Amy-Louise & Bobby

Spring Wedding in Ravello

Amy-Louise & Bobby’s Spring wedding on the Amalfi Coast was held at the beautiful art deco style reception venue, Villa Eva. The couple planned their day with the help of UK-based Italy Wedding specialist Jo Daye of Accent Events. Italian Wedding Photographer, Gianni Coppola, was on hand to capture the key moments of their day.

Even a shower of rain causing a last minute change to the ceremony format didn’t dampen the brides spirits. By the time the guests arrived at Villa Eva the day had brightened and all could enjoy the gardens and admire the stunning coastal views. Below, Amy-Louise kindly shares the details of her wedding in Ravello and her plans leading up to the big day.

About my Dress and Shoes

I had tried on quite a few dresses and still hadn’t got ‘the feeling’ that everyone tells you will hit you when you find ‘the one’ so was starting to get a bit worried. Then all of a sudden, about four dresses in to the 5th or 6th dress fitting appointment I tried on one which gave both me and my maid of honour ‘the feeling’.

Even before I had seen it in the mirror, the material felt soft and light and I knew I would like it. When I finally saw it in the mirror I just knew it was the one and I finally understood what everyone had been talking about.

I updated the dress slightly with belt that had a big flower on it and could tie into a big soft bow at the back, something that I had really wanted!

The dress is quite plain so I decided to go for a chapel length veil which had tiny diamonds scattered through the length of it and a diamond headband to bring some bling into the mix.

I found my shoes on Pinterest and tracked them back to a designer called Charlotte Mills, they were hand made with a high heel but not too high and they had an ankle strap with a peep toe and tiny hearts on the material of the shoe… very pretty and everything I was looking for!

Why Ravello?

Before I (Amy-Louise) had even first visited Italy I knew that it would be my favourite place in the whole world, I have no idea why and cannot even begin to explain my logic. Even as a teenager I had told my mum that I would get married on the Amalfi coast, I didn’t even know what was there so I can only assume that I had heard about it on TV or from someone else.

Four or five years ago we travelled for the first time to Italy and I fell in love with the country exactly as I’d known I would and Bobby luckily felt exactly the same. We started visiting different parts over the years and when Bobby finally proposed in Venice there was no question about which country we would tie the knot!

We had never been to the Amalfi coast but took a week long trip a year prior to our wedding to look at possible venues and travelled along looking at different options along the coast. The whole area is amazing but one afternoon whilst there, we set foot in the tiny town of Ravello and instantly knew that it would be the place.

The town is just delicious, it’s tiny and the main part is accessible only on foot through cobbled streets and old steps. It sits high on the Amalfi coast so the town square is lined by the most beautiful views that I have ever seen in my life. It wasn’t only the fact the town is so quiet, it was how peaceful we felt being there and I think we will go there as much as we can throughout our marriage and I can’t imagine we will ever get bored of seeing the same streets and the same views.

About Our Rings

Our rings were made by a jeweller in Hatton Garden, I wanted something really sparkly so designed my own ring with a double row of diamonds, one straight row and one circular to give it a delicate look. Bobby went for plain platinum and very thin, he had never worn jewellery before so was nervous about having anything too thick.

What was your dream wedding?

We both wanted something quite small. We wanted to be able to feel close to our guests and we wanted them to feel as much a part of our day as we did, we only invited our closest friends and family and our dream was to ensure that they had an amazing time and that we could bring all of the people we loved most in the world together for one big celebration.

The idea that all of our favourite people would be in a small town together at one time was an absolute dream of ours, this meant that during the evenings leading up to the big day we could all sit round in the town square drinking and laughing and telling stories until late into the evening, it was a chance to get everyone together and it made our special day more of a special week!

We also wanted to really allow our guests to experience Italy and we wanted to show off the beautiful town of Ravello so that hopefully people could experience some of the feelings that we did, it was a way to invite them into our little world.

What happened on the day?

On the day the girls and the boys split up and went into the town square for breakfast during two separate time slots to ensure that myself and Bobby were kept apart. This was a fantastic opportunity for everyone to chill out in the sun before the wedding which started at 5 in the afternoon.

The groom and the best men then went off to a villa occupied by my dad, brothers and some more family and from what I can gather had a real laugh trying to keep Bobby’s nerves in check!

The girls all went their separate ways to make themselves look gorgeous except for me and my maid of honour. We sat on the balcony of my hotel room sipping prosecco and laughing until it was time to have a bath and start slowly getting ready. I was so chilled out and we had so much time because of how well organised things were that I blow dried my maid of honour’s hair before my own hairdresser arrived!!

Unfortunately it then rained, this really did stress me out because there was a chance that the rain would stop so I wasn’t sure when getting ready what format the day would take. But then eventually the decision was made to move the wedding ceremony indoors and once I knew that it was final I was able to relax and calm down.

After our ceremony we went into the town square for prosecco before strolling to a villa that we had hired for the reception. By this point the rain had stopped and the guests were able to see the amazing gardens and views which surround the villa.

We then ate and drank and danced until 2am by which point everyone had sore feet and throats from dancing and singing, we all then walked back to our hotel together discussing what a fantastic night we had!

What was Important to you?

The details were important to me. Not so much for Bobby (he trusts me with the details!) I am an extreme control freak and wanted to be responsible for every single detail that went into the day.

I had a lot of ideas and it was important to me that these came through into the day, I didn’t want to feel like I had missed out on anything and openly admit to being a complete Bridezilla.

I was extremely lucky as we managed to achieve everything that we had wanted and everything looked exactly as I had imagined.

The Perfect Partners

Wedding Planner: Jo Daye – Accent Events Limited // Photographer: Gianni Coppola // Celebrant: Carmela Cesarano // Civil Ceremony: Old Town Hall of Ravello *Municipo // Reception: Villa Eva // Flowers: Armando Malafronte of Malafronte // Hairdresser: Gerardo Serretiello // Make-up: Zoe Graham // Music: Marco Cantarella –  Classical: flute and violin with a soprano / Cocktail Hour: Gypsy Guitarist band / Evening: DJ