A reimagined mother’s wedding dress, an espresso martini tower right after the ceremony, Silver Air Jordan 1s for the first dance, and a cocktail named after their couples therapist’s favorite ratio. Kendall and Megan’s wedding at Villa Regina Teodolinda on Lake Como was 65 guests, ten years of love story, and every detail chosen tenderly. Shot by Kseniya Palchik, who brought her signature mix of color and black and white to every part of the day.
Location: Lake Como, Italy
Style: Classic, Festive Formal, Quite Luxury
Time of planning: 1 year
Number of guests: 65
Setting: Historic Villa
Season: Fall
Kendall and Megan met through D1 athletics in Nashville, clicked instantly, and spent the next six years closeted, trying to break things off because it felt like the easier path. Kendall, from a conservative southern family, genuinely never thought she would come out or get married. But they could never actually stay apart, and eventually they stopped fighting it. When they finally came out, their Nashville community showed up with love and support. Most family did too, though not all. Through faith, good therapy, and friendships that carried them through the hardest stretch of their lives, they built something that could not be undone.
In May 2024, Kendall proposed at SoHo Nashville, a courtyard they used to escape to on Sunday afternoons with a book and the occasional martini. She rented the space out, Megan’s mom lined the stairs with flowers, Megan’s dad helped with everything. A month later, Megan proposed back on a private beach in Paros at sunset, after Grecian wine and before gyros at a mom and pop spot. Two proposals, two completely different energies, one very clear answer both times. Steven and Alison Jimenez of Steven Jim Films captured the full story on film, and it is worth watching before you scroll any further.
Bride's Morning & Fashion
The morning started inside the villa’s stone rooms with natural light coming through the shutters, Molly Rivers on hair and makeup for both brides. Her approach was the same for each: enhance what is already there, keep it glowing, keep it touchable. Soft curls, textured waves, luminous skin, soft eye glam. Both brides wore their hair down in loose curls.
Megan wore her mother’s wedding dress, reconstructed by Nashville designer Olia Zavozina. The original skirt stayed. A new bodice was built with a modern drop waist. The original sleeves were taken apart and refashioned into off-the-shoulder caps. The original buttons run down the back. Stuart Weitzman white pumps, chosen because her mother wore white heels on her own wedding day.
Kendall wore the Lee Gown by Renhue, found at Bloom Bridal Nashville, a mother-daughter-run shop that aligned with the couple’s priority of supporting female entrepreneurs across every vendor decision. Christian Louboutin Miss Jane Sandal heels. Diamond tennis necklace, diamond teardrop earrings, and a custom gold band bracelet with “Kendall” in diamonds. Kendall never really envisioned herself in a wedding dress, so finding this one was less about aesthetics and more about finally feeling like herself in it.
Right before the first dance, Kendall changed into Silver Air Jordan 1s, a bedazzled Cinq à Sept blazer, white Aritzia pants, and a high party pony. Going from Louboutins and a gown to Jordans and a blazer is not a cute outfit change. It is Kendall showing both sides of who she is in real time.
They wore each other’s wedding bands during the ceremony on non-traditional fingers: Kendall had Megan’s on her pinky, Megan had Kendall’s on her middle finger. Kendall also designed Megan’s engagement ring herself, completely ignoring Megan’s request for an oval three-carat and going elongated cushion on a thin gold band instead. Megan loved it more than anything she had originally asked for.
First Look
The first look happened in the lakefront gardens of the villa, and based on the photos, it landed exactly the way a first look should. Two people seeing each other clearly, for the first time in that specific context, without an audience. Kseniya shot this sequence perfectly.
Ceremony
The ceremony took place on the lawn of Villa Regina Teodolinda, overlooking the lake, timed to golden hour. The light was warm and low, the sky full of soft, fluffy clouds that looked like they had been art directed, and the mountains across the water caught that specific late-afternoon glow that turns everything slightly amber. You could not have ordered better conditions.
The ceremony setup was not on a flat, open lawn. The aisle was positioned in a corner of the garden terrace, which gave the whole arrangement a three-dimensional quality, with guests seated at an angle and the landscape wrapping around the couple rather than just sitting behind them. It made the space feel immersive.
The floral structure at the end of the aisle was built with serious volume: hydrangeas and roses in white, pink, purple, and blue, arranged in dense, lush clusters. The colors matched the couple’s favorites and the overall palette of the day. Vertuanifiori, working alongside Megan’s mom who is a florist in Los Angeles, handled the floral design, and the combination of Italian craftsmanship with a mother’s personal touch is visible in how intentional every arrangement felt.
