“We already had the breathtaking scenery at Lake Como and we wanted to keep everything else simple. After the ceremony, we had a cocktail at the Villa del Balbianello accompanied by some music from a string quartet.”
The couple: Simmy and Mike
Length of engagement: 2.5 months | Wedding date: 27th October 2012
Wedding location: Villa del Balbianello (ceremony) and the Grand Hotel Tremezzo, Lake Como (reception)
Photographer: Cristiano Ostinelli
Wedding planner: The Italian Wedding Event – www.italianweddingevent.com
We met… In 2001 when we were both in university. I was having a coffee with a classmate in the campus café and the classmate invited two of his friends to join. One of them was Mike. The rest was history.
Our proposal… The proposal happened at the lobby of our office building late in the evening. I was later told that it was not supposed to happen there, but my sudden decision to go to yoga class that evening instead of having dinner together forced him to change plans (Oops).
My dress… I wore a red Valentino cocktail dress in lace for the traditional Chinese tea ceremony (red is the auspicious colour in Chinese culture). We found it in Milan a few days before our wedding. For the ceremony, I wore a Romona Keveza lace gown in ivory (L266) for the wedding ceremony. It was a super rush order and they managed to produce the dress and ship to Hong Kong in just slightly more than 1 month! For the dinner reception, I wore another Valentino cocktail dress, also in red.
My hair and make-up… I had a classic French bun for the ceremony (I had chin-length hair) and for the reception, I had basically the same bun but with a slight twist giving it a more modern and playful look. My hairdresser was a very good friend of ours (and both mine and Mike’s usual hairdresser) and he flew all the way from Hong Kong to Italy to help us with our hair! Make-up was done at the Beauty Sun Club which was right next to the hotel where we stayed. The style was simple, natural and elegant.
His suit… Was a traditional wedding suit tailor-made by Ascot Chang Hong Kong.
Our wedding theme/colours… Our theme was “simple but elegant”. We already had the breathtaking scenery at Lake Como and we wanted to keep everything else simple. We used white and pastel colours like pink and pale yellow.
Our ceremony… We had a civil wedding at the Villa del Balbianello attended by 40 of our family and friends from Hong Kong, Canada and USA. The officiant spoke in Italian (which we did not understand) and Fede translated everything for us. After the ceremony, we had a cocktail at the Villa del Balbianello accompanied by some music from a string quartet.
We chose our photographer because… Our wedding planner sent us the link to Cristiano’s website (as well as two other photographers) and both of us instantly fell in love with his style. They were so different from other wedding photos we had seen and he was a very fun and nice guy!
We chose our wedding coordinator because… We are from Hong Kong but it was our dream to marry at Lake Como, Italy. Before the proposal, Mike already did some research on the internet and found Fede, who was recommended by a reviewer on Tripadvisor. Fede from Italian Wedding Event – www.italianweddingevent.com – was super efficient, well-organised and experienced – she organised our dream wedding in just two months! Very amazing!
Our favourite part of the wedding day… I loved every single minute of the day. Everything was surreal.
Our honeymoon… Ours was a destination wedding and we travelled to Paris and Milan before our ceremony. That was the first part of our honeymoon. We are planning to go back this Spring to Lake Como for part 2.
My piece of advice for other brides… Don’t worry if things don’t go as planned. It’s only you (and perhaps the groom too) who know what was supposed to happen, your guests will not know if things are going according to plan or not. The only thing that matters is that you get married to the person you love and that is enough to make the day perfect! And the little disasters during the day will only make the wedding more special and memorable!