Anne-Marie and Riley’s Villa Cimbrone Wedding in Ravello, Italy nested on the cliffs of the Amalfi coast was an experience that felt outside of time. Stepping into the medieval dream world of Ravello with Anne-Marie and Riley’s friends and family forever changed the way we see the world. Walking along the cobblestones leading up to Villa Cimbrone’s enchanting 12th-century architecture, and looking out over the vast ocean views with hundreds of scattered stone homes felt like walking into an oil painting. It’s almost as if you discovered you can fly and you just want to laugh and cry all at once. Villa Cimbrone is a sacred destination wedding setting and Anne-Marie and Riley knew this the second they saw it. We will forever have chills from the first words they shared with us.
“Villa Cimbrone is a magical world that settles into your soul and never leaves. We visited 5 wedding venues by the time we reached the Amalfi Coast, none of them feeling quite right. While on a sunset sail along the coast, not knowing exactly where on the coast we were, from the water we spotted the stone structures of the Infinity Terrace of Villa Cimbrone high up on the cliffs above us, and immediately knew: this was our place! We stopped the boat, popped prosecco, and frolicked in the water until sunset. We decided to thoroughly enjoy and host the most authentic wedding there; our hope in it all is that those who do and can attend our wedding “weekend” will feel completely enveloped in joy and love and that this be one of those weekends where couples fall in love with each other all over again.”
When we asked Anne-Marie and Riley how they express themselves they said… “We love love. We feel most alive and in love when dancing together (the entire world around us fades into the background and stops spinning). Live music – and dancing to it – is our religion. We are also passionate lovers and hope that our photographers can capture that love and passion throughout the wedding festivities. Art of every medium, traveling, cocktailing at local bars, philosophical discussions, homemade pasta dinner parties, family time, and photographs – these are our heartbeats.”
When we asked them what attracted them to our photography they said… “Having grown up around photography and with countless wedding experiences, I know the style of photography I’m attracted to and it’s yours. It’s candid, it’s emotional, it’s “UP IN YOUR FACE”, it’s deep, vibrant saturation, it’s spontaneous, it’s “the moment pictures”, it’s big, fun, and celebratory, it’s intimate, it’s inclusive, and it plays the drum in your soul.”
Anne-Marie and Riley’s Villa Cimbrone wedding adventure was nothing short of a poetic odyssey. Samuele Gallorini of Il Cerimoniere designed everything with authentic touch and gracious execution for this luxury wedding. We brought our best photographer team (Jos & Tree and our great friend photographer Ralf Czogallik).
On day #1 they kicked off the luxury wedding festivities celebrating on Veliero Tortuga’s sailboat along the Amalfi Coast at sunset with 50 of their most dear, inner circle loved ones, dancing, laughing, and jumping into the ocean. Life-changing fun!
On day #2 everyone gathered in Villa Cimbrone’s Cloister as a welcome gathering dressed in their best followed by a seated dinner in the ethereal, magical, intimate, timeless, and historical gothic-style Crypt. As a very special surprise, our friend Jen Forti sang a tailored “bellagramtelegram” song to Anne-Marie and Riley during the beginning of their seated dinner in the Crypt. The acoustics in the arches of the architecture was so enchanting! Heartfelt speeches and tears poured through everyone surrounded by candlelight.
On their Villa Cimbrone wedding day, Anne-Marie and Riley exchanged the most gut-wrenching beautiful vows between two olive trees on the edge of Villa Cimbrone’s Garden 2 looking 1200 feet over the Tyrrhenian Sea. And, oh get this… with a deep love for live music, they flew in the James Martin Band from New Orleans to play at cocktail hour on the breathtaking belvedere cliff-side Infinity Terrace and continued on to play at their Villa Eva reception. Everyone was escorted by Neapolitan Duo playing mandolins (queue Michael and Apollonia) through the alleyways of Ravello to Villa Eva where they had their reception party. Endless dancing, hugging, laughing, and prosecco sipping flowed late into the night. And oh the late-night fresh pizza baked in the city’s oldest and only true brick oven onsite at Villa Eva.
It. Just. Doesn’t. Get. Any. Better!
Testimonial from Anne-Marie and Riley’s Villa Cimbrone wedding:
“Watching our wedding premiere last night was a dream. We are both utterly blown away. Thank you. Thank you for this eternal gift, for the hours and days you put into the acrobatic crusade of not just capturing our wedding, but the true essence of our friends, our family, our loved ones, our moments, our laughter, our tears, our outbursts, our secret touches, and then the hours and days of editing 😵💫😵💫😵💫 and sorting, and carrying the hard drives, and preparing the premiere, and even getting JMB’s song on the premiere! We keep looking at each other dumbfounded. Your wizardly magic has left us speechless, every heartstring has been pulled! These memories are a gift that just keeps giving. It’s just unbelievable.” – Anne-Marie & Riley
Accolades: The photo of Anne-Marie and one of her best friends hysterically laughing on the Infinity Terrace was awarded 4th place in the most recent ISPWP Wedding Contest – Fall 2022.
Read Anne-Marie & Riley’s testimonials here.
Be sure to see another Villa Cimbrone wedding we captured with Emily & Pete.
If you are a photographer looking for a “Destination Wedding Portfolio & Bootcamp Workshop” join us w/ Ralf Czogallik and others in Mexico this coming March 5-9th, 2023. It will be the perfect reset and take your photography and business to the next level.
Photographers: JOS & TREE | Wedding Planner: Samuele Gallorini of Il Cerimoniere
3rd Photographer & Lighting Assistant: Ralf Czogallik of Eppel Fotografie
Our 4th teammate: The fabulous musician Jen Forti @bellagramtelegrams
Boat: Veliero Tortuga | Host hotel, rehearsal dinner, ceremony, cocktail hour: Villa Cimbrone
Reception & after-party venue: Villa Eva | Band: James Martin Band
DJ: Amalfi Coast Wedding Music Ushering Guitarists: Neapolitan Duo
Hair & Makeup: Alessandro Mancino | Florist: Starace Florist
Getting Ready Suite: Greta Garbo
Anne-Marie’s Grandmothers getting-ready robe
Papery: Scriptura Momental Designs and Alexa Pulitzer
Videographer: Emotional Movie
Dress: Linen Jolie Bridal (shoes & dress Badgley Mischka)
Bridesmaid dresses: Chatta Box Boutique
Tuxedos: Armani | Custom Suit: Q Clothier
