I have a confession to make. I LOVE weddings. Okay, okay… you probably already knew that, but I can’t help, but scream it from the rooftops every.single.day. I mean, who doesn’t adore the pretty little details, the heart stopping moments and the pure joy shining through every last second of wedded bliss?!? And this fabulous Montverde gem has me LOVING weddings more than I ever thought I could. It’s a bundle of gorgeous meets beyond breathtaking images by BinaryFlips Photography meets perfection in every.which.way. Care to join me for all of the LOVE-ly? Click here for sooo much more.
From the Groom… I first stepped foot inside Bella Collina in 2008 for a work Christmas dinner. The minute I walked in, I felt like I was in a foreign country. It felt like I was in an Italian village. Yet it also felt like I was in a vineyard. The beauty of everything, from the walls to the roofs and the clubhouse overlooking the lake just took my breath away. Once dinner was finished, we decided to take a tour of the property. As my coworkers and I walked in amazement, one of them joked that if my girlfriend Olivia and I decided to get married one day, we should do it here. Ever since that night, I always knew Bella Collina would be a special place.
Fast forward to summer of 2010. As Olivia and I were having lunch with one of her aunts, the subject of a wedding was brought up. Although Olivia and I were not engaged at the time, I decided to tell them about Bella Collina abs a possible venue. With the excitement of the conversation, they wanted to see this Bella Collina I was talking about. The minute we passed through the front gates, their faces lit up with surprise and awe. Bella Collina planted a seed in their minds the way it did for me. Olivia and I knew that Bella Collina would one day be the place where she would walk down the aisle towards me.
However, our lives took us to Calfornia in the fall of 2010. Shortly after, I proposed to Olivia at San Francisco’s Palace of Fine Arts. Wedding planning followed shortly after. From wedding dress shopping, to making save the dates to finding a photographer, the next few days became a blur. However, the decision of the venue of our ceremony and reception was still undecided. Since we lived in California, the possibility of having our venue in California was open for discussion. As each conversation turned to dead ends, we pursued the idea of having the wedding in Orlando, where we always thought was the best idea. Our friends, most of our families and where our love blossomed made the decision of having our wedding in Orlando easy. The minute we made the decision of having our special day in Orlando, no discussion was needed about our venue. Bella Collina has and was always the only place we envisioned our marriage to take place in. Bella Collina made February 19, 2012 our most perfect day of our lives. The months of planning, saving, anxiety, stress, nervousness, and indecisions made it worth it. The staff at Bella Collina and our vendors made it a day to remember not just for Olivia and I, but for our 110 guests as well. It only took one step inside Bella Collina for me to realize that this place would someday be special. But I did not know during that first step that one day, it would be the start of a new life, on a perfect day, with the perfect woman, in a perfect place.
Wedding Photography: BinaryFlips Photography / Wedding Venue: Bella Collina in Montverde, Florida / Wedding Design + Coordination: Blossoms Arrangements of Distinction / Wedding Invitations: Admire Designs / Wedding Cake: Party Flavors / DJ: White Rose Entertainment / Lighting: Get Lit Productions / Bride + Bridesmaids’ Dresses: Pricilla of Boston (Now Closed) / Hair + Makeup: Larri Matteson / Groom’s + Groomsmen’s Tuxedos: Men’s Wearhouse