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Invite of my dreams! Being a photographer, I thought it would be fun to make the invite a picture frame that our guests could save and slip out the announcement card and slip in a photo after the wedding. I have been obsessed with the ODLR stamps since they came out in 2017 and bought a stockpile of them that I saved for six years for my future wedding. (Thank god Nick embraces my love of brightly colored prints.) Styling and photographing my own flat lays was so surreal!
Photo: Rebecca Yale
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Our guests were all shuttled to the villa from Florence and we welcomed them to the Borgo with Aperol Spritz and gelato.
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We wanted to find fun ways to honor our dog Margo who didn’t make the trip over to Italy. Margo’s Gelateria was Lotus & Ash’s idea, using the same custom print I made for Nick’s tux lining and it was such a hit with our friends. We joked about trying to check the gelato cart in our luggage on the way home!
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I had so much fun curating our welcome bag and filling it with local Italian goodies. We used Cecile’s Paper Co gorgeous artwork from our Save The Date to create the totes and it’s been so fun to see friends continue to use them since the wedding! Courtney created the most adorable boxes modeled after our favorite villa on property, which housed a mini marzipan version of our dog Margo that Nick dubbed “Margzipan.”
Photo: Rebecca Yale
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On our way to our welcome pizza party the first night—another event, another spritz! This dress was my fav look of the weekend (other than my wedding dress of course).
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Our spritz bar! Nick is a great mixologist so we had so much fun working with Il Silene planning signature drinks for each event. We did a classic Aperol spritz, a rhubarb spritz, and a lychee spritz that we dubbed the “Silver Lining Spritz” because Nick and I call one another our silver lining of the pandemic.
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I love a good swizzle stick and went on a little shopping spree with Acrylic Sticks. They were such a festive touch to all the cocktails. And how incredible are those flowers?! Maxine made all my bright and bold floral dreams come true!
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A moment of pure joy! I found this dress in a cute little boutique in Positano when I was shooting my best friend Sarah’s wedding last year (also featured on OTM) and paired it with lemon earrings and shoes in honor of our “lemon lunch.”
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Our planner Callista had the brilliant idea of doing turn-down gifts each night since all our guests were staying on property, so we did chocolates the first night (from See’s Candy and DeBrand’s which are from our respective hometowns), macarons the second night (the first thing we baked together), and a hangover kit for the wedding night.
Photo: Rebecca Yale
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On Friday, we had lunch in the Borgo’s gardens, which we dubbed the lemon lunch because of these amazing local lemon linens we found in town that inspired the aesthetic. I love the lemon sorbet served in a lemon at Da Paolina in Capri so Il Silene made their own version for us, importing lemons from the Amalfi Coast for dessert.
Photo: Rebecca Yale
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On our way to the rehearsal dinner. It was hard walking on the 800-year-old cobblestones in those heels, but it was worth it! I wore them on my first date with Nick at a real restaurant (we had lots of dates in parks early on in the pandemic) so they brought back so many great memories.
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My girls!!! I’m surrounded by some powerhouse talented ladies in this photo (and in my life). My text chain with these three -Shira (of Shiramisu), Courtney (of Cecile’s Paper Co), and Gabrielle Hurwitz- helped me keep my sanity during wedding planning! So lucky to have these ladies in my life. I had to break out my favorite D&G camera purse (purchased many years ago in Vegas) for one of the events!
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How fabulous do my mom and niece, Gemma, look in their matching Dolce & Gabbana?! I helped my mom pick this dress out and then found the matching outfit for Gemma online a couple of months later. I jokingly sent it to my mom and the next thing I know she had bought it! They looked adorable and my niece and nephew stole the show (in the best way possible) all weekend!
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Our rehearsal dinner in the courtyard of the main villa felt like it was straight out of a movie, it was so perfect it hardly felt real! I wanted that night to feel really authentically Tuscan so Maxine decorated the table with potted herbs and fresh tomatoes on the vine. My favorite detail was that each place setting had a mini olive wood charcuterie board with the guest’s name engraved into it serving as the place cards. We did a family-style meal of 4 different kinds of pasta and yummy grilled veggies- my literal dream!
