Photo: Aaron Delesie1/49Lincoln and I both love Capri, Italy, and have each spent many happy summers there, so there was no doubt of the destination as soon as we started planning our wedding.
Photo: Aaron Delesie2/49All of our stationery and menus were designed and illustrated by Melbourne-based artist Betsy Weir of Lemontree Calligraphy & Illustration. I wanted everything to capture the colorful and whimsical spirit of Capri.
Photo: Aaron Delesie3/49Lincoln and I arrived in Capri a few days ahead of time to spend some quiet time together before all of our guests arrived. I am in Dolce & Gabbana, and Lincoln is in 100% Capri.
Photo: Aaron Delesie4/49The straw gift totes were sourced from Sicily by my planner, and we had a local grandmother in Naples embroider each one with unique sayings or nicknames that were personal to our guests. The bags contained a monogrammed beach tote for the men, an illustrated booklet of our favorite spots in Capri, a fan in the same lemon-print design from our invitation suite, a linen beach towel, a pair of Revé by René sunglasses produced especially for the wedding, and of course, more lemons.
Photo: Aaron Delesie5/49We kick-started the festivities with the rehearsal dinner at Da Paolino Restaurant, famous for its canopy of lemon trees. My dress was custom designed by one of my best friends, Harris Chan of Moiselle, and the fabric was hand-painted with lemons and lemon flowers with Lincoln’s name and mine entwined.
Photo: Aaron Delesie6/49The cutest mini-size limoncello bottles, which were personalized with our names and given to guests as they arrived at the rehearsal dinner.
Photo: Aaron Delesie7/49Our planner, Diana Sorensen of Sugokuii Events, created this fun lemon fruit stand which functioned as the table placement display as well as a fun photo booth. The lemon stand was custom designed with many details to resemble ones typically seen in the Amalfi Coast. Guests found their names and seats on tambourines, limoncello bottles, vintage signage, hand-painted Amalfi plates and fruit baskets, with our wedding hashtag on top illuminated using festive southern Italian luminarie.
Photo: Aaron Delesie8/49We chose Da Paolino for our rehearsal dinner as it feels so quintessentially Capri and is the perfect welcome for our guests, many of whom flew in all the way from Hong Kong or Australia. We covered the trunks of the lemon trees with bougainvillea and hung yellow hand-blown glass bulbs that looked beautiful against the lemons and greenery.
Photo: Aaron Delesie9/49In line with the theme of the rehearsal night, each guest had their own antique Capri tile with their name calligraphed that they could bring home as a memento.
Photo: Aaron Delesie10/49On the second day of the wedding festivities, we held a leisurely seaside brunch at one of our favorite restaurants in the Amalfi Coast—Conca del Sogno. We had several boats take our guests from Capri to Nerano, where we feasted on gamberi rossi, fresh-harvested oysters, sea urchins, the legendary zucchini pasta, and salt-baked sea bass, before dancing until the sun set. Then, we all had an early night in preparation for the big day. I am wearing a Dolce & Gabbana top and matching skirt in a Maiolica print.
Photo: Aaron Delesie11/49Prepping for the seafood feast at Conca del Sogno.
Photo: Aaron Delesie12/49After the all-day brunch party, many of our guests (as well as Lincoln and I) worked up the courage to jump off the side of the cliff, as the Capri locals do. I woke up with multiple bruises the next day, right before the wedding, but it was well worth it!
Photo: Aaron Delesie13/49My ceremony dress was custom Giambattista Valli haute couture. The dress was brought straight from his Paris atelier to Capri and took four men to hand-carry it on two luggage carts up to the villa.
Photo: Aaron Delesie14/49Getting ready in my bridal suite at Capri Tiberio Palace. We kept the hair and makeup simple and natural so that nothing took away from the gowns and jewelry.
Photo: Aaron Delesie15/49Several helping hands were needed to put the dress on.
Photo: Aaron Delesie16/49My jewelry was by Nirav Modi. The design and unique setting of the diamonds had the same airy quality as my tulle dress.
Photo: Aaron Delesie17/49This is one of my favorite shots from the wedding. The flowers in the main entry of the villa covered the walls and lined up the stairs through the hallway. We wanted the flowers to feel like they had been growing wildly inside the villa for years. It’s a lot of flowers and a lot of dress, but somehow, complemented each other perfectly.
Photo: Aaron Delesie18/49My bridesmaids are all in different white dresses designed by Han Chong of Self-Portrait. They each picked out their own dresses to suit their individual styles.
Photo: Aaron Delesie19/49I always knew that when the day came, I’d want Giambattista Valli to design my wedding dresses. For the ceremony, I wanted a tulle creation that is incredibly dramatic but with a delicate quality. Giamba really went above and beyond and created the most spectacular gown of my dreams. I felt like I was wrapped in a cloud pulled right from the sky.
Photo: Aaron Delesie20/49I wanted to keep my bouquet simple, with just a small bunch of lily of the valley.
Photo: Aaron Delesie21/49Lincoln is in custom Dolce & Gabbana Alta Sartoria
Photo: Aaron Delesie22/49This was us on the way up to the mountaintop to our ceremony venue—Villa Lysis, a historical monument with a deeply romantic story. As the villa is usually only accessible by foot, we were given special permission by the local government office to utilize traditional luggage carts that we completely transformed with built-in sofas and canopies to take our guests up. Along the way, local Scialapopolo folk groups in traditional costumes were stationed at various areas—some were playing music, others were greeting our guests on the carts with trays of limoncello—and we decorated most of the shops and restaurants along the way up with special signage in order to make the ride up as personalized and fun as possible. The entire upper part of the island was cheering for us and all 140 guests as we headed up, and I’ll never forget the hospitality and warmth of the people of Capri!
