Get ready to take the prettiest of trips to the Italian countryside thanks to these gorgeous images by Apertura. This soiree is what destination wedding dreams are made of. It's outrageously romantic, yet fabulously fun - even complete with bean bag races! So pack your imaginary bags for a trip of a lifetime that you can take by just clicking on the full gallery of images!
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From the Bride...Ali and I met in the Fall of 1999. We had mutual acquaintances and were both in separate relationships. Every once in a while we would run into each other but strangely had never felt anything for one another. Until one day, I had a barbecue at my house in July of 2001 and we both happened to be single. I hustled him at a game of 9 ball, and he demanded a rematch, we set our first “date” to go out and play pool. After that day, we were inseparable. We started as friends and that’s the glue that will always hold us together. I finally managed to convince him to get on an airplane for his first time to take a trip with me to New York. It was on that trip that he proposed on New Years Eve 2007 at the “Top of the Rock” Observation deck overlooking Central Park...6.5 years later! Almost 9.5 years later we were married! It all happened so fast!
The most amazing thing about our wedding has to be all of our wedding guests there with us for the entire week for all of the festivities. The day of the wedding was so relaxed. We all just hung out, ate pasta, and got ready. And the first look was amazing. It was so nice seeing each other for the first time. That moment just brought everything back into perspective. The acoustic guitarist was playing Elvis Presley’s "I can’t help falling in love with you" and we had the whole wedding walk down the aisle with us to the ceremony. It just felt like they had to be a part of this with us, like we were all in this together. My mother not only put together the most beautiful sofreh aghd (ceremony table) I have ever seen, but she also performed the ceremony for us and it just made it that much more special. Anyone who knows her knows just how amazing she is. She started the ceremony by reading an excerpt out of Khalil Gibrans ‘What of Marriage?’. We exchanged vows that had honorable mentions of my spaghetti (Ali’s favorite) and Sports Center (also Ali’s favorite!). I heard there wasn't a dry eye in the house, and I couldn't tell you because I was probably too busy crying myself! Once the ceremony was over, the eating, dancing and partying began! We had the most amazing time! Everyone from our parents to my grandmother were jumping up and down, fist-pumping the night away! Donning the infamous neon glasses, we had Michael Jackson imitations, to the "robot" and EVERY member of our wedding party dancing until dawn, the night was the most memorable I’ve ever had!
I love all things intimate, vintage and happy. Yellow is my absolute favorite color because it's just such a happy color. It’s the only mood I can really see anyone feeling from yellow. My whole inspiration behind the wedding was that I wanted it to look as organic and relaxed as possible while still looking like a wedding. And our most important thing was to have everyone feel like they were a part of our wedding and not just in attendance. I wanted all of the vases, flowers, and even the ceremony table to feel like each piece was different and thrown together. And I wanted people to feel the effort and love that went into making this wedding as special as it was, even though I may be a little biased.
Venue: Villa Vistarenni / Wedding Photography: Erwin Darmali + Ray Soemarsono of Apertura / Decor: DIY