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After the rehearsal dinner, we invited our guests to join us on the lawn for stargazing and Callista created these perfect pods with blankets and pillows to lounge on and look up at the sky.
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Lotus & Ash made these gorgeous star charts for us and we chose this quote from the movie Stardust, which we both love, to go on the front. We didn’t attribute it to the movie to see if any of our friends would recognize it; funny enough, the only person who did was one of the local Italian waiters!
Photo: Rebecca Yale
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We invited everyone to change into their pajamas for stargazing since we’d be lying on blankets in the grass. This was definitely Nick’s favorite outfit of his for the weekend! It was pretty chilly so we served spiked hot chocolate, and hot toddies, which we drank together the night we got engaged.
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Our first trip away together was to Joshua Tree to see a meteor shower so we thought stargazing would be the perfect after-dinner activity. We did a stargazing excursion together on a trip to Tuscany the year before and asked the astronomer if he would be willing to come to our wedding weekend and we were so excited he said yes!
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After shooting hundreds of “bridal detail vignettes” it felt so surreal to style and photograph my own! Everything in this photo is so meaningful to me. My engagement ring is a teal Montana Sapphire on a band of ethically sourced diamonds and I found beautiful London Topaz earrings to match. Pearl is my birthstone and I’ve always loved wearing them for special occasions, so these heels were love at first sight. I paired them with a Gucci pearl flower ring that Nick and I found together on a trip to Ireland and I loved how it matched the flowers on my dress and the pearls on my shoes, tying it all together. I even found a Gingko ring dish to match the ginkgo leaves on my gown and used styling flowers from my bouquet.
Photo: Rebecca Yale
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The wedding day! I fell in love with these Weekend Max Mara silk pajamas and was debating the splurge, but Gabrielle convinced me I could wear them again as separates (which I’ve already done a couple of times). I highly recommend splurging on a fun outfit for getting ready, it really helps set the mood!
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My incredible vendor team set the tent up early so Anya and I could photograph it in the morning before the air conditioning units went in. I had so much fun running around the marquee in my pajamas, I felt like a kid in a candy store photographing this gorgeous work of art I’d spent over a year designing with Callista.
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I gifted each of my girlfriends and my mom floral pajamas of their choosing to wear while we all got ready together. I also gifted everyone my favorite fuzzy yellow lemon slippers from Laines London. We shared a Prosecco toast in the courtyard before getting into our gowns.
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Gabrielle hooked me up with the incredible Chynna Pope who created my gorgeous floral wedding gown. Stephanie Fishwick and I created the print and then Chynna, Gabrielle, and I designed the dress together. I was so grateful to have Chynna join us in Italy, she was so incredibly helpful and saved me and a few of my friends from wardrobe mishaps!
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Anya and I picked this room downstairs in the villa to put my dress on because it had the best light, but it had the unexpected benefit of giving my mom and me a really special moment alone together. I practiced my vows for her after she zipped me into my dress and she coached me through them, reminding me to slow down. I cried my eyes out and Tara (my close friend and makeup artist) had to come touch me up before the first look- whoops!
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My dress and bouquet in all their glory! I originally wanted my dress to be brighter colors, but when Stephanie Fishwick presented this color palette as an option I was instantly in love. And I loved how it made the coral charm peonies in my bouquet stand out against the cooler tones of the gown. All the motifs on the dress are meaningful to us as a couple. I created a floral monogram that included a poppy (my home-state flower of CA), a peony (Nick’s home-state flower of Indiana and my favorite flower), and a lemon to honor our wedding being in Italy.
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Aren’t my girls stunning?! Since our guest count was so small, everyone invited would have been wedding party so we decided to skip bridesmaids, but I still wanted a photo with all my fabulous ladies! The dress code was floral and fabulous and they did not disappoint.
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My silver lining. This was taken right after our first look and I can feel how happy I was in that moment when I look at this photo. Instantly transported back to bliss! Loved having some time alone together before the ceremony.
