As someone who works in interior design, Sorcha was in her element when planning the decor for her and Fabian's destination wedding. Their big day took place on the grounds of a 16th-century historic villa in the Italian countryside, surrounded by lemon trees.
THE COUPLE
Sorcha, design manager, and Fabian, lead product manager.
THEY LIVE
In Berlin.
THE VENUE
Villa Grabau, Lucca, Tuscany.
PHOTOGRAPHY
Irene Fucci.
THEY MET
We met at university – we both attended the National College of Art and Design. I was studying textiles and Fabian was studying industrial design.
THE PROPOSAL
Fabian proposed during Christmas time in our little house in Dublin after making 100 tortellini for a scrumptious pasta dinner.
THE DRESS AND THE SUIT
My wedding dress was from the Australian designer Zimmerman, my pearl drop earrings were Sophie Bille Brahe, and my shoes were Alohas. I wanted to feel really comfortable, so I decided to do my own makeup, and my mom and sister did my hair.
Fabian wore a Peek & Cloppenburg suit and his shoes were his Grandad’s.
THE CEREMONY
Our ceremony was outside amongst the lemon trees. Our siblings and close friends played a major role in our ceremony and throughout the day, and Fabian’s sister was the ceremony holder. Another sister held a beautiful meditation at the beginning, our sisters sang, our grandmothers gave speeches and we shared well wishes while tying little bracelet knots.
THE RECEPTION
Being in Italy, our reception food was divine! We had some buffet-style stations set up for the cocktail hour, with tasty Tuscan breads, meats, cheeses – everything you could imagine. We also had drink corners set up for champagne and Aperol. Then we had a delicious dinner later on.
THE ENTERTAINMENT
For the ceremony, we had a jazz band perform and my sister and close friend Jess sang some songs. For the reception, our good friend Jenny was the DJ.
THE DECOR
I sourced the decor myself – flowers, candles, candlesticks, and fruit were purchased individually in Lucca and arranged on the morning of the wedding. We chose striped light green tablecloths just to be fun (I do love a stripe!) and kept it super simple with silverware and slightly ornate off-white delph.
The venue itself has so much foliage draped along the walls, ceilings and pillars, along with inset fountains and marble heads, so we decided to keep it simple and not take away from the beauty of the building itself.
The building is a winter conservatory for Villa Grabau’s very old and very large lemon trees, which formed the walls of our ceremony too.
THEIR TOP TIPS
Employ a wedding planner (I joke!). Our venue wasn’t a typical wedding venue; we had to source our own lights, music, and everything to form the layout across the full grounds. So, visiting the venue earlier would have been super helpful and answered a lot of questions we had outstanding very close to the day.
Recommendations are key! There are so many suppliers and services available, so anyone recommended to us was really appreciated.
THEIR BEST MOMENTS
One of our favourite moments was cutting the cake. The cake was very special to me, so I wanted it on a pretty silver dish and as large as possible. We chose a traditional Tuscan dessert – millefoglie, which was assembled in front of our guests with many many bakers arranging the cake. It was so pretty; the cake was topped with lots of fruit and flower petals.
THE FIRST DANCE SONG
We forgot about this and when the time came for it, we couldn’t decide! So, we just danced to the first song that was played.
THE CREW
Bride’s Dress: Zimmerman. Bride’s Shoes: Alohas. Bride’s Earrings: Sophie Bille Brahe. Groom’s Suits: Peek & Cloppenburg. Florist: Fiori Fiori Flowers. Cake: GVE Weddings & Events.
See more photographs from Sorcha and Fabian’s wedding in the gallery below.
Photography by Irene Fucci.
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