There’s nothing like a Tuscan Jewish wedding. And we’re totally obsessed with the incredible nuptials of London-based couple Chloe, who works in PR, and Danny, who’s in property.
The couple’s incredible planner, Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Elegante by Michelle J, helped them bring the day of their dreams to life – not the easiest feat when planning from abroad! Michelle set them up with many of their fantastic vendors – like photographer David Bastianoni and videographer Waterfall Visuals– and suggested their picturesque venue, Villa di Maiano.
With grounds straight out of a Renaissance painting and epic views of Florence, this is a venue that doesn’t need much help to shine. But even so, Michelle knocked it out of the ballpark with her incredible chuppah setup – and the table décor’s pretty fantastic too.
There’s so much more to say about this gorgeous wedding, but we’ll leave the rest to the bride – who could not have looked more elegant in her Galia Lahav gown, which she worked with beloved Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Browns Bride to customize…
How we met
Chloe, the bride: We met at Glastonbury for the first time about 5 years ago but we only started dating 2 years ago.
An Italian Wedding
Danny and I went to the Amalfi coast for a holiday in the summer just after we got engaged and we knew instantly that Italy was the destination of choice for our wedding.
We got married at Villa di Maiano in Florence, Italy. Michelle of Elegante by Michelle J, our wedding planner suggested a few venue options for us to choose from and I knew as soon as she sent across a link to Villa di Maiano it would be ‘the one’. It’s absolutely breathtaking. As soon as we walked into the venue I cried, it was that special.
The pictures don’t even do it justice. The views are incredible overlooking the beautiful city of Florence.
What we love about this venue is that there are so many different areas you can choose from to host your ceremony, reception, dinner and party.
We utilised the whole villa from the tisch in one of the main dining rooms, carriage drive away for our ceremony, main gardens for the dinner and reception and limonia (cave) for the after party!
An Amazing Planner
We had a wedding planner called Michelle (Elegante by Michelle J) who was absolutely incredible to work with. She provided us with so much support and made our wedding ideas come to life.
We wanted our wedding to be a big party and that’s exactly what we achieved.
Invitation
We designed our wedding invitation with the help from Love Print. They created our unique logo which we then replicated on all other aspects of the wedding from the thank you cards, menus, reserve signs.
Hair + Makeup
Luckily my friend who is a very talented makeup artist did my makeup. I found some gorgeous inspiration from Instagram with quite a strong statement look. Rose gold eyes and bronzed skin, however on me it just didn’t look right. I don’t wear a lot of makeup so to change my look completely on my wedding day didn’t feel right. So on the day of my wedding I said to the makeup artist I want to look glowing and natural and that’s exactly what we did and I loved it. She spent about 20 minutes massaging my face to give me a natural glow before applying lightweight dewy makeup on top and it lasted all night.
Hair – again I kept it so classic and simple. I went for really loose waves and that’s it!
A Galia Lahav Dress
My dress was from Browns Bride by the designer Galia Lahav. It was a custom-made sheer lace strapless mermaid gown. I added a skirt to give it a bit more drama as I had always dreamt of walking down the aisle with a long train! I loved this dress because I felt comfortable in it, it felt bridal and I loved the 3D flowers and embellishment which made it look so special.
I tried on so many different styles of dresses but because I’m petite at 5ft 1 I wanted a dress that was elongating.
Accessories
I had the matching Galia Lahav veil but no accessories or jewellery, the dress speaks for itself.
Miu Miu Shoes
I wanted a pair of shoes I felt comfortable in. There’s nothing worse than wearing heels that kill you after 5 mins. I wanted to last in my shoes all night and that’s exactly what I did. I wore Miu Miu silver block heels and they were so comfortable and the great thing is I can wear them again with so many other outfits.
The handsome groom
Danny had a custom made suit by Massimo Dutti and shoes from Russell & Bromley.
Maids to Measure
I had 7 bridesmaids and they all wore dresses from Maids To Measure. They were so perfect and looked great on all different body shapes. I went for dove grey to tie in with the colour theme and added a diamante belt to make it a little more special.
Chuppah
We decided to have our chuppah ceremony in the car park which was originally used as a carriage drive way. We transformed the space from what is a car park into our ceremony of dreams.
I love foliage and greenery and found inspiration from Instagram and Pinterest. I wanted something wow and that’s exactly what we achieved.
Ceremony
I am very lucky enough to have had 3 of my grandparents in Italy who all walked down the aisle and stood under the chuppah. I would never have had a wedding abroad if I knew they wouldn’t be there. They all renewed their passports after not being away for over 25 years and travelled for us.
We did a public badeken down the isle which was so special as that’s the first time Danny and I wanted to see each other.
Photographer and videographer
Our wedding planner suggested David Bastianoni and Waterfall Visuals. We met them both on our first trip to Italy and loved their style of work. They are both so personable and made us feel so special. They both captured some incredible pictures and video footage. We wanted all our shots to be reportage and natural, nothing too posed and that’s exactly what we achieved.
Food
Delizia Ricevimenti – we went proper Italian style wedding food with parmigiana to start, truffle pasta first course and fish for main with a millefoglie for dessert. It was the most delicious food!
Entertainment
We flew out the amazing band Club Live – they really know how to get the party started and really understood us as a couple and what we wanted. We had a classic RnB and hip hop set which was incredible and then we had a dinner set where all our guests were standing around a piano, all singing at the top of our lungs. We then had Club Lives DJ set in the cave which was also amazing.
Marble place names
We had personalised marble place names which can then be used as coasters which were made by my dad! My dad’s a stonemason so he was able to source the marble and create them in his factory. It really was a lovely personal touch and everyone loved them.
Speech
Danny’s bestmen speech… well let’s just say it didn’t go down too well with our parents friends but our friends found it hysterical.
Honeymoon
We went to a gorgeous medieval village in Tuscany called Il Borro for 5 days after the wedding which was just what we needed. It was so relaxing and luxurious. We chilled round the pool, had massages, ate amazing Italian food and of course drank lots of Aperol spritz!
Advice to couples currently planning their wedding
I knew that every part of our wedding was going to be amazing. I had 100% trust in our wedding planner. What I stressed so much about was the weather! Something that was completely out of my control… you can’t control nature and that’s what I had to keep reminding myself and whatever happens on the day will still be the best day of our lives. Luckily for us it didn’t rain but my one price of advice is try to switch off from things you cannot control and enjoy the build up and wedding day.
Danny and I took ourselves to the back of the venue and ate our wedding cake (which was absolutely delicious) whilst we watched all our guests party on the dance floor. That was a real special moment.
Chloe & Danny’s little white book
Photography – David Bastianoni
Videography – Waterfall Visuals
Wedding planner – Elegante by Michelle J {offers 10% discount to all members of Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club}
Bride’s dress and veil – Galia Lahav found and fitted at Browns Bride {offers a free veil worth £250 to all members of Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club}
Kippot – Hebrewear {offers 10% discount to all members of Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club}
Venue – Villa di Maiano
Bride’s shoes – Miu Miu
Groom’s attire – Massimo Dutti and Russell & Bromley
Bridesmaids – Maids To Measure
Hair + Makeup – Giulia Cresci and Jo Lorrimer
Flowers – Il giardino delle fate
Band – Club Live
Production – Alma Project
Catering – Delizia Ricevimenti
Fireworks – Pirotecnica Soldi
Stationery – Love Print
Calligraphy – Laura Mazzetti
Honeymoon – Il Borro
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