Set inside a Renaissance shell in Fiorano Modenese, Stefanie and Andrea’s wedding blended church-scale architecture with red-sauce glamour, vintage salon interiors, and a distinctly Gen Z taste for weird-pretty details. The couple envisioned the celebration as something deeply personal and immersive. The design leaned into symbolism, mysticism, and emotional connection, turning the day into a sensory journey that moved effortlessly from sacred ceremony to candlelit garden celebration. The entire story was captured through the fashion-forward lens of Slow Picture Studio.
Location: Fiorano Modenese, Italy
Style: Esoteric, Eclectic, Warm
Time of planning: 1 year
Number of guests: 150
Setting: Historic Villa
Season: Fall
Stefanie grew up in Belgium with Italian roots, while Andrea was born and raised in Milan. They first met at university while studying design, and from that very first exchanged glance both felt a strange certainty that their paths would cross again one day. Life had other plans for a while, sending them in different directions until, a few years later,
Andrea finally found the courage to write to Stefanie. That message quietly started what would become a love story lasting more than a decade, with the two rarely spending time apart since. The proposal happened in Sardinia, a place deeply meaningful to them both, at Cala Faro as they watched the sun dip into the sea, a simple, intimate moment that reflected the emotional depth and maturity their relationship had grown into over the years.
Bride's Morning & Fashion
For the day, Stefanie chose a Vivienne Westwood gown, paired with a matching veil embroidered with the designer’s name and delicate hearts, a detail that shifted the look away from classic bridal tradition toward something more personal and quietly playful.
The veil felt less like a conventional accessory and more like a statement piece. She completed the look with custom-made shoes by Sguazzini, bringing an artisanal touch to the ensemble.
Stefanie’s copper-toned hair was worn loose in soft waves, while the makeup followed the same warm palette, leaning into brick and earthy tones that complemented her natural coloring rather than masking it.
The wedding rings, understated in design, carried engraved messages inside, another intimate detail woven into the day. Even the stationery echoed this symbolic language, designed by Moni Caneva with a sun motif that quietly threaded through the visual identity of the celebration.
Groom’s Fashion
Andrea chose a fully custom suit by Tarsa 1989, a tailoring house co-owned by one of his groomsmen, which made the look feel personal from the very start. The bespoke process allowed every detail to be shaped with intention, resulting in a sharp silhouette that balanced classic Italian tailoring with a modern edge.
Ceremony
Before the ceremony even began, guests were welcomed by a custom sign echoing the wedding’s stationery suite, where sun and moon motifs introduced the symbolic language woven throughout the day.
The bridal party carried that same expressive color story into the ceremony itself: instead of matching dresses, the bridesmaids appeared in saturated tones of chartreuse, grass green, hot pink, coral, berry, and mauve, each holding a bouquet designed to mirror the shade of her gown.
The florals, created by Vertuani Fiori and orchestrated with the guidance of the planning studio Cento Rose e un Tulipano, leaned away from airy garden arrangements and toward something richer and more sculptural, layered compositions with varied flower scales, dense textures, and glossy anthuriums adding an unexpected edge.
Set inside the Santuario della Beata Vergine del Castello, the ceremony balanced the church’s monumental architecture with the couple’s vibrant palette, creating a moment that felt both intimate and visually striking. Exactly as Stefanie and Andrea had imagined, the atmosphere was heartfelt and genuine, with many guests later saying they could feel the warmth of the couple’s story in every detail of the ceremony.
Moments Together & Cocktail Hour
In between the ceremony and the evening celebration, Stefanie and Andrea stepped away for a few quiet moments together, wandering through the gardens while Slow Picture Studio documented the transition from sacred to the esoteric chapter of the day. The photographs captured that shift beautifully, pairing the monumental calm of the church and villa architecture with intimate portraits of the couple.
From there, the celebration slowly moved into cocktail hour, where the tone of the wedding began to reveal its more mystical side. While the ceremony carried a sacred, almost classical energy, the garden reception introduced something far more occult and playful.
Guests discovered interactive corners scattered throughout the space, including tarot card readings, crystal divination, magic potion bar and other spiritual curiosities that reflected Stefanie and Andrea’s fascination with symbolism and mysticism. The entire experience felt less like a traditional cocktail hour and more like a small world designed for exploration.
At the same time, the atmosphere remained effortlessly social and relaxed. Colorful cocktails circulated through the garden, conversations spilled across the tables, and one playful detail quickly became a favorite among guests: a dedicated cigarette table that felt almost like a vintage European party ritual. Between drinks, laughter, and a steady rhythm of small discoveries throughout the garden, the cocktail hour set the tone for the night ahead: warm, curious, and slightly unpredictable.
Reception
Dinner at Villa Coccapani Pignatti Morano leaned fully into a kind of cultured maximalism, but not the chaotic kind where decor is simply piled onto the table. This was a layered Italian approach where every element added depth to the room.
Patterned textiles ran across the tables, florals felt dense and sculptural rather than soft and garden-like, and instead of predictable candlelight the tables were lit with small lamps that looked closer to vintage salon lighting than wedding decor. The light itself became part of the design language, casting a warm, almost tomato-toned glow across the room and pulling the entire palette into those deep reds, pinks, and earthy hues.
The florals kept that same layered energy going. These weren’t soft, polite arrangements; they felt more like living still lifes: different flower scales, thick textures, uneven heights, and glossy anthuriums popping through the compositions with a slightly offbeat edge.
Red kept showing up everywhere, quietly tying the whole room together. And that cake moment was impossible to miss. Instead of a single cake, several creations by Ugly Cakes took over a table wrapped in dramatic red drapery. Ironically, there was absolutely nothing ugly about them, the sculptural designs looked almost too good to cut.
As the evening progressed, the photography shifted with it. The soft ceremony light gave way to flash, and suddenly the images felt sharper, louder, more fashion-forward, capturing movement, laughter, and the kind of energy that only appears once a dinner party stops behaving like a dinner party.
Music pushed that transition even further. A live roaming band moved through the crowd, guests began chanting and dancing together, and the night slowly tipped into full celebration. Looking back, the entire wedding unfolded almost like three acts of the same story: first sacred, then slightly occult, and finally a warm, joyful kind of beautiful chaos on the dance floor.
Advice from the couple:
• Don’t overthink it!
PHOTOGRAPHER Slow Picture Studio | VIDEOGRAPHER Cusna Wedding | PLANNING Cento Rose un Tulipano Weddings | VENUE Villa Coccapani Pignatti Morano | FLOWERS Vertuani Fiori | MUAH Serena Sampietro MUA | DRESS Vivienne Westwood | SUIT Tarsa | WEDDING BANDS Taura Jewels | GRAPHIC DESIGN Moni Caneva | CATERING Fuori Rosa Catering | CAKE Ugly Cakes | BAND Boys4Road | DJ Marco Rigamonti, Aaron Naulaerts, Niccc