Photo: Aaron Delesie23/49The entry to the villa grounds was lined with floral arches for the guests to walk beneath in order to reach the villa.
Photo: Aaron Delesie24/49Our wedding bands. Mine was actually conceptualized by Lincoln, with alternating emerald and brilliant-cut diamonds that complemented my engagement ring.
Photo: Aaron Delesie25/49The ceremony took place in the gardens of Villa Lysis, facing the sea with an incredible view of Capri. We didn’t want a typical setup with a ceremony arch. Instead, we wrapped the tree trunks of all the surrounding trees in white peonies and this naturally “framed” the view for our ceremony.
Photo: Aaron Delesie26/49Instead of using petals, we filled the entire ceremony area with wildflower heads.
Photo: Aaron Delesie27/49Stepping out for the first time with my father by my side, seeing all of our friends and family, and the love of my life waiting at the very end, was an out-of-body experience.
Photo: Aaron Delesie28/49The color palette for the ceremony was white with touches of lavender. And the florals became more and more luscious as the guests proceded towards other areas of the villa.
Photo: Aaron Delesie29/49I walked down the aisle with my father to “Pachelbel’s Canon in D” played by a string quartet from the balcony of the villa. The music, the setting, and the romantic history of this venue all came together at this moment.
Photo: Aaron Delesie30/49It was truly magical exchanging our vows against this spectacular view.
Photo: Aaron Delesie31/49We kept the ceremony very classic and traditional, it just felt right in this setting.
Photo: Aaron Delesie32/49The happiest moment, walking back up and seeing the joy in the eyes of our friends and family—and I managed not to cry too much or trip on the dress!
Photo: Aaron Delesie33/49We draped the facade of the villa in white and lilac delphinium. We wanted it to feel luscious yet natural to the environment, and enhance the already spectacular architecture and enchanting environment.
Photo: Aaron Delesie34/49Cocktail hour.
Photo: Aaron Delesie35/49This was the bridge that we built to connect the gardens to the previously inaccessible rooftop.
Photo: Aaron Delesie36/49This is the rooftop of the villa, which just two weeks earlier had never been used before and was quite worn down (the villa was built in 1905 by a French count). We retiled the entire floor and added a white pergola covered in an assortment of pastel florals in order to create a beautiful wild garden feel. Velvet upholstered sofas in pale rose were placed around the perimeter of the rooftop (which guests danced on later in the evening). We used white chairs on the other side, which balanced everything out really well. The tables were also custom built with a brass edge framing each side to tie into our tablescape, and flowers cascaded all along the tables and onto the floor.
Photo: Aaron Delesie37/49This was my dream tablescape, it felt romantic, whimsical, and paid homage to Italian craftsmanship. The pink chargers were from Laboratorio Paravicini and had our initials painted onto them. The white plates are from a Roman ceramic studio and each had different textures and rims that complemented each other. The bread plates were rose quartz slabs that we had cut to size and painted gold on the edges. Instead of place cards, we had a local pastry chef in Capri create these incredibly intricate edible flowers and leaves made from sugar.
Photo: Aaron Delesie38/49I wanted the reception to continue the feel of a secret garden overflowing with luscious cascading flowers. Nestled between the flowers were the most beautiful antique candelabras and tealight holders that our planner had found. And the table numbers were calligraphed on antique Vietri tiles with the same patterns found within Villa Lysis. In the background is the incredible view of the mountain, sea, and Capri.
Photo: Aaron Delesie39/49The guests entering the rooftop from the bridge. We also hung 2,500 white glass bulbs with candles in all the trees surrounding the villa that had a magical effect at night.
Photo: Aaron Delesie40/49I changed into my reception dress, also designed by Giambattista Valli. Two weeks prior to the wedding, I flew to the atelier for my final fitting with Giamba so that he could hand-place each petal. The petals were hand-dyed in various shades of pink that complemented the floral designs at our wedding.
Photo: Aaron Delesie41/49Villa Lysis by night.
Photo: Aaron Delesie42/49We transformed one of the rooms on the ground floor into a video disco room, where guests can be filmed dancing to Italian disco music in a floor-to-ceiling mirrored space against an LED backdrop.
Photo: Aaron Delesie43/49We had planned and rehearsed a first dance, but in the end, we were having so much fun that we decided to forget about that and just let loose on the dance floor!
Photo: Aaron Delesie44/49During the reception on the rooftop, the ground floor of the villa was transformed into a dessert room filled with every imaginable southern Italian dessert created by Capri Palace. There was an abundance of fresh cannoli, babà, torta Caprese, and so much more—this was definitely one of the most popular spots for our guests during the night!
Photo: Aaron Delesie45/49Our traditional millefoglie cake was created on the spot by two chefs and was decorated with hundreds of wild strawberries in front of all of our guests after dinner.
Photo: Aaron Delesie46/49As we were cutting the cake, fireworks were set off from the sea.
Photo: Aaron Delesie47/49I always tease Lincoln about how he never got down on one knee when he proposed, as we were on a rocking rowboat, but I definitely didn’t expect him to get down on his knee on our wedding night after a stirring speech that left not a dry eye in sight. That was a moment I’ll never forget.
Photo: Aaron Delesie48/49The song for our first dance was “Fooled Around and Fell in Love” by Elvin Bishop, performed by our friend Geoffrey Chuang. Towards the end of his performance, confetti canons went off and covered the entire space in a flurry of white and gold as we danced into the night.
Photo: Aaron Delesie49/49I think this was the moment when Lincoln and I thought: “Wow! We really did it!” The three days of celebrations were filled with emotions and took the collectsive effort of so many talented individuals. It felt so special and magical every step of the way.
