce friends and family who might not have met before, and let everyone settle into the atmosphere of the wedding weekend.

This is one of the reasons we often recommend including a welcome dinner when planning a destination wedding in Italy. By the time the wedding day arrives, guests have already shared an evening together, and the celebration feels more personal from the very beginning.

The main wedding celebration took place at Donna Camilla Savelli, where Giulia and Stefano had chosen to bring together their ceremony, aperitivo, and dinner.

One of the advantages of planning a wedding at a hotel like this is that the different parts of the day can unfold naturally, with the couple moving between spaces while their guests remain in the same beautiful setting.

The day began with preparations at the hotel, as Giulia had her hair and makeup done while the photographer and videographer captured the little moments that make a wedding morning so memorable.

Once both were ready, Giulia and Stefano had their first look before setting off for their wedding photoshoot.

We had deliberately scheduled their couple portraits before the ceremony, which meant they could enjoy a walk through Trastevere without worrying about leaving their guests later in the evening.

And Trastevere is a wonderful place for this kind of photoshoot.

With its narrow cobbled streets, centuries-old buildings, small piazzas, and unmistakably Roman atmosphere, the neighbourhood offers beautiful backdrops without the need to travel across the city in search of famous landmarks.

Giulia and Stefano spent this part of the afternoon exploring the neighbourhood together, enjoying a little time to themselves before returning to the hotel, where their guests were beginning to arrive.

For the symbolic ceremony, we chose the panoramic rooftop terrace of Donna Camilla Savelli, with the rooftops of Rome stretching out beyond the couple and their guests.

Although Giulia and Stefano had already officially married in Tivoli, this was the moment when they wanted to share their story and exchange promises in front of the people closest to them.

Because there were no legal formalities to follow, we could create a ceremony that focused entirely on the couple.

To prepare it, we asked Giulia and Stefano to tell us about their relationship separately, sharing their memories of how they met, the little things they love about each other, their travels, and, of course, the proposal in Venice.

Their answers gave us the opportunity to create a ceremony that reflected their personalities, including the humour, affection, and everyday details that make their relationship their own.

We wanted their guests to hear a story they would recognise, rather than a traditional wedding script that could have belonged to anyone.

And with Rome as the backdrop, Giulia and Stefano exchanged their promises once again, this time surrounded by their family and friends.

A Rooftop Aperitivo with Their Guests

After the ceremony, everyone remained on the terrace for aperitivo, enjoying prosecco, congratulations, and photographs together as the evening continued.

For Giulia and Stefano, spending this time with their guests was particularly important.

Since we had already organised their couple photoshoot earlier in the day, there was no need for them to disappear for another hour just as the celebration was beginning.

Instead, they could stay on the terrace, join the conversations, raise a glass with their friends, and enjoy the atmosphere they had travelled all the way to Italy to create.

It may seem like a small detail in a wedding timeline, but arranging the photography before the ceremony can make a real difference to how a couple experiences their reception, particularly when they want to spend as much time as possible with their guests.

A First Dance and Wedding Dinner in the Orangery

As the evening progressed, the celebration moved from the rooftop terrace to the hotel’s orangery, where dinner had been arranged.

Before everyone settled down to eat, Giulia and Stefano opened the evening with their first dance, accompanied by live music.

It was a beautiful way to bring everyone into the next part of the celebration, moving from the emotion of the ceremony and the relaxed conversations of aperitivo to a wedding dinner filled with music, laughter, and time spent around the table.

The orangery offered a different atmosphere from the terrace, allowing the evening to feel like a new chapter of the celebration even though everyone was still within the same hotel.

Guests enjoyed dinner accompanied by live music, while the wedding cake cutting became another lovely moment to share together before the evening came to an end.

What we particularly appreciated about this wedding was the way the entire day flowed.

From the morning preparations and the walk through Trastevere to the rooftop ceremony, aperitivo, first dance, and dinner, each part of the celebration had its own setting and atmosphere, yet everything remained connected.

For couples considering a wedding at Donna Camilla Savelli, this is one of the venue’s greatest advantages: it offers the opportunity to create a varied and memorable wedding day without asking guests to travel between multiple locations.

Giulia and Stefano had no intention of saying goodbye to their wedding guests immediately after the celebration.

Instead, they planned another day together, this time focusing on the experience of being in Italy rather than on wedding traditions.

Since not everyone in their group had visited Rome before, they arranged a private guided tour so their friends could discover more of the city’s history and understand the stories behind the places they were seeing.

It was a thoughtful way to include something beyond the wedding itself, especially for guests who had travelled a long way and wanted to make the most of their time in Italy.

And because it was July, the couple decided to end the day with a change of scenery, heading towards the coast for dinner by the sea.

After several days spent among historic villas, Roman rooftops, and the lively streets of Trastevere, an evening by the water offered another side of the Italian experience.

We particularly like this idea for summer wedding weekends in Rome, as the coast is close enough to make a seaside dinner a lovely addition to the programme, allowing guests to enjoy a completely different atmosphere without turning the day into another formal event.

For Giulia and Stefano, it was one more opportunity to spend time with their favourite people before their wedding holiday finally came to an end.

Italy had already played an important part in Giulia and Stefano’s relationship, so it felt natural that their wedding should become another chapter of their travels together.

By spreading the celebrations across several days, they were able to give each experience the attention it deserved, rather than trying to fit everything into a single wedding schedule.

Their civil ceremony in Tivoli became a romantic occasion of its own, complete with a photoshoot at Villa d’Este, while the welcome dinner in Rome gave everyone a chance to meet before the main celebration.

The symbolic ceremony at Donna Camilla Savelli then became the emotional centre of the weekend, followed by a relaxed aperitivo, a wedding dinner with live music, and an evening spent celebrating together.

And instead of ending the experience there, they made time for their guests to discover Rome and enjoy one final Italian evening by the sea.

From a planning perspective, this kind of wedding weekend offers couples much more freedom.

Different locations can be chosen for different experiences, the wedding day itself can remain comfortable and unhurried, and guests have more opportunities to spend meaningful time together.

It also allows the celebration to reflect the couple’s interests, whether that means exploring historic gardens, discovering local restaurants, learning about Italian history, or simply enjoying a long dinner overlooking the sea.

For Giulia and Stefano, their wedding was never going to be just one day, and looking back at their celebration, it is easy to see why.

If you are dreaming of a wedding in Rome and would love to turn it into an unforgettable Italian getaway, we would be delighted to help you plan a wedding weekend that feels entirely your own.

Simply write to us or give us a call+39 334 840 20 86 (WhatsApp, Viber, Telegram) / hello@wowitaly-weddings.com

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