Italy is always a good idea, especially for a destination wedding in Tuscan! With panoramic views of the rolling Tuscan hills below, Sarika and Luke shared their first moments as newlyweds in an al fresco garden of a beautiful villa with stunning views. We are completely smitten by all the Indian wedding traditions with the flower garlands, impressive red roses and lush greenery with linoleum set a scene that simply took our breath away! Nikos Gogas captured every beautiful moment from this couple’s wedding and we are simply bursting to share their story with you today!
“We got married in summer in Tavarnelle Val de Pesa, Florence. We met each other upon starting a new job in the New York City metro area! Luke set out to find his soulmate and took a chance at seeing who might “click” on match.com. He came across a profile that charmed him instantly of a beautiful lady with big dreams but strong roots. That was Sarika. After connecting online and the phone, he jumped on the train to New York City to meet her in person at a French restaurant. After five hours of amazing conversation and discovering a deep sense of connection, the relationship took off from there and the rest made history! Luke kneeled down and asked Sarika to spend the rest of her life with him on the banks of the Hudson River with the setting sun on a warm summer evening with the breathtaking New York skyline as the backdrop. And she said yes! She couldn’t imagine spending the rest of her life with anyone else. My wedding dress was an Indian bridal Lehenga which I loved. It was a beautiful red silhouette with hand embroidered flowers”, Sarika shared with us.
“Sarika, the architect always had a love affair with Florence and its beauty, architecture, landscape and rich history. She dreamed of getting married in Florence since college. This dream came true in June 2019 at a beautiful Tuscan villa in Tavarnelle Val di Pesa surrounded by stunning vistas with a view of the city of Florence. This setting was breathtakingly picture perfect and they wanted to celebrate this natural landscape and keep everything else very simple and elegant. The outdoor wedding ceremony was unique as it was a combination of Indian and western traditions. The flowers that we chose were large dark red and peach roses with linolium. The ceremony took place under an olive tree with rolling Tuscan hills and vineyards as the backdrop. There were garlands made with large red roses that we exchanged according to the Indian wedding traditions. The reception had round tables with beautiful and simple rose arrangement in the middle, wine corks holding guests name and candeles and all the tables situated with hanging string lights above. It was a magical outdoor evening setting that we loved!”
“The most favorite moment from our wedding is when we exchanged our vows to each other that we had composed ourselves with the live. harp and violin music in the background with all our friends and family from all over the world set in the beautiful Tuscan landscape”.
Bride’s advice: “This was a destination wedding for us. Our advice would be to find a place that truly resonates with you for your wedding and has deep meaning. It would also be great to find an engaged and professional wedding planner who knows the area inside out like we found in Laura Mugnai from Florence”.
