Laura and John


Nothing says 'I do' like a costume wedding in Venice 

It took two Los angeles movie producers, their selected party of 50, a whole team of WeddingItaly planners, performers, jugglers, tarot readers, some special guests of the likes of Colombina and Arlecchino, directly from la commedia dell'arte, the most prestigious Venetian catering service, classical musicians and an ace DJ, a number of water taxi drivers and two clarions at the entrance of the Palace, costume ateliers and the most glamorous location in town... to make Laura and John's, the wedding of the year

We loved every single minute of this daring celebration, and we hope you will too.

Here are some highlights from the most extravagant day on our 2022 calendar.

L'emplacement


The vision


Laura and John's notes

As the invite said '1700s Venetian costume wedding', Laura and John's were planning to host their love celebration in February 2022 but were forced to push the date forward, due to pandemic restrictions. 3 days of extra fun fuelled by this awesome couple, whom it has been such a pleasure to work with. 

On Day 2 the preparations would start in the early morning with a rigorous rehearsal of the ceremony, during which our groom would be directing the scenes - just like one of his screenplays. The ceremony script, written by Laura and John, included suspense and laughter with the entrance of Casanova interrupting the nuptials, and subsequently his mistress looking for him. The charming man's mother would then jump in the scene in what will be a very funny turn of events. 

The requests for the post-ceremony were mostly focused around sourcing performers and artists of various talents to join and entertain the group, rigorously in costume. The bride would showcase her incredible tailor-made costume, which she chose about one year earlier together with her sister, and  accompanied by our powerhouse planner Fede around some selected Venetian ateliers. 

The five deal breakers for Laura and John

  • Location: the most romantic - and crazy - of all, Venice
  • Ceremony: script written by the bride and groom
  • Venue: Hotel Monaco for the welcome dinner
  • Guests: some big celebrities joining
  • Side notes: welcome bags for the guests include one Venetian mask and a cape 
placehold

The action plan


How did we pull it off

What an incredible few days these have been for us planners, too! We can only describe it as a constant whoo-hoo moment, surprise after surprise.

On the afternoon of the wedding day, two clarions welcomed each water taxi arriving at the Palace by the canal, introducing the guests to the special location. We certainly had some big names in the guest list, two of which were Hollywood actress Ellen Hollman and director, screenwriter Angus MacLane. 

The sit-down dinner turned out to be a very beautiful show, light and engaging. There was rarely a moment of silence or void, and guests could get entertained visually, or by listening to the many musical performances, and even getting their future be told by a professional tarot reader dressed for the occasion half as a man, and the other half as a lady. The sequence of musicians chosen by genre was a true success and matched each moment wonderfully. 

The final day of this lavish weekend saw the group together once again for a brunch, followed by a bacaro tour in the afternoon during which English-speaking guides shared anecdotes and stories about Venice, in between stops to visit the local bacari, the typical bars around here.

We are humbly proud of how we could pull off the entire choreography, and are forever thankful to our bride and groom for giving us these special memories.