Virginia's Wedding

We got back to London about two weeks ago, but before I tell you all about the crazy fun that we have had in the last couple of weeks, I have one more post to devote to our lovely stay in Italy. I want to tell you and show you some pictures about my friend Virginia's wedding. Virginia and Andrea's wedding was particularly emotional as Virgy walked down the aisle carrying a six-month baby bump! That's right, she is pregnant and they are expecting a baby girl, Elisa, in December. Virgina had the cutest flower girls who all behaved very well. The venue, Casale Marino, was stunning, the food delicious and the flower arrangements beautiful. It was the perfect way to end our stay in my beloved Pescara. 

Two Years

Rob and I celebrated two years of marriage yesterday. As I am still recovering from my recent surgery, we couldn't do much. However, we still enjoyed a nice meal out in one of the local restaurants and celebrated the occasion with bubbles, seafood and lobster! We had a lovely time remembering what we were doing at that exact time two years ago and took a lovely after dinner stroll. It seemed to be on holiday. And speaking of which, we will officially celebrate the anniversary with a four-day vacation under the Tuscan sun at the end of August, and we cannot wait!

P.S. To my sweet in-laws: thank you ever so much for the lovely card!

Anniversary Celebrations

So we have come to the end of our two-day anniversary celebrations. 

Day 1 started with a nice homemade breakfast and ended with an evening out in Theatreland, in the West End. It's not that easy to dress up with an expanding bump, but I tried to wear something nice for the occasion anyway.

It's not proper Summer weather in London at the moment but the temperatures are just perfect for me, not too high and definitely not low either. It's nice not to wear a jacket but at the same time it's great not to be sweating all the time. 

As you can see, the bump is regularly growing. I am at the end of week 31 now, only nine weeks to go (or less!). I am getting every day slower and slower but I can't complain, things are still going pretty smooth.

At 6.30pm our car arrived and we were driven to the Royal Drury Lane Theatre to see Shrek The Musical.

Unfortunately, the musical wasn't great. I don't think I disliked it as much as Rob but I was certainly disappointed. The good things about the movies are the wittiness and the songs, both these things were taken away in the musical. I don't quite understand why but all the songs were new and specifically written for the musical. Why would you do that when the soundtrack of the movies is so good and entertaining? This is a mystery to me. Anyway, the story is still sweet and we enjoyed an evening out in bustling London. It was crazy busy on a Monday night and it took us forever to get back home, I have never seen so much traffic in London. I wonder how it is going to be in a month time for the Olympics!

Day 2 was perfect. Rob came home from work and surprised me with a colourful bunch of gerberas. Aren't they lovely? I told him he has won the *best husband of the year* prize :)
He has done so much for this anniversary and I am very grateful.

For the evening's dinner Rob picked Gaucho, here at the Tower Bridge. We love this restaurant and their meat is just delicious. I loved this choice for many reasons: it's very close to our flat, the ambiance of the restaurant is very cool and the food is to die for.
Here is a picture of me and the bump a few minutes before leaving the flat.

I really enjoyed the short walk to the restaurant and Gaucho certainly didn't disappoint. We started with non-alcoholic drinks and appetisers; it was so weird to be drinking a non-alcoholic Mojito but let me tell you, it was sooooo good! Rob opted for a *fake* Pina Colada instead.

And then the amazing meat, all the iron I needed for the day.

We ended the meal with a super yummy dessert: I had the best white chocolate and yogurt mousse I have ever had with a nice and refreshing mango and coconut sauce. I didn't even have the time to take a picture, I just ate it and loved it!

So this is it, our first wedding anniversary has come to an end. I had a great time. One year down, the rest of our lives to go...

One year as Mr and Mrs

On April-1-2011 Rob and I promised eternal love to each other in a small town-hall in South London in front of the registrar, a witness, and two good friends.We joked it was an April fool.

Vale & Rob | Civil Cerimony from Colors Design Studio on Vimeo.

A couple of months later, on June-25-2011 we confirmed our promise in church in Italy in front of our beloved family and friends. That day was magical for us.

Today, we celebrate our first wedding anniversary. A full year of happiness.
The day has started with a yummy breakfast. I made chocolate croissants and cappuccino. It was the first time I tried to make croissants, and thankfully, they turned out rather good. I was pleased and Rob really enjoyed them.

