Bell Sleeve Wedding Dress for a Bohemian Wedding in Tuscany

We absolutely love it when a real bride has a clear vision of her unique style and knows exactly what she wants to wear on her wedding day. Bride Melanie certainly knew and took a calculated risk by ordering her Spell & The Gypsy Collective boho gown online. When it arrived she made slight adjustments to suit her personal style, by adding delicate bell sleeves and exquisite low back detail. Pure perfection. Not to be forgotten where her bridesmaids in white cross over back dresses and the groomsmen all sporting chinos and blazers. After the heartfelt reception in an amphitheatre, an outdoor reception took place under a canopy of festoon lights. The perfect setting for a beautiful laid back Tuscan wedding.

Bell Sleeve Wedding Dress

Melanie & Robin: I never did the whole wedding dress shopping thing. Everyone thought I was mad, but I don't like all the fuss and all the dresses I searched for in the UK were too traditional for me. I did go to a wedding show and thought how big and fancy the dresses were, none were for me. I wanted something Bohemian and more laid back. I became obsessed with Australian brands on Pinterest and came across a dress on Spell & The Gypsy Collective. It was so risky ordering a wedding dress from Australia I'd never tried but I was 100% sure that's the dress I wanted. I knew when buying it lots had to be changed and altered, but it just felt right to buy it. When the dress arrived it was way too big and the sleeves sagged. One of my bridesmaids, Nic, who maid her own wedding dress, took the dress away and worked her magic by making the dress backless and turn the sleeves into bell sleeves. It was just beyond perfect when she had finished it. It was literally 'the' dress for me. She did the best job ever.

Italian Villa Wedding Venue

As Robin is from Essex and I'm from Leicester we were looking at getting married somewhere in-between. We really struggled to find anywhere and Robin suggested getting married abroad. It took me a while to agree but so glad we did in the end. I got deep into Instagram and came across the most stunning villa in Tuscany, only half an hour away from Florence. We booked it without even viewing the venue...again another risk but we were so confident this was the place we wanted to be with our friends and family. I wanted somewhere where it was already beautiful as I wouldn't have been able to put my creative touch on it with being abroad. La Selva villa ticked all the boxes, Getting married in the amphitheatre and having the wedding breakfast outside the old, rustic Italian villa with Festoon lights under the stars was my idea of a wedding. We loved the idea of spending a week there with all our friends and family. We had candlelit dinners outside the villa most nights which would usually end up with us singing through a prosecco bottle to Dancing Queen. The outdoor pizza oven was a bonus to us as we all made homemade pizzas most nights. We also had a pizza making, hangover pool party the day after the wedding. Then the day after we all went wine tasting in the Tuscan hills. The venue was just perfect.

Aisle Song: Here Comes the Sun by The Beatles First Dance Song: Stand by Me