Favola Umbra Italy Wedding

Favola Umbra was exactly what I dreamt Italy would look like. The textures, the colours, the landscape. It was so dreamy. I still remember the day that I received the inquiry for this wedding. It was a referral from a past wedding client. And I will be forever grateful for them. When I first met Rachel & Wes we completely hit it off. It was like we had ben friends forever. I was so excited when they officially decided to bring my husband and I along with them for their destination wedding in Italy. We did their engagement session in April and Rachel had some big hopes for the style of the session. Thankfully we were graced with exactly what she wanted. Early morning, fog and overcast. Not gonna lie, when she mentioned this, I was unsure of the vision. But once we picked the location and they came dressed to impressed, it totally worked. It was actually perfect. Maybe one of my favourite engagement sessions so far. You can see that session here.

Fast forward a month and we were heading to Toronto Pearson Airport to catch our Air Transit flight to Leonardo da Vinci–Fiumicino Airport (A.K.A Rome Airport). As with most European flights, it was a red eye. As someone who does not sleep well in an aircraft, I was really hoping that I would be feeling good when we arrived in Italy. Needless to say, there was little sleep but I was so excited to be in Italy that adrenaline kept me going. We decided to rent a car to make the two hour drive up to Umbria. I have never been so thankful for straight roads here in Kitchener, Ontario. Every road in Italy, besides the highways, were super windy. Upon arrival at the villa, I was completely smitten with the laneway. Lined with beautiful Cyprus trees, it screamed Italy. Once we unpacked we made sure to take a small tour of the villas and settled in. One of my favourite things was that Rachel had put together welcome baskets for all the guests. The best part, she included one of everyones wedding photos as well. Along with some chocolate, fruits, itineraries for the week and of course a bottle of Italian wine.

A couple days later, it was wedding day. We woke up to the sun shining and the birds chirping. It was the most magical day for a wedding in Italy. Our day began with a casual morning brunch filled with espresso, pastries and fresh fruit. It was delicious. From there, we hung around and got some coverage of Rachel and Wes as they prepared themselves for the day. I can honestly saw it was a very emotion filled day, lots of love and excitement filled the air. Rachel & Wes had little gifts for everyone through out the day as well. While the bridesmaids received some very pretty blush pink rose earrings, the men receied new bottle openers  that said ” I Do Crew”. The parents recevied embroidered hankies, which got use during the ceremony.

The ceremony was located down by the main gate. They decided to hang photos on the gate of all the loved ones in their lives. It was a really nice unique touch. Along the aisle chairs, they draped tool and then hung photos of their guests. The aisle of love, is what I liked to call it. It was really neat to see how much they incorporated everyone in their lives into their wedding day. Something I will never forget. The ceremony was short and sweet. The love these two share radiates all the time. You can see it just looking at them. They read their vows, exchanged rings and sealed it with a kiss. At the end, all their guests stood up to blow bubbles. While Sebastian, they son, stood and played in them. It was a super cute moment. From there, they danced their way back up the driveway to the villa with boombox in hand.

One of my favourite parts of the day was next. Instead of a traditional cocktail hour, Rachel & Wes arranged for their guests to have a wine tasting and tour at Castello Monte Vibiano Vecchio. This place was so pretty. The service was top notch and the drive up to the olive gardens was adventurous. We hopped into 4 wheelers and off we went driving up the steep windy roads. When we got up there the lighting was perfect for photos. I could not get enough of it. We took some time to do some family photos and wedding party, before finishing off with the wedding couple. I had to keep reminding myself to take it all in. How lucky was I to be where I am doing what I love. It was one hundred percent a dream come true.

Soon after, we made our way back to the villa for dinner and some dancing. Lots of wine was drank. Lots of amazing food was eaten and the amount of love that filled that room was unexplainable. The couple shared in a beautiful dance together, in the dark while we all sang them a love song and swayed tea light candles in the air. The day was coming to an end. Rachel and Wes were husband and wife. It was a day that I will never forget.