Planning a Italian destination wedding
Many British couples choose to plan a destination wedding in Europe. A destination wedding in Italy promises sun, top quality food for substantially cheaper, and opulent atmosphere. When this couple contacted me to ask me to photograph their destination wedding, they didn’t mention at all what they did for work. So it came as a pleasant surprise, finding out from the hair and make up team who I shared a taxi with, that one of the brides is a producer on a very popular podcast with a cult following. This meant they had some epic gifted bits as well as truly professional MCs. See if you recognise them and can identify the podcast! It also meant when they shared their photos on Instagram afterwards, it became my most popular wedding photo with 13,000 likes! I’m sure after reading this you’ll want to see this truly epic Tonnara Di Scopello wedding by the Italian coast so let’s get into it!
Welcome drinks
The night before the wedding day the couple had arranged for their friends and family to gather at Sushi Bar just 5 minutes walk away called La Cialoma. This event was all about welcoming their loved ones, and one of the bride’s sisters gave an emotional speech, followed by the brides giving a speech together. The whole multi day wedding event was meticulously planned by Marica Events. Marica is an Italian wedding planner who has worked in the UK. She and her team are exceptionally professional and I highly recommend her.
A wedding by the sea
When you book Tonnara Di Scopello you get ready in the main house. They close the site to the public so you have the whole place to yourself. There’s plenty of rooms on site for your guests to get ready in. Other guests can stay at the many hotels and airbnbs in the nearby walkable town of Scopello. The brides had their hair and make up done by the celebrity hair stylist Narad Kutowaroo and fashion make up artist Gabriella Floyd. I’s wedding dress was by House of Flora from Bridal Indulgence and N’s custom jumpsuit was by Jesus Peiro from Miss Bush Bridal. N wore Christian Louboutin trainers, Prada sunglasses and Monica Vinader earrings.
Tonnara Di Scopello wedding ceremony
At the Tonnara you have several locations to choose from for your wedding ceremony. I’ve seen some down by the boat pier, but this couple chose to have their ceremony a bit further into the corner to allow for more space for their drinks reception.
Drinks reception and fresh seafood
The ultimate reason to have your Italian destination wedding has got to be the incredibly fresh seafood. The chefs had live cooking stations for their canapes hour. During this short drinks reception window we also went to take some group and couple photos in the style requested by the couple.
Couple photos at Tonnara Di Scopello
Marica Events and her staff did a fantastic job of clearing away the ceremony chairs so we could use the ceremony space for the epic wedding group photo that I and N had pre requested.
Dinner in the church courtyard
The dinner is set up in the gorgeous fair light ambient courtyard outside the small stone church. The couple had their fab podcaster host friends as MCs, who opened the dinner with a funny song they’d written. N surprised all the guests by having a mid wedding hair cut! Going into a fresh loose wavy bob for the dinner and evening party. The guests had scratch cards for their wedding favours and local hand painted tiles. They had a lot of stunning custom items like their wedding logo embroidered on all the napkins.
Their speeches were given by friends and family, and the couple themselves gave an emotional speech as a pair.
Giant wedding pavlova
For their wedding dessert the couple had a traditional giant wedding pavlova! Following this the guests went to the section by the sea to kick start the dance floor. A little after the first dance Daisy Megee the saxophonist led all the guests down to the cave rave! She is the best party saxophonist who gets flown around the world to play, I also worked with her at this AMP Studios wedding.
Morning after beach party
The morning after the guests enjoyed a relaxing swim in the sea with pizza served from a truck. The guests also played custom Guess Who with the guests as the characters! It was the first time I’d seen this custom game it’s such a fab idea for wedding entertainment!
Thank you so much for trusting me to capture all the memories of your epic destination wedding! When I shoot multiday weddings I aim to tell the sub backstories beyond the usual wedding timeline. Wedding days are about loved ones coming together to celebrate you, so I want to provide you with memories of everyone not just the material elements! If you’re planning a multi day wedding and share this ethos get in touch asap to reserve your documentary wedding photographer.
