Ciao! Where do I begin – I didn’t know dreams like this could actually come true, but Gabe and I might be a little biased. I’d been dreaming about my wedding day since I was a little girl, building out my Pinterest board as I got older, but if I’m being honest, the planning process wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows. All the stress became worth it when we were in Italy, surrounded by 75 of our closest people.
Pre-wedding
Gabe and I kicked things off exploring Florence and Rome with some family where we did all of the sight-seeing and enjoyed Florentine steak and ate pasta and gelato every day (not sure how I fit into my dress) before settling into Sorrento, our home base for the wedding festivities. The wedding week opened with a boat day to Capri with immediate family, capped off by dinner in Marina Grande, the old fishing village in Sorrento at a family-owned restaurant on the water – the kind of place that serves whatever they caught at sea that day. Partway through, the owner pulled out a Bluetooth speaker and started serenading us with Italian classics (i.e., Andrea Bocelli, etc.). Nothing says welcome to Italy quite like that.
Welcome Dinner
As more family and friends arrived, we hosted a welcome pizza party the night before the wedding at Villa Silvana – our reception venue. Sorrento is known for its lemons, so we leaned into a lemon-inspired theme for the evening: local wine, Italian appetizers, and classic Neapolitan wood-fired pizza, with plenty of conversation, singing, and dancing as the sun set behind Mount Vesuvius. That night alone felt so special, I remember hoping the wedding day could somehow live up to it.
The Big Day
I woke up at 3 a.m. to thunder and lightning loud enough to feel like it was inside the bridal suite – but by morning, skies cleared. We started with breakfast and pastries, then got ready alongside my sisters, mom, and close girlfriends. After a few photos, we boarded the bus to the church in Positano, where tourists lined the streets snapping pictures as I walked to the church – a strange little taste of fame for someone who doesn’t love attention. The ceremony itself was something else entirely; the moment Gabe and I locked eyes, it felt like just the two of us and our priest in that church.
Back at the Villa, guests were welcomed by a live strings trio for cocktail hour (aperitivo as the Italians say) while Gabe and I slipped away for sunset photos as a newly married couple. Luckily we were able to catch the end of it with guests before dinner. We had a saxophonist for dinner to keep the energy up, fresh ravioli made that morning by Nonna (the Villa’s owner, who raised her family there), and heartfelt, funny speeches from my dad, sister, and new brother-in-law.
One tradition I underestimated: Italians take their cake cuttings seriously. During planning, I remember wondering why we needed to pick a song specifically for the cake (we went with “A Sky Full of Stars” by Coldplay) – the answer became clear when sparkler machines fired off behind us and guests leapt over their chairs to come see what was happening. Pure movie-moment energy. Our first dance followed, to “Nothing Can Change This Love” by Sam Cooke, before we brought everyone onto the dance floor for the rest of the night. Between the saxophonist and the DJ, no one was sitting down. The energy was so high that I am still riding on it!
More than any single moment, what stood out was how clearly everyone could feel the love – between Gabe and me, and among our family and friends. By the end of the weekend, it genuinely felt like one big family.
Post-Wedding
From there, we headed to Rome with immediate family for the Sposi Novelli blessing of newly married couples by the Pope (no big deal), then closed out the trip just the two of us on our honeymoon in Sardinia.
We feel incredibly lucky to have brought 75 of our favorite people to our favorite place on earth. We’re still hearing from guests who never would have booked a trip to Italy otherwise and are already planning to go back – which might be my favorite part of all of it. Getting to open people’s eyes to a place and culture we love, while they celebrated with us, is exactly what we hoped for.
Married life is already everything we thought it would be. Gabe and I used to say it before we were even engaged, and it’s only gotten truer: every day together just gets better. Here’s to a lifetime of it as “The Chuckrans”.
Much love,
The new Anne Chuckran
