An Italian Lakeside Celebration at Villa Cortine Filled with Color Cuisine and Connection

[section title=”The Planning”]
[field title=”Wedding Colors”][/field]
[field title=”Design / Vibe / Vision”]

The color palette for this wedding was pulled from the villa itself: creamy sandstone to match the walls, soft, moody greens to pick up the interior wallpapers, dusty rose, and sunset shades to capture the colors glittering on the lake.

With an incredible guest experience as the key priority, this beautiful celebration was full of thoughtful touches that celebrated its unique location and allowed guests to relax in the splendor of a 5-star Villa Cortine Palace Hotel. Each event was designed to feel unique, unified by exceptional cuisine and good company. From local dinners in the town center to bringing all guests together at one long candlelit table stretching into Lake Garda on Villa Cortine’s private dock, to high elegance on the sunset terrace for the wedding feast, each meal centered around appreciating local Italian food in a surreal and stunning setting. Jane Handles Weddings brought their vision to life, prioritizing an outstanding guest experience, seamless event flow, and thoughtful touches to make each guest feel special, relaxed, and completely at home at Villa Cortine.

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[field title=”Proposal Story”]

One fateful day in Philadelphia, Alyssa swiped right on Nate’s Bumble profile, intrigued by his sultry gaze and Peace Corps service in Botswana. After a sizzling text exchange about Harry Potter, they met on Friday the 13th, January 2017, at the Fishtown Tavern. Alyssa was very impressed with Nate’s stature and charm, but the bar was so crowded she could barely discern anything he said. Nate insisted Alyssa’s dating app photos of her completely covered in dirt did her a great disservice—but she’d already inhaled six whiskies by then, and he was somewhat apprehensive of where the night might lead. On a hunch, they relocated to Alyssa’s house, where they dove into the conventional first date subjects—metaphysics and death—each delighting the other with matched wit, perspicacity, and candor. Deeply infatuated, they reluctantly parted the next morning. In a panicked attempt to play it cool, Alyssa then ignored Nate for a week, which greatly confused him. After a demand for an explanation and another date, the pair joyfully reunited over a meatball stromboli and have been inseparable ever since. Six years, six homes, one cross-country move, fifty dog toys, and a few career changes later, Nate took Alyssa on a morning stroll through an olive grove outside the Tuscan hilltop town of Chiusi, where he proposed, and she accepted. They returned to Italy, a place so special to both of them, to tie the knot surrounded by their closest friends and family.

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[board_carousel title=”Getting Ready”]

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[board_carousel title=”Bridal Portraits”]

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[board_carousel title=”Flat Lays”]

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[section title=”The Fashion”]
[field title=”Wedding Gown”]

Alyssa is an avid pant enthusiast who mostly wears only black in daily life–so, if she were going to wear a white dress, she wanted it to be an extraordinary one. She fell in love with Nicole and Felicia as a woman-owned brand with statement-making, editorial silhouettes, and when she tried the 303 at Jaxson James Bridal in Los Angeles, she knew it was the one. (She loved it so much that she carried the thirty-pound dress by hand through three different airports on her way to Italy.) For her reception look, she chose something that showcased a different, more familiar side of her personality: a black corset pant suit from Fleur du Mal.

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[field title=”Bridesmaid Dresses”][/field]
[field title=”Groomsman Attire”]

Nate opted for a timeless Zegna suit (when in Italy, only an Italian suit will do), but the most special item was his late father’s watch, which he had refurbished for the occasion as a way to include his memory and hold him dear.

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[board_carousel title=”Ceremony”]

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[board_carousel title=”Cocktail Hour”]

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[section title=”The Details”]
[field title=”Food & Drink”]

Part of the reason we chose a beautiful venue in Italy was that exceptional food was such a priority, and where better than Bella Italia Alyssa and Nate’s multi-day fete celebrated the local cuisine. The celebrations kicked off with a boat tour on Lake Garda, complete with an aperitivo on board, for the immediate families. On the arrival day for most guests, Thursday, Alyssa and Nate hosted a multi-course feast in the historic city center of Sirmione on Thursday for all guests who arrived before the festivities officially began. On Friday, we transformed the Villa Cortine private dock into a modern, romantic tablescape to bring all their guests together at one table stretching down the dock, and stations included local meats and cheeses, fresh pizza, housemade pastas, a roaring grill station, and, of course, a gelato cart. On Saturday, guests enjoyed an aperitivo hour filled with traditional Italian delicacies, and even got to watch mozzarella being made before their eyes. The wedding feast was set on the west side of the villa, so guests could enjoy the sunset over the terrace, and included a parade of dishes, many of which made their appearance in the form of line drawings done by the bride on the beautiful menus.

