Finella and Andrew got married in Pienza, Tuscany, at Borgo Sant’Ambrogio, with fifty guests, two families’ worth of traditions, and a planner who made it all possible from across the world. Serena at Tuscan Tours and Weddings guided every step of the planning process with patience and precision, turning late-night Zoom calls and early-morning emails into a wedding that felt completely, specifically theirs. His Italian heritage, her Filipino roots, a Tuscan summer, and a ceremony that made everyone cry!
Location: Pienza, Tuscany, Italy
Style: Modern, Romantic, Italian
Time of planning: 1 year
Number of guests: 50
Setting: Tuscan Borgo
Season: Summer
Finella and Andrew met during their very first week of college in Arizona. It started easy, the way the best things do, with long conversations that turned into days spent together, which turned into the kind of love that grows quietly and then all at once. They chose each other through school, through milestones, through every version of themselves they have been since.
Andrew proposed at Sunset Cliffs in San Diego on a morning Finella thought was just a walk by the ocean. He had arranged everything in advance, including a photographer hidden nearby, and by the time he got down on one knee at the overlook, she was completely surprised and completely happy. Calm and joyful and very true to who they are together.
Welcome Day
In the days leading up to the wedding, the couple traveled to Palermo, Sicily, where Andrew’s family is from, to walk the streets his ancestors built, including the Via Quattrocchi that carries his name. It was a way of arriving at the wedding already connected to something larger than the two of them.
Florence came next, with a bachelor and bachelorette day that included a hands-on pasta-making class where everyone laughed through every step, followed by dinner and dancing at a local nightclub with the full group of friends. The evenings in between were long Tuscan dinners under open skies, wine passed around, stories told, the kind of pre-wedding time that becomes as memorable as the wedding itself.
The team at AMA on the Road handled the welcome party, setting the tone for the days ahead with the same warmth and care that ran through every part of the celebration, planned in partnership with Tuscan Tours and Weddings.
Guests staying at the venue received welcome boxes filled with Italian provisions, and the morning of the wedding began with breakfast shared between both families, relaxed and unhurried, before the day officially started. These were the moments no one photographs and everyone remembers.
Bride's Morning & Fashion
Finella wore the Valentina gown by Flora Bridal, a classic sweetheart silhouette with a Basque waist, delicate embroidery, and a cathedral train. She wanted something that felt romantic and completely like her, and this was exactly it.
She kept her accessories simple and personal. Lace heels from Bella Belle, bold Pearl Drop earrings, and a bare neckline. Her sister and maid of honor wore gold rings engraved with her maiden name, and the bridesmaids and bride all shared matching gold bracelets throughout the day.
Her scent was Jo Malone Frangipani Flower Cologne, bright and a little tropical. Hair and makeup were done by Suely Menichetti: a low bun for the ceremony, soft half-up curls for the reception, and natural makeup with a nude-pink lip throughout. Two looks, same girl, two different parts of the day.
Her bouquet, created by Magnolia Fiori Wedding, was soft and organic, full of greenery and texture, and looked like it was picked straight from the Tuscan countryside.
Groom’s Fashion
Andrew wore a classic black tuxedo with a crisp white Indochino tuxedo shirt featuring a bib front and black studs, paired with a black bowtie and polished patent leather dress shoes. The look stayed composed from the ceremony all the way through the after-party, which is itself a choice.
Ceremony
The ceremony took place in the garden at Borgo Sant’Ambrogio, set within a nature reserve overlooking the rolling hills of Pienza. Officiated by the team at Tuscan Pledges, the ceremony blended traditional and modern elements, and it was especially rooted in Finella’s Filipino heritage.
Traditional Filipino wedding rituals, including the cord, the candle, and the veil, were performed by family sponsors chosen with deep intention. These rituals, which symbolically bind and illuminate the couple, were performed in a Tuscan garden in front of an Italian-American family, and completed with the setting.
They chose not to do a first look. The decision to wait, to save that moment entirely for the aisle, made the ceremony feel even more charged. Every song and every person included was chosen with care, from who walked with them to who stood beside them, so the whole structure felt less like a program and more like something their families built together.
There were a lot of tears. From them and from many of their guests. Watching the crowd in the photographs, you can see it in every face. The photography and videography throughout the ceremony, handled by Brie Film and Photo, gives those moments a documentary weight.
Moments Together & Cocktail Hour
The portrait sessions captured throughout the day show a couple who are genuinely comfortable in front of a camera, which is less common than it should be and almost always comes down to the photographer. Brie and Andrew from Brie Film and Photo flew from Arizona to Tuscany as the only US-based vendors at the wedding. They made the couple feel at ease, made them laugh, and shot everything with a looseness and intimacy that reads in every frame.
The cocktail hour unfolded with drinks handled by the bar team at Tumbler In. White and green florals by Magnolia Fiori Wedding carried through from the ceremony without repeating it, adding softness to the stone and greenery of the courtyard. The transition from ceremony to cocktail felt continuous, which is a planning achievement more than a decorative one.
Reception
Dinner was held outdoors, at a long table set beneath string lights and soft candlelight, with florals running the length of the table in soft white and green. The tablecloth was grey-blue linen. On each dinner plate, a bottle of fresh Tuscan olive oil, a guest favour that also functioned as the best possible table decor: local and edible. Food and catering were by Class Ricevimenti, with authentic Italian cuisine that held the same standard as everything around it.
The speeches came from the mother of the bride, the father of the groom, the mother of the groom, the best man, and the maid of honor. Each one was described by guests as thoughtful, beautifully spoken, and deeply heartfelt, which is everything you want a wedding toast to be and rarely all five at once.
Music and lighting throughout the evening were handled by Just Magic, whose string lights across the courtyard did not simply decorate the stone arches they interrupted them in the best possible way.
The cake ceremony was the most theatrical moment of the evening, and it was entirely intentional. The wedding cake was a traditional Italian Millefoglie, a layered cream pastry, and the couple finished decorating it in front of their guests, adding fresh berries, piped cream, and a dusting of powdered sugar at the table. With That’s Amore by Dean Martin playing in the background, cutting the first slice together felt joyful and playful.
The after-party moved inside the restaurant, under ribbed stone vaults illuminated by torches. This is where the first dance happened, to Lover by Taylor Swift, a quiet and entirely joyful moment between two people.
A gelato cart rounded out the dessert situation, because when the cake is a Millefoglie and the setting is Tuscany, you commit. Every guest apparently loved it, which tracks. The night ended with everyone jumping in the pool together.
Advice from the couple:
• One thing we can’t stress enough is to choose a wedding planner who is not only an expert but also kind and genuinely willing to help. Having someone patient, understanding, and always ready to answer your questions makes a world of difference, especially when you’re planning from afar.
Be patient with each other, celebrate the small victories along the way, and remember to enjoy the journey. At the end of the day, your wedding is about sharing a joyful, meaningful celebration with the people you love most.
PLANNING Tuscan Tours and Weddings | ASSISTANT PLANNER Tuscany Wine Food Adventures | PHOTO & VIDEO Brie Film and Photo | VENUE Borgo Sant’Ambrogio | FLORALS Magnolia Fiori Wedding | MUAH Suely Menichetti | DRESS Flora Bridal | SHOES Bella Belle | GROOM’S SHIRT Indochino | CATERING Class Ricevimenti | BAR Tumbler In | MUSIC & LIGHTS Just Magic | CELEBRANT Tuscan Pledges | WELCOME PARTY AMA on the Road