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Walking around the grounds of Borgo together. Our venue, Borgo Finocchieto, is a former farming village that was built 800 years ago and was lovingly restored by John Phillips, Obama’s ambassador to Italy. It felt like it was straight out of a fairy tale!
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Our crew! Had to give our friends the Vanity Fair treatment for a photo in their fabulous outfits. Anya indulged me, letting me art direct the shot before hopping in myself at the end. She had to basically stand in a tree while some of my friends' husbands held back branches to be able to take it (thank you Anya, Maurice, and Adam)!
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I’ve known my incredible florist, Maxine Owens, for many years so I already knew how talented she is, but this chuppah blew me away and I still dream about what it felt like to stand under it. How adorable are those potted lemon and kumquat trees at the base of the aisle? If you look closely you’ll see one of the trees is bare because my 4-year-old nephew picked it clean and handed out the kumquats to all our friends!
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Our gorgeous ceremony program with a collage by Stephanie Fishwick that matched our mural.
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My niece and nephew made the world’s cutest flower children (not that I’m biased). Doloris Petunia made this bespoke suit for my nephew to match his sister’s flower girl dress, which I bought for her before she was even born. I love how proud of himself he looks in this photo- he did such a good job!
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My face seeing Nick down the aisle for the first time. It’s funny, everyone says my dad and I look alike, and clearly we make the same face too!
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Nick bawling like a baby as I walked down the aisle. For anyone who claims that doing a first look makes the walking down the aisle moment less special- I will forever point to this photo as exhibit A. I hate the patriarchal implications of waiting to the aisle to see each other and loved making our day our own, honoring what we cared about. The first look was so much fun, but it had no impact on the gravitas and emotion we both felt as I walked down the aisle towards Nick.
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The ceremony was without a doubt the best part of the day. As soon as it ended we joked that we wanted everyone to come back from cocktail hour and do it again. I asked my friend Shira to officiate after having a dream that she had done it and did an amazing job (which no surprise she did)! She has been such a mentor to me in the wedding industry, so it felt right for her to be the one who shepherded me into my own marriage.
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We wrote our own vows and had Shira look them over before the ceremony. She must have laughed when she read them because they were so similar! One of the best moments of the ceremony was when my friend Laura, who is a professional writer, read a note she wrote on behalf of our dog Margo, wishing us well on our marriage (wishes like health so we can take her on long walks and prosperity so we can buy her the fancy organic dog treats).
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We both stomped on glasses at the end of the ceremony. I love the feminist spin on the tradition of the bride also getting to break the glass. Why should the groom have all the fun? I’m the Jewish one!
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Married! BEST. MOMENT. EVER. I proceeded to throw my hands in the hair 11 times as we recessed down the aisle I was so excited.
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Our pre-ceremony cocktail was my favorite Italian cocktail, a Hugo Spritz, which we dubbed it the “Margo Spritz” in honor of our adorable dog. How cute is that Margo swizzle stick?!
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I had custom handkerchiefs made from the Handkerchief Shop for us and our guests. Nick was holding both of them in his pocket during the ceremony and pulled out mine while I was walking down the aisle so he’s wiping his tears with the lacy one in all the photos, which makes me giggle.
Photo: Rebecca Yale
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Nick and I went back to the chuppah for a few portraits after the ceremony. Never in my life have I ever wanted to freeze time more than in this moment. The view, the light, the flowers, the husband…perfection.
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Nick and I stole away from the reception for a few minutes to take some photos in the property’s driveway, which is lined, in classic Tuscan style, with cypress trees.
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Trying not to trip as we walk uphill, laughing together as we inevitably stumble. A perfect metaphor for life, no?
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I photographed a painted Champagne bottle as part of a wedding five years ago and thought it was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen! I thought it would be fun to have mini, painted Prosecco bottles as our escort cards. Shhh My Darling used our mural as inspo, and Lotus & Ash created beautiful hang tags with Anne Robin’s calligraphy and a motif on them, which served as our table numbers.