Rob and I had extensively talked about the anniversary and how we wanted to celebrate. We had to change plans a couple of times. Originally, way before I got pregnant, we had decided to go to Santorini. Remember we were undecided whether to go to Santorini, Greece, or New Zealand for our honeymoon? We picked New Zealand in the end because we thought it would be more special for the occasion, and therefore decided to leave Santorini for our first wedding anniversary get-away. Then, back from New Zealand, I got pregnant and with time we realised that going to Greece at the end of June may have not been a very wise option. We looked at alternatives and we warmed up to the idea of celebrating on the English coast, in Brighton. However, traveling is getting a bit harder for me these days and given that we will (hopefully!) be going to Italy in a couple of weeks, we thought it may be more sensible not to stress my body and baby O too much. So, we will celebrate in London instead. Tonight I am taking Rob to the theatre to see Shrek The Musical. We love the movies and the soundtrack and I thought it would be cute. Baby O will enjoy it too, I am sure. And then Rob is taking me out for dinner tomorrow evening. Details to come. 

So, given that we both organised something for the two evenings, we agreed that we would not exchange gifts. The musical and a nice meal out would be our gifts to each other. But then Rob surprised me this morning...after breakfast he asked me to sit on the couch and close my eyes and when I opened them, this was sitting next to me:

Inside, the iconic Speedy 35. In the weekend we will go back to the store to have my initials added. Which colour(s) should I choose? I was thinking yellow...

Today, I am an explosion of joy!

Vows Renewal Outfit Sorted

When we renew our wedding vows (it will happen at some point!), I want to wear this gorgeous Chanel Cruise 2011-2012 number. Isn't it just lovely? Now, I need to talk with Rob about dates.... Are you all ready to make another trip to Pescara? Or perhaps the South of France?

My Type of Bride

2011 has definitely been "THE" wedding year, with all the royal weddings around the world,  celebrities' weddings, see Kate Moss and Lily Allen, and less famous ceremonies (but nontheless beautiful!), like Vale and Rob's (ha ha), and now the ever so cool Sofia Coppola has joined the club. 

There have been all sorts of weddings this year. Some were definitely better than others (e.g. Kate Moss's vs Kim Kardashian's!) and some were just super cool (e.g. Vale and Rob's ). The lastest addition on the 2011 brides' list is Sofia Coppola who got married in Italy last Saturday. I have always been a big fan of Sofia's style and I love her choice for a not-very-bridal-dress. For the big day, instead of going all princess-crazy, Sofia wore a beautiful, custom-made, lavender, short Azzedine Alaia dress. I love the high round neckline (my wedding gown had a high round neckline!) and the pleated full skirt. Definitely my type of bride!

I realise that her choice was quite unconventional and am curious to hear your comments. Did you like it? What type of bride are you? Traditional? Unconventional? Glamorous? Romantic? Sexy? I'd like to know.

The White Fairy Tale Love Ball

Paris Haute Couture Week ended with The White Fairy Tale Love Ball hosted by Valentino, which I would have loved to attend, if anything, to wear my wedding gown, again.

Speaking of which, a couple of dresses among the ones chosen by the beautiful people who were lucky enough to attend, I think would make gorgeous wedding gowns.

Such as this beautiful Valentino dress that Anne Hathaway was wearing:

And this sweet dress chosen by model Astrid Munoz:

If only one could get married every year...

One Thing In My Mind

 

There is only one thing in my mind these days. I can't stop thinking of the wedding. 

It was the best day of my life!

Happy Happy Happy

{photo from here}

I am off to Italy tomorrow and this is how I feel: Happy Happy Happy!

I am happy because I am going home to sunny Pescara; I will hug and see my family and friends; I will go to the beach and tan; I will eat lots of pizza and will enjoy many aperitivi; I will go to my friends' wedding and I will be finalising the details of our wedding. I can't wait! Finally, all the people we love, from different parts of the world, will be gathered all together in the same venue to celebrate with us. I am sure it will be a very touching and fun day and I truly can't wait!

I will be back in a couple of weeks with news and pics of the wedding. Until then, stay cool valeasc readers!

