Brianna and Christian

Brianna and Christian chose Marostica, a small town in Northern Italy for their wedding. 22 guests from Australia traveled to share in their wedding day but the most special guest was Christian’s nonna, and by bringing the wedding to Christian’s Italian origins, allowed her to attend.

Of their decision to get married in Italy, Brianna explains, “We chose to get married in Italy because we liked the idea of following Christian’s parent’s footsteps. It also made the usual one crazy wedding day last over a few weeks. We loved the history the gave our wedding.”

Brianna tells the story of how Christian proposed. “This is the funny story on how Christian proposed me on his 30th birthday. I had chosen the ring and he had been holding onto it for the past 4 months. He had a circus inspired dress up party with jumping castles, mechanical bulls, dunking machines, clowns, facing painting, fairy floss and every other carnival ride you can think of. A true circus. It was during speeches, he was dressed up like a clown, wig and all, got down on one knee and in front of everyone asked me to marry him! ”

Mauro Pozzer  captured today’s wedding with such a gorgeous, romantic feel while  My Italian Wedding coordinated the celebration.

Brianna wore a gown from Australian designer Johanna Johnson, she remembers “All of her dresses were perfect, it was the only wedding dress shop I went to. I knew I wanted one of her dresses before I was even  engaged. I had to fly up to Sydney from Melbourne (a 2 hour flight) four times before I was able to pick it up. My maid of honour also wore one of her dresses, with a matching hand beaded belt in the same detailing as my dress. I also wore beautiful black pearl and diamond earrings with a matching necklace. They were given to me from my mum for my 21st birthday. The back pearls showed up the darker beading on my dress, it actually worked really well. ”

Even the wedding transport was a personal touch, Brianna explains.  “We used two cars Christian’s cousin had restored, one was an old Alfa Romeo which belonged to Paola’s (Christian’s mum) father who has now passed away. It was used as Mario & Paola’s wedding car when they got married. We also had an old old Fiat Cinquecento (Fiat 500) which was also Christian’s nonno’s car.”

For her walk down the aisle, Brianna recalls, “Christian chose the song I walked down the aisle to; it was an Andrea Bocelli song, ‘Vivo Per Lei’. In English it means ‘I live for her’. ”

Brianna describes the wedding as, “A lux Modern twist on 1920’s 1930’s 1940’s, classic elegance. Fitting for the 1570’s built Villa Sesso Schiavo where we held the reception, which in itself was rich in history, people, culture and traditions. ”

Of their photographer, Brianna says, “We were so happy with how the photos came out, they are amazing and their colours reflect the vintage theme of the wedding. ”

Brianna and Christian were married at Villa Sesso Schiavo . Brianna says “I loved the fact we could find a beautiful ancient villa which set the mood for the whole day, not to mention we were able to get married in a castle!! The backdrop was just breath-taking. I wanted a vintage, intimate, elegant feel with lots of history, something which was so easy to do in Italy. This is the town Christian’s mum, Paola grew up in. It is also the same town Christian’s parents got married in more than 30 years ago (the white church at the top of the stairs, featured in some of the photos was the exact church). Christian’s dad grew up in a town close by. Mario moved to Melbourne in his teenage years and Paola moved after they were married. ”

Of the reception inspiration, Brianna says, “I liked the idea of having a vintage wedding with the traveling theme: we had a sitting table made out an vintage world map, place holders and menu wrapped with organza ribbons and a little wooden airplane, a few suitcases containing old Australian and Italian stamps as well as old postcards from Italy. All the wedding was a traveling experience – we had an area for the aperitif, then another corner was dedicated to the picnic with some nice Balinese umbrellas and blankets to relax under the shade, then the reception under the breathtaking porch of the old Venetian villa. ”

Congratulations Brianna and Christian! Thank you for sharing your wedding day with us! Thank you also to  Mauro Pozzer and  My Italian Wedding for sharing today’s wedding with us!