Inspiration

This Italian destination wedding is going to make you burst with joy it's so heart warming. From the coastal views, to the sun soaked captures by On Love and Photography and all the smiles and lemons in between. Everything is pure perfection, and planned beautifully by La Calla Events. Have you seen the ceremony floral arch yet? Talk about goals. Sorry not sorry if you immediately want to pack your bags and head off to Minori on the Amalfi Coast. I know I do!

Location

Lauren the Bride: John and I first visited the beautiful coastal town of Minori on our first holiday together back in 2012, accidentally ending up there having thought we had booked an apartment in nearby Ravello. Now whilst Ravello is still probably the most beautiful place we have ever been to, there is something about Minori that has kept us coming back year after year. So on our 5th trip here, sat in the moonlight with legs dangling off the pier, John asked me to be his wife. We knew there couldn’t have been a more perfect place for us to get married and, with amazing help from the lovely ladies at La Calla Events (who could not have made the organisation easier) we married on the pier where I said yes a year later.

Planning

We wanted the wedding to be as relaxed as possible whilst still holding onto the glamour of the Amalfi Coast but we knew the location would pretty much looks after that aspect by itself. Having the luxury and honour of knowing this area so well, John and I were able to make personal choices for our big day, sharing our favourite parts of our trips here with our closest family and friends. This became our priority and after we organised the ceremony and reception, everything else fell into place easily.

Attire

John wasn’t fussed about wearing a suit and managed to find a beautiful Kingsman blazer in the Mr Porter January sale, whilst the two best men were free to wear what they wanted. I had 7 bridesmaids and they were happy for me to choose their dresses and I found some gorgeous Bardot style ones on ASOS that I knew would look beautiful in the sunshine. I found my dress on day two of looking, a fitted mermaid dress with sequins that I had spaghetti straps and a lower back added to, creating my dream dress. Huge shout out to Pav at Paverly bridal for being so helpful with the changes and Chambers bespoke for making them a reality. My shoes were pure bridal glamour and I found them at the London branch of Italian shoe designer Rene Caovilla. My little cousins from America and my bridesmaids son Leo were flower girls and page boys, the girls wearing a gorgeous blue dress they chose themselves and the boys wearing tailored shorts and white shirts with matching Adidas Stan Smiths (in the colours of the Italian flag, naturally). My brother and my dad had suits made from Edit Suits in London, which looked gorgeous. They and John then treated themselves to a silk pocket square from Rubanacci which featured a vintage map of the Mediterranean in mulitcoulours! We didn’t have a colour scheme but the range of colours that came together in everyone’s clothes looked so beautiful I don’t think I could have designed it better.

Getting Ready

The apartment I got ready in the day of our wedding was the first room John and I stayed in here and it was so special sharing those memories with my bridesmaids and my family as we got ready. The room felt like home! The flowers were delivered here by Franceso Di Bianco (FloristAmalficoast) and were just the sort of undone style I had wanted. We weren’t sure if we would be able to get peonies that time of year but our planners and the florist delivered! My hair and makeup was done by Gemma at Gemma Sutton who also designed the headpiece I wore in my hair.

Ceremony

The florists also created the most beautiful arch of greenery and fresh peach flowers for John and I to stand under and also delivered a white runner for me to make the long walk down the pier. I can’t put into words that moment where I walked with my dad through Minori to the ceremony but I will never ever forget it. Thankfully Giuila and Ben our wedding photographers from On Love and Photography captured the warmth of the people and their photos reflect everything I can’t describe in words, we were so so lucky to find them. They even managed to catch a snap of John and I on our favourite bench with the local dog Lilo who is sat by that bench every year we visit. During the ceremony, EvoStrings quartet played songs we had chosen and bridesmaids also read out a beautiful version of “I Like you” by Sandol Stoddard before we exchanged our own vows.

Reception

After the ceremony, we were greeted with canapés, champagne and aperol spritz at our favourite bar, Sal De Riso and shortly after, the city sightseeing open top buses (the buses we treat ourselves to when we can’t face the 1,700 step hike) transported our guests from Minori to Raveloo where we walked down cobbled streets to our reception venue, Villa Eva. As we hoped, our guests were so excited by the thought of the food that we decided to indulge in a 5-course sit down meal. The menu tasting for this being one of the best meals of our life, where we drank too much and consequently forgot ordering our Nutella flavoured wedding cake – which turned out to be as beautiful as it was delicious.

Stationery

Johns best man Jason has a very talented sister, hi Tara!, who kindly designed all our wedding stationery from scratch. The place name cards and hand painted Limoncello bottles that we ordered were accompanied by some green foliage and tea-lights and this was all we needed to set the scene for dinner.

Entertainment

John’s big passion is music so he painstakingly built playlists for each course, which our fantastic DJ Matt Maurice kept an eye on before taking to the stage after dinner. There were 5 speeches in total, so one happened between each course and they were all absolutely hilarious and emotional in equal measure! My brother stole the show as MC though when he was left momentarily stranded by the best man and spontaneously burst into song to fill the time. The icing on the cake to our dinner was the coincidental fireworks display which we could easily see from the villas gardens. After dinner came our first dance which we followed with an espresso martini bar to help our guests overcome their food-comas! The kids meanwhile went on a treasure hunt around the gardens, looking for cuddly toy penguins that had been hidden for them. An open bar followed once the music had moved inside and the fun continued until the early hours. It’s true what they say, your face will hurt from smiling and we cannot thank our wonderful family, friends and everyone that helped organise our day for making it the best day of our lives. We couldn’t have done it without you.
Lorna Shaw

Written by Lorna Shaw

Wedding Planner: La Calla Wedding Planner | Florist: Florista Malfi Coast | Entertainment: DJ Matt Maurice | Bridal Hair & Makeup: Gemma Sutton | Grooms Suit: Mr Porter | Groomsmen Suit: Edit Suits | Bridesmaid Dresses: ASOS | Bridal Shoes: Rene Caovilla

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