You Are Invited

As promised, here are some pictures of our wedding invites.

Since we got engaged I knew I would design our wedding invitations. And what a responsibility that is! I first looked for inspiration and then played around with a dozen of styles. I knew I wanted something simple but fun, elegant but not stuffy. I love polka dots and I should have known that I would end up using them. As for the colours, gray had to be one option since our Save the Date cards were all white and gray and I wanted to do something in line with that as I love gray in general, I think it's such an understated, classy and simply lovely colour. I even contemplated the idea of having a monochrome invite but somehow I felt that I needed a splash of colour. As I don't really have a colour theme for the wedding, I thought green would be the best choice as it naturally appears in the flower arrangements. With time, I have discovered that green will be the colour of the night anyway: My mum will be in green and as far as I understand half of the girls will be wearing green too! 

The design was then letterpress printed on a vintage Heidelberg press on a thick (425gsm) Saunders 100% cotton paper by the lovely people at Blush Publishing who did an amazing job, I think.

Final touches were the customised stamps from the Royal Mail and the beautiful calligraphy work by njw.

So, you are the judges. Do you like them? 

Have you designed your wedding invitations? Did you feel the pressure? I'd love to hear your stories.

Such a Lovely Touch

Now that all my guests (well, I have heard from 90% of them) have received their invites, I can finally reveal some pictures. 

A month ago, while stressing over things at work (I am sure!), I received this lovely picture from the ever so nice and super professional people at Blush showing my wedding invites on the press.

I thought it was such a lovely touch and I can't speak highly enough of these people. I had a blast designing my wedding invites and am definitely going to use Blush again. Thank you guys!

More pics of the invites coming up.

Opinion

I am window shopping exhausted! Rob and I wandered around London all day today looking for a few things, one of these being a dress I could wear at my parents' Welcome Aperitivo party the night before the wedding (yes, I am still looking!). 

I saw this little number and personally like it, it makes me think a lot of my parents' garden in Spring with all the cherry trees in blossom. Rob, however, didn't like it as much as me, so I am asking you: do you like it? Should I buy it? Do you think it would be a nice thing to wear for a bride-to-be? I am thinking to accessorise it with a white flower in my hair and glittery black shoes.  Need your opinion. Thanks!

It's Getting Real

Last weekend I celebrated my hen party in London with a very nice bunch of girlfriends. This, more than the civil ceremony, made me realise that it's getting real, Rob and I are getting married in a month!

My friends organised a wonderful weekend together and I couldn't have asked for a better hen party. It was lovely, it was fun, it was tasteful, exactly what I wanted. 

We started the celebration with an Afternoon Teaser at the Volupte. While enjoying a traditional high tea with sandwiches, champagne, scones, meringues and more we were entertained by some talented burlesque performers. I think we all agreed that Amber Topaz was the best, although Matt Ricardo the magician was incredibly funny and my friend Ambra even said that she could marry a man like him. 

The show lasted about two hours. We then jumped into our taxis and headed to My Chelsea Hotel, a very girlie boutique hotel in the heart of Chelsea where we had a beauty and spa themed bridal shower. I was treated with luxurious gifts from Liberty and Penhaligons (Thank you friends!) and received a facial with peeling and mask. It was very relaxing and so much fun.

The hotel was very cute, very small and perfect for our purpose. We spent a couple of hours chatting, sipping tea and relaxing in my room. We then got ready for dinner and headed to the hotel bar where we enjoyed Cosmopolitan and Mojito cocktails.

We ended the evening with a nice meal at the hotel restaurant with more chats and laughs. 

I am so very lucky: I had the perfect hen party with the perfect company and went to bed so full of joy and touched. Sunday morning we all had breakfast together and then it was time to say goodbye and see you soon in June in Italy for the big day!

Thank you all for making my hen party a day I'll never forget! I love you all!

Special Moments

{photo from here}

Yesterday afternoon I had my first dress fitting. My mum and nana flew from Italy for the occasion and I was very happy to have them around for this special moment. All day I kept thinking of the dress and imagining myself wearing it. I was so concerned I wouldn't like it anymore or worse that it wouldn't fit me well. I left work early and headed to Sloane Square where I was supposed to meet with mum and grandmum to go to the shop. When I arrived they were waiting for me and grandmum was holding a vase of wonderful lily of the valleys. Their smile when they saw me touched me. We were all very excited and perhaps emotional too. 

