Los Angeles Wedding Photography - Teegan Photography - Amy T Schubert » italy destination wedding

Florence, Italy Destination Wedding – Portraits – Brandon and Angela

amy — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 11:26:26 +0000

Angela is my kind of bride – she made a real effort to give me as much time as possible for photos before the wedding ceremony (Brandon just let her decide whatever she wanted).

Of course, most wedding schedules run a bit late and this was no exception ….

But we had time to leave the b&b [Brandon, Angela, me, Andrew with all my gear, and Virginia the maid of honor] …. photos in the Duomo piazza, photos in another piazza and a few other locations in Florence before catching a cab to the ceremony location and even more photos there.

Loved it! And if you ask Angela I think she’d say allowing this time really paid off. I think she’s quite happy with these images …. and she didn’t have to leave her guests to take pics after the ceremony. I know that doesn’t work for all couples, but in this case you can see the results:

While walking through one of the piazzas we certainly got some attention and a little applause!

The wind was magical …. just perfect timing.

{the rest of these were taken at the hotel where the wedding took place}

{Technically I was also a maid of honor, but I was put to work, so this is pretty much the only photo of me. Photo by Andrew. Why didn’t anyone tell me my hair looked so bad. Sigh}

Brandon and his best man

The terrace behind the hotel looked out over the city of Florence … it was just so beautiful. Especially at this time of day.

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Florence, Italy Destination Wedding – Getting Ready – Brandon and Angela

amy — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 11:25:53 +0000

Because this was a destination wedding, I had a unique opportunity to capture Brandon and Angela getting ready for their wedding – we were all staying in the same bed and breakfast. We woke up, had breakfast together, ran errands together, accidentally blew a fuse together.

Staying in a bed and breakfast, many of the guests were sharing a bathroom – luckily we were all there for the wedding so we knew each other. The morning of the wedding, Angela took over one of the bathrooms as the hair/make-up headquarters.

Angela is a make-up artist, but only brought a small bit of her gear (it is Italy, after all). She looked AMAZING. …. Of course, she’s naturally gorgeous, but with her make-up talent really knows how to bring out her natural beauty.

{Sidenote: Angela also did my make-up for my wedding. Email her for questions and availability about doing make-up for your own wedding}

Take a look!

Wedding dress story:

As I mentioned, I accompanied Angela to her final dress fitting here in Los Angeles at One Night Affair. I love that dress. It looked fantastic on her and was just the right level of fanciness for her day.

Well, for many reasons she ended up not being able to wear the dress they gave her. So, 2 days before her wedding Angela and Brandon are in Florence, Italy with nothing for her to wear.

Luckily, our b&b proprietor (Silvia – amazing!) helped her find some bridal shops.

2 days before the wedding.

Angela went into this little couture bridal shop. In Florence. The kind of place where the dress designer and her little old mother are the only people working there. The kind of place where the designer herself fits you into the dress.

Miraculously, Angela found a gorgeous dress that fit her well and that was (reasonably) affordable. Granted, buying a brand new dress wasn’t really in their budget, but it certainly could have been a lot worse.

So around noon-ish on the wedding day, Angela was mostly ready for her big day and we just walked a few blocks over to pick up the dress!

[me and Virginia, the maid of honor]

Meanwhile, back at the b&b, Brandon was all ready to go …. and bored.

But, that kind of the way it always is with grooms, right? Especially without groomsmen to entertain him.

Once both Brandon and Angela had finished their preparations, we headed out for portraits …. stay tuned later this week for the stunning images of this couple!

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Florence, Italy Destination Wedding – Pre-Wedding Activities – Brandon and Angela

amy — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 11:22:52 +0000

It’s time!

I’ve finally finished editing and choosing the Italy destination wedding photos to blog!

I’m excited – are you?

The short version is Angela and Brandon had a very very small destination wedding in Florence, Italy and planned activities for us all the day before.

The long version is ….

There is a tour company in the Florence area called the Accidental Tourist. Since this year (2009) was the 3rd October in a row that the bride and groom had visited Italy together, they had a chance to use this company previously – for a Tuscany cooking class (can you imagine how delightful that would be?). The day before the wedding (Tuesday) Brandon and Angela treated all 15 of us to a whole day of wine, olive oil, food and fun in Tuscany.

{if you check out the website, I think we did the ‘wine and snooze’ tour}

It was a magical, ridiculously special day in the Tuscan countryside. Really, an irreplaceable experience….

Check out the images below:

We met the company at one of the Florence piazzas and were picked up in 2 big vans to bus us out to the countryside. On the way … on a beautiful Italian morning … we crossed over the Arno. That bridge (image below) is the Ponte Vecchio. It is pretty much the only Florence bridge that wasn’t destroyed in WW2. The bridge dates back to Medieval Europe.

Our first stop was a huge (huge) estate in the Tuscan hills. Here the (fabulously wealthy) family still makes olive oil and wine as the owners always have for centuries, in spite of their other modern businesses and interests.

{If I had a ‘front yard’ like this you can bet I’d host weddings here}

Our guide – Steve, pictured right – is an American ex-patriot. He and his 20-something year old son (Alessandro) took us through the estate. At this time of the year, the estate was really only used for the olive oil and wine. Steve showed us step-by-step how both products are made, what makes them special, and the traditions surrounding them ….

The bride and groom below. Behind them, growing almost all the way to the buildings’ walls, are acres of olive trees.

{yes, he’s wearing a Flogging Molly jacket}

Around 11a or so, after learning ALL about how the wine and olive oil are made, we went to a different Tuscan farmhouse for some tasting. … mmm ….

Freshly baked Italian bread (without salt as per tradition), drizzled with olive oil, and 5 different kinds of Chianti wine.

I don’t know a single thing about wine, so it was really interesting to learn all about it – as well as taste the different kinds as we go to really be able to see the differences.

{of course, we bought some to bring home!}

One final stop on our day in Tuscany – really the day went by so quickly …. I could have spent the whole week on this tour …

As part of the day, we all went to this private Tuscan home for a fresh, home-cooked (ridiculously amazing) meal.

If I had to guess, I would say this place was 400-ish years old. Stone walls. Great vintage windows. Odd corners and levels. And beautiful views wherever you look.

We all ate IN Christiana’s kitchen. Right where she cooks for her own family.

Grilled bell peppers, mushroom lasagna, homemade pasta, frittata, tiramisu and probably 3 or 4 other things …

Just one more day in a whole week of memorable travel, but so special to be part of this bride and groom’s wedding.

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It’s official!

amy — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 16:29:10 +0000

Andrew and I are headed to Italy in Oct 2009 – the tickets are purchased!!

We are SO excited. We’re flying in and out of Rome, and going to Florence for a few days in the middle.

One of my best friends ever is getting married in Florence 10/14 and we are attending AND photographing the wedding. (Don’t worry, when it’s your best friend you can totally work out the details).

If anyone has any suggestions for the other 4 or 5 days, please please let me know. We haven’t started any REAL planning yet (other than the dates) and I love recommendations….

Or, if anyone is planning on being in Italy that week and wants to hook up for a once-in-a-lifetime photoshoot in that magical place please please please let me know!

I seriously cannot wait!