As soon as Alpha and Alpha laid their eyes on Villa Dei D’Armiento, they knew it was the perfect location for their formal yet tropical Mediterranean villa wedding! The couple let the venue’s natural greenery shine with a classic white and navy color palette, and added tropical pops of orange and coral in their floral design. From the couple’s boat trip to Capri with all of their guests to their first dance under the stars, we love how photographer Thanasis Kaiafas captured every moment of this couple’s wedding weekend.
The Couple:
Alpha and Alpha
The Wedding:
Villa Dei D’Armiento, Sorrento, Italy
We live in Ethiopia now, and our families and friends are in America, Ethiopia, and all over the world. We wanted to celebrate over multiple days so we decided to have a destination wedding.
We worked with our planner, Erin Lindeman, to find the right location in the Mediterranean. We wanted a location near but not on the water. When she showed us Villa Dei D’Armiento we fell in love with it immediately. Over the following year with many phone calls with Erin and many Pinterest boards we were able to remotely plan the perfect weekend for our guests- kicking off with a pizza dinner on Thursday, boat trip to Capri on Friday, rehearsal dinner on the water Friday night, and the wedding day then Sunday brunch.
Venue was chosen as we wanted a location between Ethiopia (where we now live) and America (where our family lives). We were interested in a venue in southern Europe near the water but not on the water, and not too large or opulent. This villa was the perfect choice!
I wanted a sleek and sophisticated look with a somewhat unique dress. I chose the Amsale dress because I loved the minimal emebellishments and general shape. I loved the way the cap sleeves sparkled in the sunlight and on the dance floor. My cluster earrings from JCrew matched the sleeves almost exactly, and were the only accessory I wore with the dress. Given the shoulder and back detail of the dress I wore my hair up in a high bun, a look I really liked but was also very practical for a full day of activities!
The villa was the inspiration for the over all look and feel of the wedding. We wanted it to feel formal without being black tie, and loved the formal yet tropical feel of the Sorrento villa.
We had a mozzarella maker make mozzarella balls fresh during the cocktail hour. I have never had mozzarella this delicious in my life!
My favorite part of our day was the dinner. Erin arranged for one long banquet table in the shadow of giant Palm trees. It was incredible to sit in the middle of that table with my new husband literally surrounded by all our family and friends.
Our advice: Hammer out all of the details early! There were a number of things I did not need to worry of the month of the wedding (table numbers? menus?) that I could have decided on much earlier. Don’t leave anything till the end if you can help it.
Processional: At Last, Beyoncé
Bridal Processional: Mushiraye, Mahmoud Ahmed (Ethiopian Traditional Wedding Song)
Recessional: Signed Sealed Delivered, Stevie Wonder
First Dance: Let’s Stay Together, Al Green
The Wedding Team:
Photography – Thanasis Kaiafas
Event Planning & Design – Lindeman Weddings
Venue & Catering – Villa Dei D’Armiento
Officiant – Dr. Aelaf Worku
Videography – Peiro Cantarella
Invitations – Minted
Makeup & Hair Artist – Jimena Puy
Wedding Dress – Amsale
Bridal Accessories – J. Crew
Rings – Cartier, Brilliant Earth
Congratulations to Alpha and Alpha, and a huge thanks to Junebug member Thanasis Kaiafas for sharing their wedding with us. Love the gorgeous simplicity of this photographer’s work? Then you’ve got to see this chic tropical Greek wedding at Porto Germeno, also shot by Thanasis!
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