‘It was quite honestly the best day of our lives!’
Venue Cloisters of San Francesco and Beach Wedding Reception, Sorrento • Date 3rd of September 2019 • Number of Guests 45 • Budget ££
Why did you choose to have a wedding in Sorrento, Italy in particular?
I had been to Sorrento before and hands down it was the most beautiful place I had ever visited, it’s stunning; the views are breathtaking, the locals are so welcoming and of course, you can’t fault real Italian food! I knew Ben would love it however I took Ben for a weekend visit to ensure he did like, and of course he did! Also, the warm weather had a big part to play!
How long in advance did you book your wedding?
We booked around 18 months or so before we married. Preparation is key, we kept well on top of the organisation which I think is important for a wedding abroad because once you’re out there it is harder to arrange/make changes to your day. It also meant that we knew exactly what was going on, when and where.
How many guests did you invite to your wedding and how many accepted and attended?
We invited around 45 guests and had 41 actually attend, which was really good!
Tell us about your dress.
My wedding dress was a Maggie Sottero dress which was slim fitting with a medium length train.
I visited one shop with my bridal party. I think every bride has a rough idea of what they’d like and I’d tried on about five different dresses, none of which were ‘the one’ and then my sister, also one of my bridesmaids held up a dress (which I initially said I didn’t really like) and she persuaded me to try it on! I burst into tears when I looked in the mirror (and so did everyone else!) I think that’s how I knew it was ‘the one’. My sister was my perfect dress finder! Try on the dresses you’re not sure about, even those with no hanger appeal, because you just never know!
And your accessories?
I had Elspeth shoes from Lace and Favour and pearl drop earrings. I kept with a pearl/ivory theme for my shoes, wedding bag and jewellery and kept it very simple. I also had a borrowed watch from my late grandmother.
Tell us about the Grooms suit.
The groomsmen all purchased their suits. We felt it was the better option as the hiring became quite expensive as we were abroad for a little while. We went for a traditional navy, three piece suit and light blue ties and pocket squares. Though given the heat, if we were to change anything it would have been to either linen suits or a smart chino style suit.
And the bridesmaids?
The bridesmaids wore baby blue, floor length dresses! They were purchased from a high street retailer and I told the bridesmaids they could decide on the style as long as they all co-ordinated! I think that helped with ensuring they all felt comfortable in what they wore-, that was important to me! I was very laid back about it! They were light weight which was perfect for the warm weather.
Tell us about your bouquet.
We had yellow roses for the bridesmaids and I had yellow roses broken up with blue hydrangea. We chose the yellow to keep with our Sorrento theme and the blue represented the blue that the groomsmen wore for their ties and pocket squares. I purchased a four photo bouquet charm which had the photographs of my late grandparents in them tied with a blue ribbon. It was a lovely way to have them near and remembered on our day!
We love your vibrant yellow wedding in Sorrento, tell us more about the details you added to personalise your day.
We had a yellow and light blue theme for our wedding, yellow is such a positive and vibrant colour and also the perfect colour for Sorrento. Our decorations and favours revolved around lemons. We had yellow fan favours for the lady guests and bottle of Limoncello for the gentleman. We also had floral garlands lining the tables with lemons, they were perfect!
We had a traditional Italian wedding cake which was a lemon flavour; it was delicious, it wasn’t your traditional wedding cake from the UK but that made it even more special, and kept with the cultural theme we wanted! Our menu was three courses and then wedding cake for desert! The food was out of this world and the lasagne is still being talked about by our guests!
We had fans for the ladies, Limoncello bottles for the gentlemen, and for the little ones (we had two babies at the wedding) we gave them little white bears. Each guest also got a little bag of lemon sherbets too. From experience of being a guest at weddings flip flops are a God send for the sore feet so we also offered flip flops to all of our guests! In fact I think every lady took at pair! The also came in handy for the walk back to hotels!
What’s your best memory from the day?
Everything!! I was extremely nervous (we both thought that Ben would be the nervous one, but he was cool as a cucumber from start to finish!)
But I’d go through all those nerves again just to do the day all over again! It was quite honestly the best day of our lives!
One piece of advice I was given was to steal a few minutes during the day, just the two of us, to really appreciate what we’d created and all the guests who had joined us and just take it all in!
Did you stick to your original budget or go over or stay under?
We pretty much kept to our budget, although we did go over slightly because it’s just so difficult to be ruthless with the guest list!
What do you think makes a wedding abroad stand out from a wedding in the UK?
Sunshine and culture! You also get to spend quality time away with everyone, which is so precious!
What advice would you give to future brides and grooms who are getting married abroad?
First, enjoy every second, remember that it’s a holiday too so make lots of memories and enjoy your time away with family and friends; it’s unlikely that you’ll all be abroad again together with all the excitement and emotion!
Be adventurous with the groomsmen’s attire, we chose traditional three piece suits which were actually quite warm for the Italian weather!
Lastly, definitely consider a videographer, the day is full of such emotion so having a videographer really helps to jog the memory, for capturing the moments you missed!
We hope you enjoyed reading about this vibrant yellow wedding in Sorrento as much as we did, for information about the brides dress please scroll down below.
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We hope you enjoy reading about Charlotte and Ben’s Vibrant Yellow Wedding in Sorrento here are some of the suppliers involved in the day.
Brides Dress Maggie Sotterro
Budget Key | £ – 10k and under | ££ – between 10k and 20k | £££ – over 20k.
