Getting married in Italy was always a dream for Filomena: ‘I have an Italian family, so I had always wanted to get married in Italy. I fell in love with Sorrento on holiday for my dad’s birthday and knew I wanted to get married there. It also meant that family members in Italy could attend as they lived only a few hours drives away.
I viewed many venues in Sorrento but ultimately wanted a private villa where the ceremony and reception could take place and have rooms for family and friends. As soon as I visited Villa Angelina, I fell in love with the location and the beautiful Italian Villa and secured a date for the following year.’
A destination wedding can be tricky to organise from afar, so Filomena knew a wedding planner was just what she needed to help plan her dream wedding: ‘Following this, we had to make around five further trips to Sorrento. After lots of research, I planned meetings with three Italian wedding planners, and as soon as I met Sara D’Angelo, I knew I wanted her to help me plan our wedding.
It was difficult at times as we had to rely on emails and Skype; however, we took further trips out to meet Sara and the caterer as we wished to create our wedding menu. I gave Sara numerous photos I had found on Pinterest, so she had an idea of the theme I wanted for the wedding.’
‘The planning of the wedding was very different as we used an Italian wedding planner. We confirmed the colour scheme we wanted and the flowers we preferred with Sara and put our complete trust in her. Most of the wedding was a complete surprise as we were unaware of the fine details with regard to the table places/centrepieces, lighting, flower arrangements and staging. However, Sara went above, and beyond what we expected and blew us away with the most magical wedding we could have wished for.’
And as for the dress, Filomena settled on a show-stopping bespoke Lyn Ashworth gown: ‘After making several appointments at varying wedding dress shops around the country, I couldn’t find my dream dress and was a little disappointed with the whole experience.
I then came across Lyn Ashworth, and after the first appointment, I came away knowing that I wanted Sarah to create a bespoke dress for me. I tried on varying styles from her collection and explained the style I wanted – a box-pleated, off-the-shoulder dress with a detachable cuff made from mikado silk fabric. After a few visits, Sarah had already created a template for the cuff with the most beautiful petaled fabric. I suddenly had that wow moment and the feeling I longed for when choosing a wedding dress. The bespoke dress has now made it into Sarah’s new collection White Blooms.
CREDITS
RECEPTION VENUE Villa Angelina, Sorrento, Italy
DRESS Lyn Ashworth
PLANNER Sara D’Angelo
PHOTOGRAPHER Daniele Torella
