Kate and Keegan’s 3-day Villa d Este wedding in Lake Como Italy welcomed 110 guests into one of the most exquisite wedding settings in the world. It was the perfect fit to fulfill their dream. Their wedding planner Elena Pensini with Elena Pensini Events perfectly planned everything and executed it flawlessly.
If you’ve never been to Lake Como, it’s a legendary world of its own. The lake was carved out by a glacier during the Ice Age and is the deepest lake (1300 feet) in Italy. The natural beauty and captivating villas are enframed by the mountains of the Alps. It’s surrounded by a 10-hectare park with centennial trees, baroque statues, and flowers. Lovely terraces, large windows, and stone balconies allow you to look out over far-reaching lake vistas. Villa d’Este’s greatest jewel is the beautiful botanical Mosaic Garden where intimate ceremonies are performed. It has a collonade that is decorated with endless pebbles in various colors forming ornamental designs, embellishments, and elaborate themes along the arches telling stories from Greek mythology.
And… there’s nothing like a little adventure to get everyone excited. After their ceremony rehearsal in the Mosiac Garden, everyone gathered at the dock to take boat taxis with Lake Como Tours to the rehearsal dinner. Strong gusts of wind picked up lifting choppy water across the lake for a thrilling boat ride (while passing George Clooney’s home) to Crotto di Platani. Everyone arrived safe! This rehearsal dinner venue was absolutely mind-blowing. Emotional toasts, flowers, candles, wine, champagne, and gourmet plates of food were served during dinner nestled right near the edge of the lake.
The next day, guests were invited to explore a variety of activities. From charter private boat rides around the lake, day excursions to the town of Bellagio, trail running above the town of Cernobbio overlooking the lake, or simply enjoying the Pool at Cernobbio, lunch or dinner a Figli Dei Fiori Restaurant. Everyone enjoyed cocktail hour at Lido di Cernobbio together.
On the day of this Villa d Este wedding, all the vendors worked as a great team (listed below). Our great Roman/Portland photographer friend Alice Falzone w/ Mosca Studios joined our dream team. From the gorgeous ceremony in the Mosiac Garden, cocktails on the Terrace by the Lake, toasts, dinner, and dancing in the Colonne Room to spectacular fireworks and cake on Terrace by the lake.
Our approach to photography is cinematically telling the entire story from wide, far, close, high, and low. Our aim is to find the best compositional angles and capture people in the most beautiful light and emotion and/or motion possible. Documenting these fleeting moments in full is no small task and we went the extra mile taking 19,304 images over 3 days. At the heart of everything, we are on the constant lookout for expressions that reflect the feeling of everything. Sometimes these expressions are large yet oftentimes subtle and happen within a fraction of a second. To us, these fleeting moments of feeling tell the greatest story.
Photographers: JOS & TREE | Venue: Villa d Este
3rd Photographer & Lighting Assistance: Alice w/ Mosca Studios
Wedding Planner – Elena Pensini Events | Dress – Monique Lhuillier
Rehearsal Dinner Venue: Crotto di Platani | Welcome Gathering: Lido di Cernobbio
Boat: Lake Como Tours | Private Boat: Parravicini
Ceremony: Mosiac Garden | Officiant: Francesca Bodie Leiweke
Cocktails: Terrace by the Lake
Reception Dinner – Colonne Room (inside) | Fireworks / Cake – Terrace by the lake
Make-up and Hair – Elena Panzeri Makeup | Bridemaids – BHLDN
Floral: Figli Dei Fiori | Entertainment: Blunotte Eventi Sagl
Read Kate & Keegan’s testimonial here.
Accolades:
- The big cake with fireworks shot at the end of the night was awarded among the top 50 photos for 2022 by World’s Best Wedding Photos.
- Kate and Keegan’s adventurous boat ride around Lake Como was given 3rd place awarded by ISPWP in their latest Fall 2022 Wedding Photography Contest.
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.