Olive Grove Wedding in Tuscany

Tania and Andrey tied the knot in June at a beautiful villa high in the hills of Tuscany, overlooking the city of Florence. From David Bastianoni: “Built in 1400, the grand estate was home to one scene in James Ivory’s British romance film A Room with a View, based on E.M. Forster’s 1908 novel. The villa’s grand yellow facade opens to sprawling gardens and an amazing vantage of the Tuscan hills and city below. Engaged in the summer of 2015 and having made their marriage official in their current home, Switzerland, Tania and Andrey opted for their symbolic ceremony to be in Villa di Maiano’s olive grove under an arch full of pink and white flowers and greenery. They arrived at the wedding in a convoy of multi-coloured vintage Fiats, perfect for this couple’s fun personalities and quirky tastes. Tania’s dress was a beautiful off-the-shoulder A-line silhouette with a long train and was adorned with colourful writing amidst the skirt’s layers. She wore colourful wedges embroidered with a rainbow of flowers. Just before evening broke, the delightful group of guests helped the couple pay homage to their personal roots. For Andrey’s Russian ancestry, during the aperitif, the couple participated in the bread and salt ceremony, where a woman wearing traditional dress presented a round loaf of bread with salt in the middle, which is meant to symbolise the bride and groom’s commitment to one another. Then, to pay tribute to Tania’s Arabic ethnicity, the women wore traditional dresses adorned with bells and danced to live music. The wedding celebrations and dinner were hosted in the garden in front of the villa with tables covered in rustic flowers and lemon trees. For dinner, Tania and Andrey wanted a casual buffet for their guests with themed stations. The dinner selection included a beautiful fruit display, a mozzarella table, live-cooking pasta and barbeque stations, a cold cut and bread spread, and a pizza station. The cake was a traditional Italian wedding cake, with layers of mille feuille and creme, topped with fresh fruit and powdered sugar. Their big day ended with a DJ and more dancing in Villa di Maiano’s main hall.”