A duo of live string instruments played as the processional unfolded. Megan’s brother walked her mom down the aisle. Kendall walked alone. Megan’s dad walked her down and gave her away to Kendall. A butterfly stopped by during the vows, which is the kind of detail that sounds invented but tracks with the energy of this entire day. AMV Weddings planned and coordinated the full production, and the pacing of the ceremony reflected that: tight, intentional, and designed to be no longer than 30 minutes.
Their officiant was a close friend who knows their story intimately and built the ceremony with almost no direction. The officiant’s words, a prayer, and then handwritten vows. The guests were reportedly wrecked. Not a dry eye during the vow exchange, which is easy to say about a wedding but harder to actually mean, and in this case, after ten years of a love story.
Moments Together
Right after the ceremony, at the top of the stairs, there was an espresso martini tower. That is a programming decision that tells you everything about the couple’s priorities: the celebration starts now, it has caffeine and vodka in it.
The apertivo spread was Italian in the most serious way: panna cotta with truffle-flavored parmigiano, saku tuna cubes, Mediterranean beef tartare with capers and olives, fried zucchini flowers, rice balls filled with cheese, and small pasta parcels with mozzarella and tomatoes.
The two signature cocktails told their own story. “The Bentley” was an espresso martini named after their white Shih Tzu. The “95-5” was a lavender limoncello named after what their couples therapist once told them: that most relationships aim for an 80-20 ratio of fun to hard stuff, but theirs was the only couple she had ever seen consistently running at 95-5. They liked the number so much they made it a drink.
The couple portraits scattered throughout this gallery are where Kseniya Palchik‘s editorial eye shows up the strongest. There are frames in the gardens, frames on the terrace, frames where the lake fills the entire background, and in all of them the couple looks completely present without looking posed.
Reception
The reception was held in the courtyard and interior of the villa, with long communal tables set under string lights. The floral design by Vertuanifiori, in collaboration with Megan’s mom, ran low along the tables with white, blue, pink, and lavender hydrangeas and roses, paired with candles. Each seat had a name tag and food menu designed by a watercolor artist from Florida. The dress code they invented, “Festive Formal,” encouraged guests to show up in color.
The music was curated by section. A welcome playlist, an aperitif playlist, a dinner playlist, and then the DJ took over. The couple’s taste runs through R&B, hip hop, and 2000s club bangers with a few country two-steps mixed in, and based on their account, the dance floor was not an afterthought.
Their first dance was a freestyle two-step to Everlasting Love, and when the second chorus came on, they went into the crowd and pulled friends and family onto the floor with them. That is how you keep the formality low and the energy honest. Megan did a father-daughter dance to Growing Up Raising You by Gabby Barrett, a song her dad started sending her options for the moment she asked him to dance.
The most memorable moment, by the couple’s own account: their friend, drafted as MC the day before the wedding because they knew he could not say no, introduced them to the outdoor dining space while their favorite Italian song, Perdon Tenente by Pino D’Angiò, played and every guest waved their napkins in the air.
Then the head of catering sprayed the brides with champagne during the cake cutting and toast. The cake was a custom tiramisu with a small figurine of Bentley, their Shih Tzu, on top. A gelato cart appeared at 10 PM. The sparkler exit was cold sparklers flanking the couple, and it worked because everything else that day had been so restrained that one big, dramatic, pyrotechnic moment actually landed instead of competing with the rest.
Every guest received a handwritten, personalized letter at the welcome dinner the night before, and that letter doubled as their seat marker. Sixty-five letters. The guest book, officiant book, and vows were all sourced from F. Pettinaroli & Figli in Milan, one of the oldest stationers in the city. Paper goods were designed by a watercolor artist in Florida through Gold Image Printing.
Nearly every vendor on the list is a woman-owned business: the florist, photographer, makeup artist, stationery designer, Megan’s dress designer, Kendall’s bridal shop, the veil makers, and the wedding planner. Kendall, as a female entrepreneur herself, was intentional about that, and it shows in the cohesion of the team.
Advice from the couple:
• Stay committed to your vision and find vendors that encourage creativity, exploring your vision, uncharted territory and self expression.
• Find people who are excited and want to have fun. This is supposed to be a party celebrating love and you. Find people who embrace that and bring more joy to the process.
PHOTOGRAPHER Kseniya Palchik | VIDEOGRAPHER Steven Jim Films | PLANNER AMV Weddings | VENUE Villa Regina Teodolinda | FLORALS Vertuanifiori | MEGAN’S GOWN Olia Zavozina | KENDALL’S GOWN Renhue via Bloom Bridal Nashville | KENDALL’S STYLIST Loretta Harper | VEILS Alice and Mae | HAIR + MAKEUP Molly Rivers | NAILS Nashville Nail Co. | EYEBROWS Supraorbital Beauty | PAPER GOODS Watercolor Design Studio, Gold Image Printing
