Same-Sex Wedding: George and Harold

Planning a same-sex wedding may be an incredible experience for both a planner and the couple. In fact, same-sex couples have much more creative freedom with their event than straight ones, as they are not bound to any wedding roles or traditions and they can truly shape the day to reflect who they are and what they stand for.

Let’s then follow a romatic true story together till the Big Day!

UK and US: love at first sight!

George and Harold are my amazing couple-to-be.

George comes from the UK whereas Harold is from the US. They both work in the travel industry and love exploring new places. After falling in love and changing their minds a couple of times, they decided to get married on a neutral ground and chose Castel Gandolfo as their Destination Wedding location.

Deciding the Wedding Destination

A Wedding Destination has to be meaningful to the couple and easy to reach for the guests.

George and Harold went to Lake Como for their first trip to Italy and thought it would be the ideal place for their wedding.

They then visited Castel Gandolfo, a unique lake town near Rome, a couple of times on subsequent trips and fell in love with the food and the people who are passionate about sharing their culture and their rich history, thus reconsidering their initial decision.

In the benefit analysis between the two places they figured Rome would be easier for everyone to fly into while keeping some of that Como magic by being up in Castel Gandolfo: in the blink of an eye the final decision was made!

The need for a local Wedding Planner

Language and cultural nuances, together with local hands-on approach makes the process stress-free for the couple.

Although they knew the place pretty well, it became quickly clear to them that a local Wedding Planner, possibly specialised in Destination Weddings, was mandatory to deal with the vendors. Distance, language barriers and the estimated number of guests made the process complicated for them. They interviewed a few and finally chose me.

To my question why did you choose me, George’s answer was “because of your expertise, candidness and it was beneficial that you previoulsy worked for an American company, so could handle American + groomzilla, Harold, and seem pretty well customised to British drinking habits”( love you George!) . Harold added that he found my work in line with their style and expectations and that my English was excellent (…it is untrue, but thanks Harold!) which made the communication easier for them and flawless.

That’s how our common adventure started.

The Venue

Number of guests, available indoor – outdoor spaces and views are just key elements when selecting your dream venue.

Harold and George wanted a place with a view of Castel Gandolfo’s lake to enjoy its beautiful sunsets and continue to dream together with their friends and relatives coming from all over the world to share their joy and happiness. Villa del Cardinale turned out to be their preferred choice as it has equally beautiful indoor and outdoor solutions for their numerous guests in case of a bad turn in the weather.

Villa del Cardinale

Legalization of same-sex wedding

Search for expertise if you want a legally binding wedding.

In Italy same-sex wedding are still not legalised, therefore Harold and George will get legally married in the US, where they currently live, and have a symbolic ceremony at the venue in Italy.

The Ceremony

Express your love for each other the way it best suits you!

When we talked about the ceremony and the wedding planning we agreed to one rule: with same-sex wedding there is no rule, so we will use all creative freedom we need to make their wedding day truly their own!

When I asked them if in their view, there really is any difference between a same-sex and a straight wedding, George answered “Good question. Neither of us have been to a gay wedding before but I would expect it to be the same but without a wedding dress!”…Hilarious! I love these guys.

With this in mind, we explored the options and Harold was a continuous source of inspiration. He had very clear ideas about the wedding: typical procession; he and George will walk the aisle with their respective mums (I love this) ; there will be a ring bearer and a flower girl – his nephew and niece (I adore kids at weddings); there will be up to 10 bridesmaids and 10 groomsmen as Honour Attendants and a friend of them as an officiant to celebrate the wedding.

The basics were outlined, but we had to translate the vision into proper ambience and details. Some of them are still under discussion and will be sorted out and shared at a later stage.

The Wedding Outfit

Wedding Outfit

Be true to yourself!

This was our first important decision: same suits? Same colours? Different suits with the same colours or same suits with different colours?

The options were countless, but we thought that whatever the decision the outfits should show more of their individual personality and style.

As both grooms also wanted to stick to their respective country of origin customs, we agreed that George is going to wear a typical gentleman British morning suit whereas Harold will shine in a more typical American tuxedo. We believe they will make a great duo together as both personalities will mix in an extraordinary well balanced male style.

The next challenge will be how the bridesmaids and the groomsmen are going to be dressed…but we will disclose it later on.

If you are interested in learning what are the options and the challenges you may have when dealing with the organisation of a same-sex wedding and a destination wedding at the same time, stay tuned.

The best is yet to come!