A 3-Day Sicilian Love Affair
Carnelia and Greg (the bride and groom) had fallen in love with Azienda Mandranova, near Agrigento, on a previous trip to Sicily and decided that was the place they wanted to get married. As there was only a small group of people who would be with them, they wanted to make the trip memorable by organising a 3-day event building up to the wedding which was on Sunday 2nd September 2019.
The criteria: each day was to have its own theme!
DAY 1: WELCOME
Friday 31st August was the welcome evening and the dress code was Fellini’s Giulietta degli Spiriti. We arranged welcome baskets (typical Sicilian baskets called ‘coffa’) for all the guests which included a selection of traditional Sicilian products such as fig jam, olive oil, almonds, limoncello, pistachio sweets and a welcome booklet.
The baskets were placed at the entrance to the Azienda alongside their hand painted banner which included the maskot for the 3 days - the bride and groom’s pug!
The welcome evening included music and dancing by a local traditional Sicilian folk band which got everyone in the party mood.
DAY 2: REHEARSAL
Saturday included visits to a famous winery for a tasting and also a tour of the Valle Dei Tempi in Agrigento. The evening was the rehearsal dinner and the idea here was the tables and design should be very colourful yet simple. We came up with the idea of adding traditional Sicilian ceramics to the floral arrangements and also of using the Sicilian playing cards for both the table names and individual name cards.
DAY 3: WEDDING
Sunday was the wedding day. Here the decorations and tables were very important. The menus had been created specifically for the bride and groom and the idea was to pick out the colours to reflect in the various arrangements whilst also adding a touch of Sicily with fruits, such as Indian figs and oranges, as well as lace table runners. Lighting for the outside dinner was also important and a lighting ‘tent’ was created overhead and additional globes were added to the trees around the tables.
For the ceremony the floral circle created the focal point. The bride was accompanied by her father and bridesmaids under a specially created lace ‘chuppah’ and a brass band played their interpretation of Madonna’s ‘Like a Prayer’ as she walked down the aisle to the altar.
Find out what the Bride and Groom had to say in Our Weddings section.
Thank you to our suppliers for these events:
Floral design and additional decorations provided by Fiorelli Wedding
Lighting provided by Dibenedetto Light