A Canadian wedding in Tivoli just outside Rome centre.
Thanks to Alysa and David for allowing us to share a sample of their wedding photographs and a special thank you to Alysa for so eloquently telling her story and sharing her tips and insight for other couples planning to have their destination wedding in Italy.
A note from the bride
“So, David and I met in Victoria BC in 2009. David had just moved there with his band after he came back from a 9-month tour, and I came over around the same time to live on my own with my best friend. I ended up working at a salon with some girls who lived beside him and all his band roomies.”
We called them “the neighbour boys.” We would come over to party at their house all the time and get into all kinds of shenanigans and the rest is history. (Davids story is different. He thinks he picked me up after getting his hair cut.) “
“It definitely took a lot more work than that. He even told me to come over for a BBQ he was having with his buddies one day even though he had nothing planned. He had all his friends show up last minute for this BBQ he was supposedly having and I barely knew his name, so I didn’t go! “
I did feel bad once he told me the full story later on. It was cute that he was trying so hard LOL! Anyways, after all that hard work, and finally giving him a chance, I knew we were perfect for each other. We have been together since!
“We got engaged on Valentine’s Day 2014 and 2 weeks later found out we were expecting a baby! We put our wedding plans on hold. After Kingston’s first birthday we decided to take a euro trip to meet his family in England and visit Italy, a place I fell in love with at 16 during a high school trip. We thought there was no better opportunity to have a wedding while we’re at it!”
“Kingston was the best travelling toddler! He loved seeing the double decker busses and all the scooters in Italy, he loved the aeroplanes flying overhead and at the airport. Not so much being in them, but he was the perfect age to people watch. He gave everyone fist bumps, hi fives and even learned how to say “Ciao.” We went from London to Chesterfield, Manchester to Venice, Tuscany to Rome and then After talking to our wedding coordinator, seeing photos of Tivoli and hearing its wonderful old history, we went ahead and booked our day there at the town hall! It was the perfect grand finale to surviving our trip. It definitely made us stronger! It felt like a dream!”
The Dress:
“Planning all of that, a trip overseas with a toddler, and a wedding was pretty time-consuming. with the time change, Emails and phone calls to Italy at 2AM Canadian time left no room for picking out a dress. I ordered two dresses online and they both came back a disaster! One showed up bubble gum pink, and the other looked like a Halloween costume. I ended up looking for one last minute on a used site one month before we had to leave. This girl had posted her grad dress the exact same day I looked on the site. I was the first person to message her, and when I tried it on it fit perfectly! It was meant to be! She was so happy to hear her dress would be going to another country and worn by a bride.”
Photographer, hair & makeup:
“I found this amazing hair and makeup team online. I’m a hair stylist myself so I knew what I was looking for. They were both super cute girls, and made the morning and getting ready easy as we joked about what growing up was like back in our day and how it was similar even though we all grew up in different countries. My hair stylist was so professional and made my hair look exactly like the photos I sent her! Since I didn’t have time to order any bridal accessories before I left, I brought my great grandmothers broach with me and asked her to pin it in my hair as my “something old.” I couldn’t have found a better team. (Including my photographer.) You guys seriously made our wedding!”
The Venue:
“At the town hall in Tivoli, having only David, Kingston and I present was all we needed. It was super intimate and romantic. We will be holding a celebration here at home soon to come, but we knew our family was waiting for our announcement the minute we got back to our hotel! All of them were very supportive. Davids ring belonged to his father who had passed away making it that much more special for him. My father has passed away as well and the amazing man who married us that day went as far as pointing out my tree of life tattoo which is a tribute to my father. I didn’t tell him that, but it made me think of him being there and watching over us. We knew our family was there in spirit.”
That room was sacred and you could feel it as soon as we walked through the door. That is until Kingston’s pants fell down to his ankles right before we said: “I Do”. I wish I could have whipped out my phone for a photo! But we pulled them back up, tightened his suspenders, and carried on with big smiles on everyone’s faces! Having our son there made it extra special for us. I hope he’ll look back at photos one day and feel good knowing he shared our day with just us together!”
My advice:
“Do we have tips for future couples? Take your time! Your day will come and your choosing to go through life together forever. Half the fun is getting to know each other. I wouldn’t trade those 8 years of good times, rock concerts, room mates and zero paperwork in for anything! Marriage was an amazing milestone to add to our collection. My life has panned out just the way I always imagined. Europe will always hold a dear place in our hearts.”