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[field title=”Florals & Decor”]

To set the tone for the celebration, we wanted to make sure the stationery gave guests a sense of excitement, wonder, and place. The whole family fell in love with Jane Handles Weddings ’ save-the-date design–a foldable paper airplane, which she had used for her destination wedding! Together, we updated the design to include an antique map of Lake Garda, which was perfect to garner guests’ excitement for a destination wedding. Jane even lovingly printed and pre-folded each card by hand. The bride, Alyssa, is a writer and film director – and also an incredibly talented artist. She created gorgeous line drawings, which Ma Plume Design incorporated into the stationery suite. One of these drawings was a full-scale venue illustration, rendered in the greens and neutrals inspired by the venue and landscape. Ma Plume Design created a custom vellum wrap printed with soft watercolor details, which, when pressed against the invite, created a colored-in overlay, bringing the line drawing to life! The suite was secured with a personalized wax seal with an intricate drawing of the couple’s initials, drawn by Alyssa and materialized by Léa. The seal was then used throughout the wedding weekend materials, as on the Welcome cards waiting for guests in their rooms. For the Friday welcome dinner, given the spectacular setting on the water, and to contrast with the lush florals on Saturday, we opted instead for a sleek, modern, minimalist design. The table was set in neutral shades, and instead of flowers, we filled the center with glowing candlelight. The water in the floating candles echoed the lake setting. For a pop of color, each place setting had a different color water glass, made in nearby Murano. The effect was ethereal! Léa of Ma Plume Design also borrowed inspiration from the event design, pulling the exact etched pattern from the colorful glasses for the welcome dinner to create a colorful seating chart, with each table with its bright color.

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[field title=”Wedding Cake”]

Alyssa and Nate leaned into the local Italian tradition of constructing their wedding cake together in front of their guests. Millefoglie (which means 1000 sheets, to describe the flaky pastry) is assembled layer by layer with crispy pastry, cream, and fresh berries, and topped off with a dusting of powdered sugar to symbolize a sweet life together.

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[field title=”Readings, Ceremony Music, Reception Songs”]

Alyssa and Nate chose to forgo the tradition of bridesmaids and groomsmen, and instead had two of their closest friends dual officiate the wedding. To ground the ceremony in the timelessness of the exceptional place that surrounded them, they included a mention of the ancient Roman poet Catullus, who wrote of his home, Sirmion, two millennia ago, and who happened to be the favorite poet of Alyssa’s late grandmother. Although non-religious, it was important for the bride and groom to include and mix the traditions and rituals of Alyssa’s Jewish and Nate’s Italian heritages, so they shared a sip of chianti, and both stepped on a glass at the end (Alyssa accidentally missed and stopped on Nate’s foot instead, but he played it cool.) A four-piece gypsy band played acoustic renditions of Alyssa and Nate’s favorite songs: Maybe I’m Amazed by Paul McCartney for the entrance, and Whole Lotta Love by Led Zeppelin as they exited together as newlyweds.

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[field title=”Special Detail #1″]

To help guests find their seats at each event, we got creative. For the welcome dinner on the dock, Ma Plume Design + Calligraphy designed gorgeous leather luggage tags as placecards for each guest, and for a destination-wedding-appropriate keepsake for all those who traveled from around the world to join in their celebration. For the wedding, Jane Handles Weddings transformed a vintage cart into a display for limoncello bottles. Inspired by the bride’s love of Alice in Wonderland, Ma Plume calligraphed tags reminiscent of the “drink me” labels to help guests find their seats. The limoncello was not just an Italian treat, but also one that was particularly local: the lemons used to make it were grown in Limone Sul Garda, right on the lake, giving guests a taste of local lemons (complete with a custom label celebrating the couple). The bottles were selected to be TSA-approved, to ensure guests could bring them home, too.

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For a quirky and comedic touch, Alyssa and her mother, Peggy, decided to merge two family traditions at the cocktail hour: Nate’s love of playing cornhole in his yard in Pennsylvania as a child on one hand, and, on the other, a love of antique erotic prints that began with Alyssa’s late grandmother, who adored collecting it. The two custom cornhole boards featured designs fashioned from etchings of raunchy frescoes in Pompeii and labeled with fictional playful captions, like “Il Ballo Nuziale” (“The Wedding Dance”).

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[field title=”Special Detail #3″]

To make every guest feel like they were being welcomed into a loving home, old family photos from Alyssa and Nate’s childhoods were placed into small wood frames and sprinkled throughout the entire Villa for the weekend, personalizing the space and creating a conversation piece for guests as they wandered through the beautiful rooms.

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[board_carousel title=”Couple Portraits”]

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[board_carousel title=”Reception”]

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[board_carousel title=”Wedding Weekend Events”]

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