Wedding on Monte Isola: thank you!

On 8 September 2020 I married Francesco. I have never been the child who dreams of getting married, and until recently I admit that I thought it would never 'be my turn'. Yet ever since my schoolmates started getting married - one after the other - I had a clear picture of my 'ideal marriage'. I imagined a wedding in Monte Isola civil and intimate, with a dozen guests, with the Celtic harp (by the way Chiara Bonardi was divine!) in front of an arch of red and white flowers that framed our smiles while a lake coloured by the reflection of the clear sky served as a backdrop. The only thing missing from this idyllic picture was the groom's face.

That's why my favourite photo is this one of Francesco's expression when he saw me arrive. Besides, I was about a quarter of an hour late not because I was running away with the jeraboam of Palmer Champagnebut because my cousin Marco couldn't knot his tie and none of the people involved could! Here, my wedding in Monte Isola was also a new beginning for me and my cousin after 10 years that we had no relationship at all. A bad relationship makes us insecure, fragile, angry, in other words the ugly copy of ourselves. And I know this perfectly well, so I decided to forgive him and start again.

This article is the first in my return to work after an absurd year, where I lived as if suspended and alienated from my own life. I am speaking in the past tense, but in reality it is not over yet: coronavirus infections in Italy are still around 1,500 a day, while in the world everything is much much worse. Besides, there are conspiracy and denialist people who are doing damage with their irresponsible actions. People who do not believe in the parade of coffins in military trucks in Bergamo, right over the mountains that I look at every morning when I wake up. The incredible thing is that they too have the right to vote. Anyway, for me, 2020 was the perfect year to get married: I took some time off from work during a period of almost complete standstill in my industry. I took about 1.5 months off where I planned the wedding, got married and had a short but wonderful honeymoon.

In the morning I was not at all nervous: I got up at 8 o'clock as usual and had breakfast with Marco Nanni, my beloved childhood friend who had been sleeping over for a couple of days. I showered and did my make-up as usual, then we waited for mum, aunt and my cousin to have lunch together here at home. My hairdresser Camilla was super quick to do my disastrous hair and as soon as I was done, L'Isola Fiorita arrived with my bouquet of roses and orchids: it was so beautiful that I got excited! As soon as mum and aunt had finished doing their hair we all went to get the bus, which was also late. It was a really comical scene: the bride coiffed and combed with the dog in one hand, the cake topper in the other, my cousin with my wedding dress, my shoes and all my accessories, my mum with the bouquet and another unidentified bag, my aunt and Marco with a thousand other things between buttons, cuffs etc! Francesco had been walking up and down the castle all morning and was waiting for me at the entrance already dressed as a groom: he was beautiful! 😍

I had an atomic anxiety that my dress wouldn't close. I had had it made to measure by SposAtelier, but since I absolutely wanted to lose 8 kg for my wedding in Monte Isola, I had ordered it in sizes 99-89-109, which weren't quite what I had. However, thanks to a truly miraculous diet I lost all the kg I had set myself and in the end it fit me perfectly on my wedding day. Well this was actually thanks to my best man Marina Tagliaferri (in the first photo) from Agora Press Agency who put it on me perfectly. Heck we met almost a year ago at a wonderful evening at a winery I adore and who is also her client, La Montina Franciacorta and we fell in love with each other (read the event report here). In fact, she told me that the dress even fit me big... yay! 😝 In the second photo I am with my mum who, among other things, also gave me my wedding dress! 😍

Our wine weddings were truly wonderful and Oldofredi Castle in Monte Isola was the perfect location for this magical day. Our mayor Fiorello Turla also performed a truly splendid ceremony, full of emotion and he read and gave us a beautiful poem as well as the pen with which we signed the registers and the souvenir parchment together with our witnesses. So much for those who say that civil weddings are less emotional... I was so happy I didn't understand a thing.

All the staff at Castello Oldofredi were impeccable and they really made me happy, from the aperitif in the garden to the dinner on the beautiful terrace lounge overlooking the lake! At this point I imagine you want to know what we ate and what we drank, but I'm going to write you a great article tomorrow with all the wine tastings from the wedding and the wine pairings! I'll just tell you in advance that I have chosen my favourite wines... ready to discover them all?

My special thanks go to all our guests, who are our close and slightly extended family. My only regret is that Dad was not with me on the day that was truly the best day of my life. I would never have imagined that after his death I could be so happy: my husband Francesco is a true miracle. ❤️

The last thanks go to the photographer Morris Moratti of Innamorati Wedding Studio in Monticelli Brusati (BS). The photos, the video and 'the sdronate' are beyond my expectations. Ah, I recommend you watch the video below... it's 3 minutes of magic. Well this is also thanks to the editing with the song Francesco wrote and sang for me to ask me to marry him: it is the most beautiful in the world!

Now you just have to discover all the wines from our wedding in Monte Isola in my next article. I'll only spoil the wineries for you (in order of service on the menu)... for the rest, surprise!

• Cobue Winery Resort - Brescia
• Alsace Willm - France, distributed by Pellegrini SpA
• Salomon Undhof - Austria, distributed by Pellegrini SpA
• Le Vigne di Alice
• Bellenda 1986
• Palmer & Co distributed by Vino & Design

Thank you all so much for sending me these wonderful wines that helped make our wedding even more special!💝💝💝

Cheers 🥂

Chiara

P.S. The last thank you goes to the mystery photographer (maybe Marina?) of this wonderful photo together with my other best man Marco Antonucci. Yes, there was a very high concentration of people named Marco at our wedding: 3 out of 12 guests! I love this photo... we are so stylish! 😍

All my notes on wine and food in one book.