Giorgia & Matteo

Stop ! Stop the car !!!
Eeeeeeeeeeek, my mom stops the car dead in the middle of viale Miramare, in Trieste. What now ?
Oh mom, look at these two please. Look how sweet. Listen to this. 
It’s a Sunday afternoon this past winter and we’re driving home from Miramare castle, where I’ve been location scouting for a bride and groom who requested for their portraits to be taken there. It’s the slow season and I don’t have a model, so my mom will do. Giulia, there’s tourists all around. They’re going to think I’m having my photos taken, like, for a book. At my age.
The picture that caught my attention on the ride home is one of the first family selfies of what is going to become one of my favourite couples ever. I’m not sure whether it’s the photo or the caption I like best — and seeing as the only things that stay after a wedding are the rings, the memories, and the husband — but I know after putting my phone down I have to meet this woman. Those who have met me know how inflexible I am about both my job and my time off it — working at weddings like a soldier, yet protecting my free time lile a lifeguard. No emails on Sundays.
Nada. Zero. Null.
Nevertheless, before I know it I’m already typing my reply to Giorgia. That’s what I always say, too ! The only things you get to keep from your wedding are your husband, your dress getting old in the basement, and the photos. Even if I’m not the lucky one to take yours, please bear this in mind for your own sake.
Even if I’m not the lucky one to take yours.
Even if I’m not.
Even.
If.
Oh please. Internet. I know only too well already that I want to be the one to take care of her.
We meet briefly before I fly back to Paris, on a beautiful morning, and … we click. No pun intended. As soon as Giorgia starts to describe the way she pictures her wedding in her mind, I feel I’m already virtually there. Breezy, summery, coolly informal, effortlessly chic. Set on the gorgeous stage of picturesque Grado whose ancient charm, colorful cheerfulness, and raw beauty Giorgia has been bale to combine with the nautical mood of the coast around the corner. Enriched with details in a fresh navy blue, a juicy peach, and irresistible succulent accents. Planned in a way that will make guests feel at home and in love and on holiday as they chat and toast and dance on a beautiful terrace and soak in the view of the Adriatic sea.
Well manicured and artfully orchestrated like all things that are apparently simple, her wed—
OK. I know. I know you’ve stopped reading and you’re already looking at the pictures. And you’re right. because if my husband asked, the day after, What was so special about this wedding that makes you sound so overly excited ? there must indeed be a reason.
If you’re looking at the first shots, you know by now Giorgia is a bride who knows no boundaries. BCBG wedding dress bought from the US, the gorgeous Jimmy Choo Kamba suede sandals she got from the web after an extensive search that saw her ordering and returning like crazy — click click, add to cart – empty cart, return – refund, because if there’s one choice you must be sure about is that of your bridal shoes, as nothing sounds as cool as to be able to say … #idoinchoo. Ropes, bows, envelopes, tags, monograms and fans— all of the wedding props that are not easily found in Italian retail stores, this crafty woman sourced avidly on the internet and assembled herself so that she could have the perfect Pinterest wedding. And that is one of the reasons why her wedding was so special and unique.
I am so lucky I get to work for brides who are fashion-forward and for whom Tiffany blue belongs to history. And that’s why I liked Giorgia so much. She stands in for the girls who aren’t scared of trying out something new, those who won’t accept something as fashionable only because they are told so by people who offer narrow choice, and who won’t take no for an answer.
If you’re past the first photos and are looking at the preps, you’ve already noticed Giorgia picked the lovingly fresh and minimal Albergo Alla Spiaggia, and that she was lucky enough to have her friend Jo to take care of her hair and make up so that she could look at her best without being transformed into an unrecognisable mask for the day.
Basilica di Sant’Eufemia is the church you’re probably admiring by now, where most of the intimate pictures where taken. Including that one, yes. The photo where the bride is breastfeeding and reconnecting with her baby boy, and with the reality of the everyday really, after the ceremony — that’s an image I would have never thought I could take, and that is a testimony of the relationship Giorgia and I got to develop before the Big Day. For her to make me feel at home and part of the day meant just that — for me to be able to put myself in her shoes and guess correctly when I saw her drift in the distance in the church backyard. Despite our differences and me not being a mom, that photo is exactly what I mean when I write, as I often do, that I will capture a wedding with the same intensity and care I would if I were to photograph … mine.
 
The following photos of the bride waling barefoot or being affectionate with her husband in the little streets around Grado old town speak volumes about Giorgia’s personality —she’s a girl who will walk on fire for her young family if needed, and that’s what got me in the end.
Because, let’s face it — I have a proper crush on this bride. She’s creative, but grounded at the same time. She’s energetic, but never loud. She has a busy life, but she’s gracefully balancing her demanding life. She’s in love with being a mom, but she doesn’t think of herself as the Queen of Everything just because she is one. She’s inspirational, but not self-obsessed. And she makes you feel that you can rely on her.
That’s what made me feel so comfortable working around her, and has allowed for her wedding to carve a special place in my heart forever.