At first, we’ve never planned to organize our wedding abroad. Although I didn’t have a dream to make a "banal" classic wedding, but my bride (Elena) was a follower of more traditional celebrations. But eventually, we both wanted something special, something that we will never forget, something that we could tell to our children with great emotions. Nobody would remember a wedding in "fashionable" and expensive restaurant in 5-10-15 years. Besides we wanted to have our wedding only with closest friends and family. So we started looking for some place for our wedding abroad.
Why did we choose Italy? Well, first of all, there is so much romance and love in the name of this country. Cities like Venice, Florence, Verona, lake Como represent the concept of “love”. Secondly, my great-grandfather was from Sicily. So we definitely chose Italy.
We knew that it would be impossible to organize the wedding without special companies and people who organize weddings abroad. First, we found one company in our city, but then we realized that these people are simply intermediaries between us and someone in Italy. So we decided to find a wedding planner directly in Italy. Now we understand that we took a right decision, because it is simpler for organization and coordination of the wedding. We chose a wedding Agency WeddItaly (Victoria Kharitonova). Why did we choose her? Well, first, we were looking for the organizers who spoke Italian, English and Russian of course. Secondly, several top photographers gave us advice to take her (who had already worked with her). And third, we immediately liked Victoria’s passion and operability she started to work with.
It wasn’t simply to choose a wedding date. It was very difficult to unite all guest’s flights in one day, vacant rooms in hotels and restaurant reservations. Also You should remember days and religious fasting when there is no possibility for marriage. We want to say “thank you” once again because Victoria was able to find a perfect and elegant location for wedding banquet that was not just a restaurant, it was a whole villa with garden and the best panoramic views. She booked the rooms in a hotel and coordinated decorators, florists, Shuttle service, cars, musicians, bakers etc. We should also say that Victoria has become a “virtual” member of our family for almost 6 months before our wedding We were in a contact every day discussing all necessary details. Wedding abroad is a big risk, because you can control everything at a distance and you could see the result only in the wedding day.
And then the day has come. The morning began with final instructions and preparations. Thanks to Victoria, the hotel prepared our rooms: furniture and beds were removed, so there were enough space for the bride with her friends. We were afraid that the day would not be so perfect as we wanted. But when I went down to the hotel’s reception I saw our drivers of the rented cars and the cars themselves, I understood that everything would be at the highest level. The wedding ceremony in the Church was held in the atmosphere as if we were in our hometown, although when we left the Church we were already in Italy. But the most pleasant moment of wedding was the Villa itself. It was amazing! Panoramic view, the incredible beauty of the Villa! The whole day we were a little bit nervous and only there “our time has stopped”. We enjoyed every moment. There was the wonderful catering with gourmet dishes, friendly stuff and a perfect service on the Villa.
I think our celebration could continue till morning, if there were no cruel italian rules. At that moment I realized that I wanted to stop the time and to enjoy this moment forever. After the wedding when we came back to the hotel, we told to each other “Yes, We did it”. And We did it at a very high level.
