Cassandra and Connor traded a Brooklyn tropical disco fantasy for something older and moodier: a 13th-century castle in the Tuscan hills. Castello di Celsa set the tone for a fall weekend built on contrast — pale pink and periwinkle ceremony blooms against centuries-old stone, then a courtyard reception draped in crisp linens, silver candelabras, and fruit-heavy florals in deep reds and oranges. Every detail, captured by our member Slow Pictures Studio, read like a living Renaissance painting brought to life for one very dressed-up weekend.
Location: Sovicille, Siena, Italy
Style: Vintage, Moody, Renaissance
Time of planning: 1,5 years
Number of guests: 77
Setting: Castle
Season: Fall
Cassandra and Connor met on a cold night in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, at a bar called Baby’s All Right. Cassandra, an actor and writer who grew up between North Carolina and the Bronx, had just come from a play rehearsal. Connor, a Philly-born music producer, had recently moved into a classic New York bachelor pad with four friends. A few shared glances across the room turned into Connor finally introducing himself, and one quick drink turned into a conversation that lasted all night, followed the next day by a coffee date that stretched into evening. By the end of it, they both knew they’d found somebody special.
From Brooklyn dive bars to the hills of San Francisco and finally the palm trees of Los Angeles, the couple built a life centered on shared dreams, community, and the arts, weathering three years of long distance, a global pandemic, and a cross-country move along the way. Connor proposed at a Starbucks drive-thru turned surprise: while Cassandra sipped an unexpected Pumpkin Spice Latte, Connor was quietly sweating over a plan that led them to a hidden garden, where he got down on one knee among roses and a sparkling fountain.
Concept & Inspiration
Cassandra would joke that the vision combined elements of Bram Stoker’s Dracula and Beast’s castle from Beauty and the Beast — and honestly, that wasn’t far off. The couple first leaned toward a nostalgic “Brooklyn Tropical Disco” mood, a nod to the bride’s favorite corner of New York nightlife. But the moment they saw Castello di Celsa, a 13th-century castle in the Tuscan countryside, everything shifted.
"After seeing Castello di Celsa, we had an ah-ha moment. We realized we didn't want a cheeky nostalgia trip; we wanted an immersive, inspired experience. We traded the disco balls for 13th-century stone, realizing that a moody, autumnal Italian castle vibe checked off all the boxes on our wishlist."
The couple booked their venue before their planner, which they’d advise against — they were quickly overwhelmed by the options. Once they connected with Italian Style Weddings, planner Alice Guarnaschelli put together a shortlist that matched exactly what they were after: countryside, but not rustic; grand, but not cold. Celsa topped the list immediately, though it was fully booked until October. They kept looking, telling themselves summer was the priority, until they realized every other venue was being measured against Celsa anyway.
To bring the vision to life, the couple worked with florist Fluida Design to create what felt like a living Renaissance painting. Rather than a single fall note, they layered in intentional contrast.
Living in Los Angeles meant 6:00 a.m. Zoom calls to sync with their Italian team, and booking the venue sight unseen. “Ultimately, we wanted the weekend to feel like an invitation. We hoped our guests would leave the castle feeling inspired to follow their own hearts and creative whims, just as we had in building this day,” the couple reflected.
Bridal Fashion
The bride’s fashion was a study in specificity, shaped by her dual career in film and sustainable fashion — years of moving between sets and sample rooms left her with a sharp eye for silhouette and textile.
That translated into a classic-with-a-twist wedding day look: a basque-waist, strapless A-line gown by Eden Aharon Couture in ivory, sourced along with her jewelry and veil through Jaxon James in Los Angeles. A cathedral-length veil with 3D florals by Rita Vinieris and earrings by Maria Elena completed the look, paired with Jimmy Choo Amita heels and a spritz of Jo Malone Wood Sage & Sea Salt.
For the reception, the bride changed into a second look with real sentimental weight: a mini dress custom designed by Natalya Valentine, remade from her mother’s Thai wedding dress, with corset boning added to the bodice for a scooped neckline. A matching lace-and-pearl choker, also by Natalya Valentine, made its first appearance not at the ceremony but partway through the reception.
“I made a game-time decision not to wear the choker to the ceremony, but to add it on during the reception for a preview to the second look. I love a wardrobe change and this was a fun way to incorporate something else and let it have its own moment,” the bride shared.
Hair and makeup stayed close to the bride’s natural texture: her curls kept their natural pattern, styled with a simple side part, while her makeup blended a sunkissed, coastal glow with a touch of fall moodiness. Her bouquet, designed with Fluida, was intentionally asymmetrical, elegant, and sculptural.
Reflecting on the day, she shared: “The whole day, I felt really grounded and connected both to myself and my husband. We had poured so much of ourselves into the energy, look and feel of the wedding and I could feel that all around us. It felt like we were the only people on Earth and a suspended moment in time.”
Groom's Getting Ready
Connor’s wedding day look leaned old-meets-new: a classic black tuxedo with thin lapels lined in satin, paired with a deep red-and-purple boutonniere that echoed the wedding’s moody palette. The details carried real weight: a watch his parents gave him when he was younger, his father’s classic white pocket square, and antique art-deco cufflinks and tuxedo studs, also a gift from his parents.
Finding the right tuxedo took months of searching. “I had been stressing about finding the right tuxedo for months, and at one point felt like I would never find something I would feel comfortable and sharp in. But when I did find it, it felt so perfect for us. It was romantic, classic-with-a-twist, and had just the right subtle touches of jacquard in the lapel and pocket linings,” Connor shared.
