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Lauren & Anthony
Wedding Details
Bride Lauren Groom Anthony Wedding Date May 14, 2013 Location Vista Del Mondo, Spoleto, Italy Hometown Seminole, FL
Pictures from Lauren & Anthony's destination wedding (click to enlarge):
Why did you choose to have a destination wedding?
We knew we wanted something different for our wedding ceremony, something that would give a true reflection of all the love, passion, and hard work the led to our accomplishment of our dreams together.
Why did you choose your location?
We chose Italy because it's a place we both have always wanted to visit...it's a place our families had always wanted to visit....and it was a great way to celebrate the end of our education. We had this vision to have a small ceremony in back of a Villa with our immediate family and loved ones in a place full of magic, surprise, love, and tradition for all of us to experience.
What were your wedding colors and/or theme?
No colors/theme. The backdrop of downtown Spoleto and mountains gave us all the theme we needed.
Every wedding is special in its own right. What made your wedding unique?
Anthony and I met 6 years ago in a undergrad course called Comparative Anatomy at the University of South Florida. First day of class, when he walked into the lab we locked eyes and there was this unexplainable attraction to each other. With different lab partners but the same table, the minute he started busting out Zoolander movie quotes, he caught my attention. I could go on and on about us but in summary, after a year of developing our friendship, we started dating. What makes this even more special, we both had aspirations of going to medical school. I had an average MCAT score which led to rejections year after year. During that time, he worked two jobs, went to interviews, got accepted into med schools but would pay money to defer for the following year in hopes that I too would get accepted. This went on for three years. During that time, I went onto get a masters degree in anatomy hoping to increased my chances while he continued to wait for me, having people ask him if he was nuts for not going, and working jobs to keep him afloat. Finally, I got accepted into one of the Caribbean medical schools, Ross University. He knew he had to make a decision. He could either stay in the U.S and do a more traditional route for med school or follow me. He took the chance and went with me to Ross University where we completed 16 months of our basic science education in Dominica, started clubs, gave back to the community through charity events or student government, came back to the U.S passing our boards....Now, after a total of 4 years, we graduate from medical school on June 14, 2013.
There aren't enough words to express how special the ceremony turned out. Just to give you an idea, Anthony and I paid for a whole villa for the week, ceremony, etc. using our student loans. In summary, the only thing planned was the day May 14th and an itinerary that our wonderful property managers helped organized. Day of the wedding, rehearsal went on about an hour before the wedding, I met the priest for the first time at the altar, music had to be played from a car that was managed by our photographer. The whole thing was improvised, but I loved every minute of it. I kind of sat back and enjoyed watching everyone laugh and have a great time with the whole event. The ceremony was performed on the side of the villa with two gorgeous mountains on the sides with the view of the city down below. It was supposed to rain, 70% chance, but the weather turned out beautifully. Because the group was so small, 13 in total, everyone played a role. My husband's cousin walked me down the aisle to the music blasting from the rented Fiat. Everyone lined up like bridesmaids and groomsmen, facing the altar. Each person used one of my little brooches (it was part of my brooch bouquet) and put it on their blouse or suit pocket. It was the cutest thing to see when I walked up to the altar and saw all of them with one. After our ceremony was performed, we all had a toast, then we were led on foot through the streets of downtown Spoleto, with kind people shouting out congratulations, taking pictures, making us feel so loved and welcomed. A bonus: a movie was being filmed in one of the spots that we stopped to take pictures and everyone thought we were the movie stars. It was awesome. After we walked the streets, we ended the night with an incredible dinner served by a family that enjoys making dinners for special guests in back of her house. The meal was incredible. Everyone enjoyed all the different appetizers, drinks, meals, bread..all of it. And to top it off, she made us a wedding cake using the flavors and design we dreamed of but couldn't afford. She didn't charge a dime for the gorgeous cake, just gave it to us as a gift. I wish I could describe the amount of love that was shared amongst strangers, friends, family, everyone that day.
One of the major challenges of putting together a destination wedding is finding and working with your ideal vendors from afar. What wedding vendors did you use to put together this spectacular wedding?
Photographer: Brentwood Photography (https://www.facebook.com/BrentwoodPhotography?fref=ts)
Florist: vaLori Fioristi (ask for Roberio) Wedding coordinator: Laurie and Norma Williams, Ioana Vescan Wedding dress designer: Bought on clearance at CCs Boutique in St. Pete: Madeline Gardner by Mori Lee Invitation company: look for groupon deals!!! Love Vistaprint.com Hair salon and make up: Isalo
Your wedding was absolutely beautiful! Your posts and reviews will be extremely helpful to our new brides. Thank you for sharing you special day with us at BDW.
Dear members, if you planned your wedding with the help of our community we would love to hear from you! Contact us at admin@BestDestinationWedding.com if you are interested in sharing your wedding experience with BDW. For more information here is the "BDW Real Weddings | Featured Wedding Submission Information Thread". Thanks!
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