A note from the bride: I will never forget running through the little Puglian town that is Borgo Egnazia and literally playing “Marco Polo” with our friends in order to find each other as they stood outside their rooms. The place is a maze and we all had the best time getting lost together all weekend. When we first got engaged, I had absolutely no idea where I wanted the wedding to be. We eventually decided on Puglia because we wanted to use our wedding as an excuse to be on vacation in this incredible place with all the people we love most. We tried to create an experience so unique and fun that our guests would immediately stop cursing us for making them travel so far once they got there—and I think it worked! I was truly overwhelmed by people’s generosity and love the entire weekend.
My advice is to not only savor every single moment of your wedding day, but also try to enjoy the process. I miss the process so much now that it’s over; I loved the anticipation and planning so much. It all goes by so quickly. Also—Things will inevitably go wrong (our flower girl dresses got stuck in customs and my best friend stepped through my dress a little before the ceremony), but just laugh it off. There’s no point in letting anything get in the way of how special that day is, and it will probably end up just being a great story later on anyway.
I have two favorite moments: Saying our vows to each other under the chuppah and watching the sunrise from our rooftop with some red wine on our first day as husband and wife.
something old: 1920’s Cartier bracelet given to me by my mother in law and stepfather in law just before the ceremony.
something new: My dress!
something borrowed: My something borrowed was also my something blue—aquamarine flower earrings. My dad gave them to my stepmother years ago and they actually looked almost exactly like the floral appliques on my dress.
pre- wedding workout: I’m really active in general. I horseback ride most days of the week and do yoga, Pilates and some weight training every week as well. I started hiking a lot more about three months before the wedding and aimed to get between 13,000 to 15,000 steps a day on my fitbit. (It’s not as bad as it sounds). That was probably the biggest thing that helped me feel wedding ready because I’m usually pretty lazy when it comes to cardio.
welcome party: We did a typical Apulian festival for our Thursday welcome dinner where local merchants come and make dolls, headpieces, and fresh mozzarella and pasta for dinner right in front of you. It felt a bit like a very Italian farmers market. I wore a little white Dolce & Gabbana dress with huge vintage clip on earrings.
rehearsal dinner: The rehearsal dinner was at Borgo Egnazia’s beach restaurant.It was so incredible hearing the toasts our friends and family made—definitely one of my favorite parts of the weekend. My mother in law even sang us a parody of one of the songs in Hamilton. She also passed around a book with beautiful paper for everyone at dinner to write a note or sign. I highly recommend doing this if you’re into the idea—I start crying every time I reread the notes.
afterparty: John Galliano white dress cut on the bias for our first dance, and then changed again a little later in the night into this funky custom white sequin jumpsuit.