"I felt excited, and like I pulled off exactly the look I wanted. I also felt incredibly grateful for the love and care we put into the whole vibe of the wedding: it really made me feel so connected to Cassandra, and I felt proud of how we designed something so uniquely us."
First Look
Against the castle’s ivy-covered walls, ablaze in fall reds, the couple shared their first look before the ceremony crowd arrived — a quiet beat between two people who had spent a year and a half planning this exact scene, finally standing in it.
Ceremony
The ceremony unfolded in the castle garden, overlooking the rolling Tuscan countryside. The seating broke from a traditional layout, woven directly into the garden’s natural landscape to create one long aisle that began back in the castle courtyard and stretched up to the altar.
The path was long and steep, which turned Cassandra’s walk into a shared effort — she made her way up flanked by both her mother and father. True to the fall-versus-castle contrast the couple had planned for, the aisle was framed in pale pink, periwinkle, and white, a soft counterpoint to centuries of stone.
Officiating fell to the groom’s best friend from college, who had been in the room the night Cassandra and Connor met — his words carried the weight of having witnessed the whole story firsthand. The bride had spent eighteen months mentally preparing for rain on a fall wedding day; instead, the afternoon turned out warm and sunny.
Even the groom’s father, who typically favors more traditional ceremonies, later admitted he’d been completely won over by the sincerity of the vows the couple had written for each othe
Private Moment
“Immediately following the ceremony, we shared a spontaneous, private moment. We wandered into the quiet, empty chapel on the castle grounds, stepping away from the crowd to simply be with one another and take in the magnitude of the day and express how happy we were,” the couple shared.
It’s the kind of moment that’s easy to miss and impossible to recreate — which is exactly why the couple leaned on Slow Pictures Studio to be there for it. Working quietly and without staging, the duo behind the lens let the castle’s scale speak for itself: centuries-old stone and ivy dwarfing two people who’d just promised each other forever, caught without a single posed cue.
Cocktail Hour
While the couple slipped away for portraits, guests took over the cocktail hour with a portrait station of their own — dressed to the nines and matching the grandeur of the surroundings, one more souvenir of the weekend. A string quartet played arrangements spanning classical and contemporary pieces, setting the tone before dinner.
Three signature cocktails carried the couple’s personalities into the glass: an Old Fashioned dubbed the “Hunter-Small Batch,” a nod to both last names; a Dirty Martini called “Cassie-Blanca,” playing on the bride’s name and her acting career; and a Margarita named “Quiet Son-Shine,” a wink at Connor’s music alias, Quiet Son.
Decor & Reception
The reception took over the castle courtyard, transformed into what the couple called “Minimalist Renaissance.” Long tables were dressed in crisp white linens, finished with oversized, sculptural draping bows at each end for a modern, fashion-forward touch. Tall silver candelabras and burgundy Toile de Jouy plates lined the settings.
Fruit-heavy floral arrangements completed the tables — pomegranates, ginger, and persimmon tucked between deep reds and oranges in ancient-looking vases. Hanging chandeliers lit the courtyard after dark, adding, in the couple’s words, a touch of magic. DEA Eventi & Catering handled the evening’s menu.
Dinner moved to the sound of classic slow jazz: Nat King Cole, Louis Armstrong, Frank Sinatra, Billie Holiday. The cake was a traditional mille feuille, the bride’s favorite dessert of all time. Later, the couple made their entrance to the dance floor to “Move On Up” by Curtis Mayfield, before handing things over to a DJ who moved through classic Motown, disco, ’80s hits, and 2000s hip-hop, with a live saxophonist playing alongside the music the entire night. Their first dance was set to “Forget About” by Sibylle Baier.
A few touches made the night unmistakably theirs. The bride changed into her reimagined Thai wedding dress for the dance party, then danced with her mother to “Best of My Love,” the title of a short film she once wrote about Connor helping repair her childhood home — the same film that earned her a spot in Issa Rae’s ColorCreative writers program.
Rather than a bouquet toss, she gave her bouquet directly to her mother, honoring the woman who raised her in a country not her own while working as a single mom. As the couple put it, the dance floor won the night: “It felt like the best middle school dance playlist. We even had a live saxophonist with the DJ.”
Advice from the couple:
• Do things that feel uniquely you, you won’t regret the personal touches. Also be okay with things not running exactly on time; just try to absorb every moment and take in all the big feelings. It’s hard to wrap your head around how incredible it feels and how it’s just for a moment. There’s a constant hunger to slow time down, and that’s a good thing!
• Also drink water!
• As expert wedding guests who are so used to being on the dancefloor at other people’s weddings, you might feel like a kid getting pulled off the playground whenever you have to take a photo. But trust that your vendors are helping you to capture the memories and experiences that you will look back on fondly. Pick great vendors that represent your vibe, and whose work inspires you to think about the possibilities differently!
PHOTOGRAPHER Slow Pictures Studio | VENUE Castello di Celsa | PLANNER Italian Style Weddings | FLORAL DESIGN Fluida Design | VIDEOGRAPHER Diego Perrini | CATERING DEA Eventi & Catering | HAIR Sabrina Silva | MAKEUP Cheri Spisso | BRIDAL BOUTIQUE Jaxon James LA | CEREMONY DRESS Eden Aharon | RECEPTION DRESS & CHOKER Natalya Valentine | VEIL Rita Vinieris | BRIDAL SHOES Jimmy Choo | EARRINGS Maria Elena | STRING QUARTET Ensemble Hubay | DJ Party Sax & DJ | ARTWORK Dominique Jones