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I had been dreaming of doing a glasshouse marquee since I saw one on Instagram years ago in Como and this surpassed even my wildest imagination! I wanted to use our custom print on the dance floor and Callista suggested making it the entire tent flooring, which perfectly set the tone for the best night of our lives!
Photo: Rebecca Yale
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Creating the tablescape for the wedding night was so much fun. We went wild with super bright lush flowers, colorful candlesticks (including some parrots), and ginkgo butterfly napkin rings that matched our cake stand, so Callista paired it with clean tan linen and minimalistic plates. Ashling created custom linen napkins using the greenery from SF’s mural that was also used on my dress.
Photo: Rebecca Yale
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The best part of the marquee was that you could take in the incredible view of the rolling hills of Tuscany from your seat. You can also see our amazing custom bar here, which featured our Stephanie Fishwick mural. Callista surprised me with these incredible chandeliers from Rachel Birthistle that I had fallen in love with, and they lit up the tent so beautifully at night.
Photo: Rebecca Yale
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I knew that the cake tasting would be Nick’s favorite part of wedding planning and Fen from Mon Annie made it so fun! She is the kindest and most talented soul. She made the cake gluten-free for Nick who has celiacs, but it was so delicious you’d never know. We brought our Michael Aran cake stand over with us and now it’ll be even more special when we use it again at home.
Photo: Rebecca Yale
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Total bliss. This is me taking the previous photo. I put my camera and phone away for most of the weekend, but I always knew I’d want to shoot my favorite details myself. I trust Anya implicitly, but I love what I do so much, I knew I’d feel like I was missing out if I didn’t pick up my Contax too. I’m smiling at Nick over my shoulder here. He is just off camera loading my film, which was a throwback to our third date where he assisted me at an elopement during the pandemic because I hadn’t broken social distance from anyone else.
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Chowing down on our delicious cake! We chose chocolate hazelnut and strawberry yuzu as the two flavors and were blown away by Fen’s incredible sugar flowers. Hot tip for great cake-cutting photos; cut the cake at the start of your reception! Better lighting and you’re not disheveled yet from dinner and dancing.
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Our first dance was to Elton John’s Your Song. We danced to it in front of the Duomo last year while a street musician played it on his guitar. It was such a special and surreal moment we knew it had to be our first dance song! We’re both terrible dancers so we skipped choreography and just had fun swaying together. Our band, The Somethings, was incredible and had people on the dance floor all night.
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We didn’t want a religious wedding, but it was important to me to honor some Jewish traditions, including the horah. It was Nick’s first horah and we had so much fun spinning around the dance floor with all our friends and family and going up on the chairs.
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Enjoying toasts from my parents. Both my parents are great public speakers and had everyone laughing and crying. I love how all our friends' fashion looks like an extension of the design here. Hot tip for creating the perfect reception vibe (and getting great photos)- create a mood board for your guests with fashion inspo for them to follow.
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One of my favorite photos of the night! Anya killed it with this drone shot that really captures the atmosphere of the night and shows off our printed floor. I wish I could be dropped back into this photo.
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My sister made the sweetest toast that made me cry, but my four-year-old nephew stole the show when he joined her and took the mic. He wished us congratulations and then announced that he’d be returning to Italy to marry “girls” next year and had everyone in stitches laughing so hard.
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I changed into this feathery number from Lamarque for dancing. It was so light and airy and fun to spin around in. I love when grooms untie their bow ties at the end of the night and leave them around their necks so I insisted Nick get a real one so I could untie it (luckily we had Chynna there to help us tie it earlier in the day). I bought Nick leather Zegna sneakers to change into for dancing, which he wore for a couple of hours but then changed into his fuzzy bear slippers for late night when I changed into my pajamas.
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A pair of sneakers is a must for late-night dancing after a full day in high heels! My nephew is such a party animal and had to be dragged from the dance floor multiple times to go to sleep. This photo was definitely taken WAY past his bedtime when he snuck out of his room to go back to dancing (my dad had to drag him back to bed, insisting we were all going to sleep soon too)!