I have been meaning to write a short post about our Puglian wedding and as it is our three year anniversary today, I thought it would be a good opportunity! From the moment James proposed in Venice, we knew we wanted to be married in Italy – our first holiday together was in Rome and we had travelled many times to our favourite country both together and separately. While researching possible venues, all over Italy, it wasn’t until we were in Puglia and asking around that we heard about Masseria Salamina and went to visit before catching our flight home. The moment we met Filippo and Chiara and explored the Masseria in the early October sunshine, we were completely enchanted and to seal the deal, we found a picture outside the bridal suite of the exact location in Venice where we became engaged. We realised it was definitely meant to be!

*Painting of our special place in Venice*

Getting legally married in Italy can be difficult – yes there is a lot of paperwork and things take time but if you find a good wedding planner who is used to dealing with the process, and you are organised, it’s a breeze! We didn’t want a very complex or traditional wedding so were happy to go with the fabulous suggestions that our friends at the Masseria made. The area we took most interest in was food and wine and we enjoyed a wonderful evening trying lots of delicious Puglian food and wines to agree our feast! We were also lucky to have on board Lesley Lau, who not only found our wonderful photographers, Brushfire Photography, who came all the way from the US to work with her, she also created the simple but very evocative flowers and decorations to fit in with the landscape and feel of the Masseria. Their work was published on Once Wed shortly after our return to the UK: https://www.oncewed.com/real-weddings/organic-outdoor-wedding-in-italy/). We also decided to have a classic Italian car to transport us from the Masseria to Ostuni and back, which we hadn’t originally planned but was actually a lovely touch and she was a hit parked outside the town hall while we were getting hitched!

*Our wedding car in the centre of Ostuni*

We had a simple service which was conducted in Italian by the Mayor of Ostuni, and translated by our wedding planner with a town hall official standing by. It was really special, if a little comical due to our lack of italian and knowledge of the customs, and it was so sweet when the Mayor wanted his photo with us and our wedding certificate afterwards! I think our guests enjoyed the opportunity to spend a few hours in the centre of Ostuni, enjoying drinks and gelato in the piazza, before heading back to the Masseria where we were all staying for three nights in total.

*Just married with Ostuni cathedral in the distance*

Since our wedding, the one piece of advice I have given to anyone I know who is planning their day – make sure you have some time, even only ten minutes, just to yourselves to really take in the day, realise that this has actually happened and enjoy sharing your love and joy together without any interruptions. We had some time back at the Masseria to do this, after some photos, and that short time is one of my favourite memories of the day

Our wonderful friend Hannah (#whilstjudesleeps) created our table plan and place settings, as well as other stationary and we were so delighted with how magical the central courtyard looked set up for our wedding breakfast. The Masseria is completely stunning in its own right, there was no need for anything more fancy than some flowers and olive branches picked in the fields and candlelight - just what we wanted!

After some stunning harp music over antipasti and drinks, our super, talented friends Jane and Darren performed ‘Summertime’ which brought the house down and made many of us rather teary!

We then headed for some hard core eating which didn’t finish until gone 11pm, in the Italian style, with everyone needing to loosen their belts/change into something more comfortable before proceeding to the outdoor pool area for more drinks and of course dancing. We finally fell into bed at 5am the next morning (another perk of getting married abroad!), exhausted but delighted after such a wonderful day, in the perfect location in our favourite place in the whole world!

I am NOT a wedding planner but I have plenty of contacts and am happy to chat about getting married in Italy – please do drop me an email if I can help! If you are thinking about getting married in Italy, or anywhere abroad for that matter, I know one of the biggest concerns about doing so can be the logistics of getting your guests there and asking them to travel so far. This was the same for us but as long as you give everyone a lot of notice and provide clear instructions and help along the way, we found most people made a holiday out of the opportunity to travel to the sunshine and - we hope - they all very much enjoyed and will remember for ever our special day!

All photos by Brushfire Photography http://brushfirephotography.com/