Real wedding: Tuscan splendour at a perfect castle celebration

Tara and Rob designed their destination wedding to complement their idyllic medieval-castle venue, creating a party mood to match the quite spectacular Florentine setting

Photography: Andy Le Gresley

By the time Tara and Rob found Castello di Vincigliata in Fiesole, near Florence, they knew they had struck gold. But the initial search took some time. Tara says: “We knew we wanted a small wedding, so going abroad made perfect sense. Finding a venue was pretty daunting and we spent quite a while working out what we definitely didn’t want, but just couldn’t find what we were looking for”.

“We fell in love with our venue because of how breathtaking it was so we wanted to complement rather than compete with it”

Then Tara remembered having seen a really beautiful wedding on a blog. “I started trying to find the blog. It took a while but eventually I found it and showed Rob. He immediately said it was perfect, but we had no idea how to go about even finding out if it would be within our budget.”

Then they found the link that made it all work – Rossana at The Knot in Italy. Tara says she became probably the most important element of the wedding. “We arranged a Skype call with her and she gave us so much information about Castello di Vincigliata, but also alternative options to really test whether we had found our perfect venue. Nothing else came close – we just had such a good feeling about it and knew we would be in safe hands with Rossana. We said yes to the venue very quickly, found a date that worked for our closest family and we were off!”

Tara and Rob knew from the outset that they wanted Andy Le Gresley to be their photographer. “We are both big fans of his work and have always really loved the stories his photographs tell, without ever looking staged or posed,” says Tara. “Once we were sent a list of available dates, as well as sending it to close family it also went to Andy to make sure he would be available.”

With the major plans in place, the rest came together. It was designed as an outdoor ceremony in the grounds of the castle with reception in the courtyard. Tara says they felt it was important not to overdo things. “We fell in love with our venue because of how breathtaking it was so we were conscious that we wanted to complement rather than compete with it.”

When it came to the design of the key elements, it was impossible not to be influenced by location, so this became a subtle but effective theme. It was Rob’s idea to use a marble design for the stationery. “One look at the Duomo was all it took to inspire that idea!” says Tara. They chose a grey with gold type, incorporating a silhouette of Florence into the invitation. They also designed their own monogram, which featured throughout the stationery.

The final – and for both Tara and Rob the most important – influence was their beloved dog Alfie George. “Had we got married at home, he would have almost certainly been there, so we made sure there were touches of him all throughout the day – even in unusual places. The escort cards featured a silhouette of him, a cocktail was named after him and the flip flops we left for our guests were a gift from Alfie ‘for your dancing paws’.”

They chose a pastel theme for flowers, combined with olive leaves. As Tara says: “How can you not use olive leaves when in Italy!” Tara had chosen a beautiful and utterly simple gown by Suzanne Neville, while Rob wore a suit by Hugo Boss. The bridesmaids wore soft grey dresses and the ushers were in simple grey chinos with crisp white shirts.

The couple say that the party really was the best they’d ever been to, with a phenomenal band that had everyone dancing all night. Their advice to other couples is to consider using a planner – especially with a destination wedding. “Having a planner really saved us a lot of stress – it meant that we could focus on the fun things.”

“Sitting at the reception and having a moment to ourselves to take it all in, neither of us could believe this was our wedding!”

When it came to allocating budget, Tara and Rob focused on their essentials. “We picked the most important things to us – great food and a great party atmosphere – and prioritised catering and the band. Doing that meant we automatically knew where to reign our spending in. Little touches we loved included our bespoke cocktail menu, with each cocktail named after one of the family dogs. We also had our wedding cake made live in front of our guests which everyone loved as something different – and it tasted amazing!”

Tara says it was a magical day in a magical setting. “I’ll never forget the feeling of walking down the aisle with my Dad. The sun was shining, every person I loved was sitting in front of me and I was looking out across the hills of Tuscany about to marry my best friend.”

“It just went perfectly,” adds Rob. “From arriving at the venue and seeing how everyone’s hard work had come together, to watching Tara walk down the aisle towards me and then sitting at the reception and having a moment to ourselves to take it all in. Neither of us could believe this was our wedding!”