Daughters of Simone Co-Owner’s Vintage-Inspired Boho Bliss Italian Wedding — Part 1

Did you see the Bohemian Backyard Bon Voyage Party for Ashley + Terrence this morning? If not, pop on over there (so many gorgeous details + styling!) and then we’ll whisk you away to Italy! In fact, A+T’s big day (and the events leading up to it) were so eye-catching and right in line with GWS, that we’re sharing the SECOND part to their wedding later today.

Ashley’s here to share a bit about the inspiration behind the grand event: We knew we wanted to get married in Lugano, Switzerland because it’s where we first started dating. We thought it would be incredibly romantic to share this magical place with our closest family and friends. We found a gorgeous villa in a tiny village on Lake Como, Italy that was the perfect venue for our wedding reception. It also happened to be the place where we stayed with our bridal parties for the week. It was important to us that we all stayed under one roof and had ample bonding time.

Being that the Villa was only 45 minutes or so away from Lugano, we decided to go for the best of both worlds and host events in both Lugano, Switzerland and Lake Como, Italy. Planner, Laura Dova, helped make that happen!

Our pals, Christine Cater (florist), and Lilly Red (photographer) brought the vision to life… Fun Fact: we collaborated with these two rockstars in Lake Como last year, see it here!

Off the shores of Switzerland, this yacht made for a magical rehearsal dinner location!

Talk about gems + jewels! This treasury was composed of tons of pieces by Ashley for A.B.Ellie.

I also had the vision for each girl to be dripping in bold jewelry and gold crowns. I reached out to Ashley, from A.B.Ellie, who was up for the collaboration challenge and we created a jewelry collection comprised of crowns, various headpieces, necklaces, earrings (available in the Fall collection). On the morning of the wedding I laid out each of the pieces and invited the girls to deck themselves out and wear whatever they wanted from the collection. I really wanted them to have their “princess movie” moment as they all had been doing so much for me.

Holy smokes…that Rebecca Overmann ring is a work of ART!

Choosing wedding shoes proved to be a difficult task. Once I had decided to have a slit up the front of my gown I realized my shoes would be on display the whole time. I chose shoes that weren’t too busy as I didn’t want anything to take away from the dress. I’m rarely seen not wearing boots so I settled on some simple yet sleek pointed white booties.

It comes as no surprise to us that Ashley, co-owner of Daughters of Simone, would be rocking one amazing frock for her wedding. If you love this dress as much as us, DOS has designed a modified version of it for their new 2019 bridal collection: Day Dream (launching this fall)!

How epic is this first look? That train…my goodness! HEART EYES, for sure!

My sister, Brit, created this long dramatic veil for me which was simple in design, but the length made quite a statement. The veil was attached to the sides of a custom headpiece that I took part in designing (along with Ashley from A.B.Ellie for our collaboration jewelry collection). The decadent crown was worn on the back of my head and it looked like wild golden vines swimming though my hair, it had touches of wildflowers with gemstones throughout. 

I also had the idea that each girl would wear some sort of long robe. After many revisions these ended up being sheer netted pearled cloaks which connected in the front and were adorned with long tassels. I really wanted the girls gowns to have trains, there’s just so few moments in life when you get to wear a train, ya know? And I also thought it would add to the drama.

Like something out of Vogue…

I’m quite the minimalist when comes to accessories so along with my wedding ring I wore a vintage gold necklace that belonged to Grandma. Her and my grandpa had been married for 65 years before she passed so it was a lovely sentiment to wear something he had gifted her.

Terrence kept the fashion forward theme going by designing embroidered tuxedos. He was inspired by a Valentino collection a few years back and incorporated his inspiration with nature-inspired details and South Western symbols. He’s always had a unique sense of style and the tuxes complemented him and his crew beautifully. Big thanks to Jackie of El Patcha Embroidery for the amazing embroidery work!  

My wedding gown was comprised of 100% ivory silk, I’ve always been a sucker for vintage silk pieces so I knew right away this would be the fabric of choice. I had always envisioned wearing an off-the-shoulder gown, as my mother had, but I wanted to put a unique spin on it by developing these large billowy sleeves.

 I knew I wanted floral embroidery to be a featured on my gown, and after scouring the fabric markets I finally found a floral embroidered trim, of course it was vintage, so I had it recreated and customized for my gown. You can see subtle hints of it throughout the gown and all along the ridiculously long train. I wanted a gown that made me feel like I was floating (while standing still).

We’re absolutely swept up in all these details…and that’s not ALL! We’ve got the fabulous ceremony next to the water in just a couple of hours. Stay tuned, my friends!

photography: Lilly Red // venue name: Villa Camilla, Lake Como, Italy // event design: Christine Cater // planning: Laura Dova // florals: Christine Cater // wedding dress: Daughters of Simone // bride's ring: Rebecca Overmann // bridesmaid dresses: Greer & Chelsea for Leave Her Wilder // hair stylist: Sinem Yavasner // makeup artist: Sinem Yavasner // groom's ring: Fiat Lux SF // videography: 2become1 // paper goods: Carolyn Yocum // calligraphy: Inkpush Co. // catering: Amandine Anglade // cake: Amandine Anglade // tabletop rentals: Tableset Rentals // furniture rentals: Sofi Rent Design // music: Vincent // bridesmaids pearled capes : Daughters of Simone // bride + bridesmaids jewelry : Ashley for A.B.Ellie // groomsmen embroidery: Jackie Haug // vintage furniture: Narkisso // decor rentals: Rossodisera Events // Invitation printing: Megan & Sebastian Mejia