Unforgettable Destination Wedding in Italy

Getting ready

Rebecca and her friends got ready in a huge white room with terracotta floors and diamond-paned windows. When she came out in her dress, a long line of women in just about every color was waiting along the wall, and the waving started before she'd made it across the room. John's side of the villa had mustard walls and dark oil paintings, and he had more fun putting on a jacket by the window than most people do.

First looks at Casale del Gallo

There's a wall here completely covered in vines and tiny white flowers, and that's where Rebecca did two first looks, one with her dad and one with her stepdad. Her stepdad took a minute by the hedge afterward to wipe his eyes. John waited for the ceremony.

The ceremony at Casale del Gallo

The ceremony was on the lawn, with wicker chairs down both sides of a grass aisle and an iron arch packed with pale pink and white roses at the far end. Rebecca came down the grass with both of them, her dad and her stepdad. We moved around a lot for this one, up close at the arch and way back by the last row, since the long view down the ivy wall was too good to skip.

After the kiss they threw their arms straight up under the arch, then stopped halfway down the aisle for another one with their guests on both sides.

Cocktail hour on the lawn

Cocktail hour came with wooden boards piled with mozzarella and cherry tomatoes, and a champagne tower that John poured with one arm flung out behind him like a matador.

Portraits at Casale del Gallo

We took the wedding party across the lawn under an enormous umbrella pine, then took Rebecca and John off on their own along the leaded windows and rose bushes, where the plaster is the color of egg yolk. We finished out in a field of tall gold grass on the property, with pines lined up along the horizon.

The reception

Dinner was one long table on the grass with flowers down the middle and string lights hung from tall poles. It started in daylight and went on long enough for the hedges to light up green and gold, and the toasts kept going into the dark.

The first dance was on the brick patio next to the pool, and everybody stayed out there afterward. Rebecca changed into a short white dress, and the dancing went on until a couple of the guys ended up in the pool. We caught one of them in midair.