Gorgeous Puglia Wedding In Zuhair Murad Gown
❤️ The TWC Effect – Our brides, their way ❤️
Inès & Giuliano’s love story takes us on a gorgeous tour of Italy, culminating in their big day in Puglia. The pair partied the night away with their loved ones, celebrating in style!
How did you meet?
We met at a party 9 years ago in Rome on the 7th of September (also our wedding day!). He was about to go back to London for his last year of Uni and I had just started my last year of High School
Was it love at first sight?
Not for him, maybe for me! I fell hard and fast, whereas Giuliano needed a couple of months of convincing before we finally made it official in December.
Who proposed and how? Lovely details, please!
He proposed! He took me on a weekend getaway to Hamburg in November 2022. He planned to propose in a rose garden there, although he didn’t think about the fact that roses don’t bloom in November when temperatures drop below 0 degrees. He decided to propose anyway, in a very gloomy and not so romantic setting – but that’s what made it perfect as it was a very ‘him’ thing to do.
A couple happened to pass by and saw what was happening, so we have a beautiful (and somewhat funny) video of him proposing, me putting on the ring, and putting my gloves and hat back on because I was FREEZING!
Did you have a theme for your wedding? How did it come about?
We got married in Puglia, in an old Masseria. Everything was white, simple and beautiful. From the very beginning I wanted all my flowers at the reception to be red and burgundy. I love the colour and wanted a deep contrast to the light colours of the masseria. It worked out perfectly!
Location and how you found it?
We initially wanted to get married in Sicily as Giuliano’s mother is originally from there. In fact, we were set on getting married at the Four Seasons in Toarmina as this is where his parents got married. Unfortunately for us, this is where the White Lotus series was filled a few years ago, which has resulted in the prices being ridiculously high!
We had 2 spare days when visiting venues in Sicily so we decided to hop on a quick 45min plane ride to Puglia, as my best friend had mentioned it was an up and coming hotspot for weddings. When we saw Masseria le Carrube, we fell in love, and immediately knew this is where we wanted to host our wedding. We also managed to rent the whole hotel out for 3 days, which meant we really got to enjoy our wedding and spend a lot of time with our closest family and friends.
How did you find The Wedding Club? Tell us about that moment when you found and chose your dress – how did it make you feel when you put it on for the first time?
This is a funny story. The wedding club in Knightsbridge was the first shop I went to, because I was CONVINCED I wanted a Berta gown, and I knew The Wedding Club was THE place for Berta in London. I tried on some dresses, didn’t love how they looked on me, and fell into a pit of confusion.
I then went on a long journey to 15 different shops, but still couldn’t quite find my dress. 6 months and 54 dresses later, I decided to go back to The Wedding Club, maybe there were new collections?
This is when I picked out a very sparkly Zuhair Murad dress with an overskirt. The dress was jaw dropping. What was even more jaw-dropping though was the price – completely out of budget. But thankfully, Mel was there. She told me to hold on, went to the back and picked out another Zuhair dress, one that hadn’t caught my eye or the eye of any of my bridesmaids. I wanted a dress with no sleeves, an open back, not much lace. This dress had sleeves, a closed back and fully lace. And yet, it was amazing. It was so me! After the appointment, I had narrowed the list of dresses down to 3 – 2 from the wedding club and one from Elie Saab. A few Aperol Spritz’ later, my friends and I kept coming back to the Zuhair Dress. Mel was right, it was the one for me!
Which designer did you wear?
Zuhair Murad
Where is the suit from? Why was it the perfect fit?
My partner’s suit was a bespoke suit from Cad and the Dandy! it was the perfect fit at the beginning, however he did decide to bulk up before the wedding, so I could see it was a little tight and uncomfortable at the wedding. I don’t think anyone except me noticed though!
Did you have speeches? Who performed them?
Yes we did! My dad gave a lovely speech, and gave a call out to my grandparents, who were there and happy after 65 years of marriage! My maid of honour and best man also gave a speech, which is something we will always cherish.
Did you have a first dance? What song did you choose and why? How was the performance?
Yess we did and we went with Dive by Olivia Dean. The lyrics of the song really spoke to us, and it has such a beautiful tempo and beat. It’s not too slow, not too fast. We had a live band with a male and female lead singer at the wedding, and the female lead learnt the song specifically for us which was amazing. Unfortunately I managed to break my toe three days before the wedding AND the song was sung much faster than the original so I don’t think the dance came across as smoothly as we had hoped! At least we got a good laugh out of it.
How was the party?
The party was EPIC. As mentioned we had a live band play after the dinner, after which we were moved to a different area of the Masseria for the cake cutting. After the cake cutting another area was opened up which led to the dance floor for the after party. We had an amazing DJ, and gave him the brief that we love going to the Tomorrowland music festival, so he knew we were ready to PARTY. We all enjoyed ourselves so much, the party went on for an hour longer than planned!
Wedding planning advice for brides to be?
This might be a bit controversial, but don’t be afraid to micro-manage. If you have a very clear idea in your head of how you want things to go, make sure your vision is realised. There are so many things you can’t control on the day, so make sure you control everything you CAN! A big part of this is communication with all your vendors, even if you have a wedding planner. Make sure they are clear on your vision, and are actually executing it.
One moment you’ll never forget:
It’s hard to pin-point a specific moment. The day passes by so quickly and a lot of it is a blur. One moment I do remember is when I took a 10 min break from everything with my two best friends. They helped me take a moment to breathe, relax and get me back in the right mindset to go back to the party.
❤️
Dress – Zuhair Murad available at The Wedding Club Knightsbridge
Veil – Custom made by Mel @ TWC
Hair & Makeup – Annapaolo Fiore & Elio Vittore
Venue – Le Carrube
Photography – Yulia Longo
Flowers – Abigail Floral Studio
Lighting – Luminarie di Arredo
❤️