Trying on my dress was a beautiful experience and thankfully I liked it even more than when I bought it, now over four months ago. We all cried, even the shop assistant. It is a very special moment when you wear your wedding gown for the first time, it was special for me but it must be even more special for a mother to see her daughter wearing a white dress and for a grandmother to see her granddaughter all grown up and ready for the big day. 

I am very close to my mum and grandmum and I am very happy we get to share moments like this. I love it when the three of us are together, cooking, crafting or simply chatting. Three generations in one room. And I hope to be lucky enough to add the fourth generation into our little circle soon; I know grandmum would love it!

Once Upon A Time...

Rob and I went back to lovely Durham after over seven years since our Master's days and spent a wonderful long weekend strolling around and revisiting all the *scenes of the crime*! It was incredibly romantic to go back to where we met and I found it particularly emotional to go now, just a couple of months before our wedding. 

We stayed at the lovely Marriott Durham and had a wonderful and relaxing time wandering around this fairy-tale town. Durham really is magic and for us it will always be a special place. I can't wait to go back with our kids...one day!

But tell me, where did you meet your partners? I'd love to hear your stories!

Maybe...

Maybe, I have found the dress to wear at the party the night before the wedding. What do you think? It's very me, I think. Although, I would accessorize it with a different pair of shoes!

Mr and Mrs

The moment we promised eternal love to each other. We are over the moon!

The Benefit of wearing make-up

 

Today at lunch break I decided to be brave and go to Benefit to try on some make-up. As you all know by now, I don't wear make-up, never have. I can rock a bright red lipstick but that's all for me.  However, the idea of going completely natural on my wedding day is a bit scary; that day I should look as good as possible and my skin should definitely be flawless. They say make-up helps.

A very good friend of mine suggested I'd try Benefit, so I did. I was impressed by how professional and lovely the lady who helped me was. In ten minutes she applied all sorts of things to my face still making me look very natural and best thing of all, I felt comfortable wearing make-up. Long story short, I ended up spending 90£ in make-up, more than I have ever spent in make-up in my entire life.

She first applied this amazing eye-cream to brighten my eyes and fade these huge dark circles that have been with me every day and every night in the last couple of weeks. Then she used this gorgeous foundation faker, so light I didn't even realise I was still wearing it at 11pm in the night. Next was a light touch of concealer, a sugarbomb face powder, some mascara to highlight my eyes and a peachy lip gloss. I was very pleased with the results and I think I may have found another addiction: Benefit products!

Aperitivo Dress

My parents are organising a Welcome Aperitivo at their house the night before the wedding to welcome all the people coming from abroad. I really like this idea and I think it will help all the foreigners to feel at home and familiarise with all the other English speakers.

While I am quite relaxed about the organisation of this small event, in fact, it will be a very informal, court-yard style party, I am struggling to find the perfect dress.

This one would be absolutely spot on. Too bad with a price tag of 2,990$ I cannot afford it in this world...in my next life I am going to be a spoiled socialite!

Make-Up Disaster

They say brides should wear make-up and in all fairness, I have never seen a bride without make-up. 

I am thirty-one years old and I can say I have almost never worn make-up in my life. I may have applied the occasional eye-shadow in Summer every now and then but nothing major. Oddly, the only thing that I feel comfortable with is red lipstick. So, for me, wearing make-up on my wedding day is threatening, to say the least! Last week I had an appointment with a make-up artist and let me tell you it was a disaster. I explained to the girl that I don't usually wear make-up and most importantly that I don't like make-up. She understood and assured me that she would not mess my face up with a lot of products. She applied foundation and corrector first and then she started working on my eyes. Every now and then she would tell me what she was doing and my friend Ilaria diligently checked her work. Once done she gave me a mirror and that's when I screamed! I couldn't recognise myself. The eye pencil made my eyes look smaller, to me at least, and the whole face expression was different. I didn't like it one bit and I was quite vocal about it. 

What should I do? Can I really avoid to wear make-up on my wedding day?