This stunning wedding in Tuscany was sent in by English Wedding member and luxury destination wedding planner Elegante by Michelle J. It’s the most wonderful inspiration for couples planning a wedding in Italy, and showcases one of Tuscany’s loveliest venues: Villa Orlando.

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Words: Elegante by Michelle J // Images: James Mason Photography

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Natasha and Marc’s vision for their wedding day was to get married overlooking a lake, and on our venue search trip to Italy they knew Villa Orlando was the one immediately. It’s a privately owned villa on the edge of the lake. Their guests all stayed about 20 minutes away in Viareggio which is one of Tuscany’s coastal resorts, and we held their welcome party in a beach club. The venue was kept a secret until the day of the wedding.

Natasha & Marc’s Italian wedding suppliers:

Photography – James Mason
Planner – Elegante by Michelle J
Stationery – Bigday Designs
Videography – Whites Film
Venue – Villa Orlando
Bride’s dress – Lihi Hod
Hair + Makeup – Your Wedding Beauty Team
Flowers – Il Giardino delle Fate Flower Design
Band – Muzika
Catering – Le Bon Ton
Stationery Illustrations – Anna Jayne Designs
Production – Alma Project

The venue presented a logistical challenge as it is still a family home, and for a wedding we only have access to the outdoor spaces. This means we had to bring in everything from generators and toilets to kitchen equipment, furniture, sound and lighting.

We used different areas of the property for different parts of the wedding. The chuppah took place in front of the villa by the lake, the aperitivo by the boat house and the dinner and dancing behind the villa. The unusual layout meant it took a lot of discussion to work out where to place the stage, dance floor and bar. We developed a unique layout with the top table beside the dance floor, but it made for a wonderful atmosphere.

About the wedding day team:

I used my network of wonderful wedding suppliers across Italy to recommend a team that would bring Natasha and Marc’s day to life. As a specialist in destination Jewish weddings, I was able to bring their vision to fruition and exceed expectations.

Natasha always wanted to get married under a chuppah that emulated a tree, so we worked with Il Giardino delle Fate Flower Design and they built a beautiful chuppah with four ‘tree trunks’ for legs. The structure was covered in spiralling white roses and topped with green and white florals and foliage. The floral team worked with our green and white colour palette to create table arrangements of vases and grouped candles, placed on mirrors to reflect the candlelight, with cascades of florals and chic green and white patterned napkins.

Bigday Designs created their on-the-day wedding stationery, featuring venue illustrations by Anna Jayne Designs.

Natasha’s Look:

Natasha wore Audrey by Lihi Hod, a gown she had been dreaming of wearing since even before her engagement. Her wedding day look was brought together by Consuelo of Your Wedding Beauty Team, along with the bridesmaids and both mums.

The food:

Kosher catering was provided by Le Bon Ton, based in Rome, and featured typically Italian food including a lavish aperitivo with live cooking stations, followed by pasta and fish courses and a dessert buffet. They also had a traditional Italian millefoglie wedding cake show beneath the chuppah, repurposing the space beautifully.

The entire day was set to the soundtrack of Muzika from the UK. Their Israeli singer sang at the chuppah along with their keys and sax player, and the sax and trumpet then led guests through to the drinks reception area and played on the boat house roof. In the evening the full live band was on stage, and the dace floor was full all night long. Alma Project provided staging, sound and lighting to enable us to keep the party going.

The day was captured by James Mason, who the family had worked with before, and Whites Film for videography.

 

This wedding is making waves! Natasha and Marc’s gorgeous celebrations have been featured on Jewish wedding blog Smashing the Glass, and on 5 Star Wedding Directory.