Alexis and Bradley were married at Relais Villa Vittoria in Laglio, on Lake Como, in August 2024.
Laglio sits on the western shore, half an hour up the lake from Como itself, and the villa’s terrace is close enough to the water that the far shore becomes the backdrop to everything. There is no set dressing to do. The lake does it.
They arrived by Riva. If you have not seen one, it is the varnished mahogany launch that has been carrying people up and down that lake since the fifties, all wood and cream leather, and it is the single most Como thing that can happen at a Como wedding. Como Classic Boats ran it.
Alexis wore three dresses across the day, all by Sharon OSP, made to measure out of her Miami atelier. The ceremony gown was heavily beaded, with sleeves that fell away into something closer to a cape, and it read beautifully against the white of the arch.
Events by Carmen planned and designed the day, and the palette was white and black, which sounds severe and read as the opposite. White anthurium, dahlias, gerbera and cream roses, wild fennel gone to seed, tall white tapers in glass. Then black napkins with silver rings, black beaded chargers underneath, and fruit laid straight onto the linen: green grapes, limes, pears. It looked like a seventeenth century Dutch still life set for dinner, which on an Italian terrace is precisely the right reference.
Figli dei Fiori did the flowers, Duality Artistry hair and makeup, La Torteria the cake, Bliss Imprints the stationery and BBJ La Tavola the linens. Bradley’s white dinner jacket came from Sartori Amici and My Grooms Room.
Dinner was three courses on the terrace as the light went off the water.
I photograph weddings across Italy and I speak Italian, which matters more than couples expect. Your venue, your planner, your florist and the man driving the boat are all easier to work with when your photographer can talk to them directly.
If you are planning a wedding on Lake Como, or anywhere in Italy, I would love to hear about it.
Planning and design: Events by Carmen · Venue: Relais Villa Vittoria, Laglio · Gowns: Sharon OSP · Florals: Figli dei Fiori Como · Hair and makeup: Duality Artistry · Video: Lexi Rabelo Films · Boat: Como Classic Boats · Cake: La Torteria Como · Menswear: Sartori Amici and My Grooms Room · Linens: BBJ La Tavola · Stationery: Bliss Imprints