This Family... This Collection... This Couple... This Love!

Words cannot express the extreme honor it was for me to have the privilege of photographing this wedding (and everyone who knows me knows... I don't traditionally 'do' weddings)!  What's that you say... Never say Never!  Hmm, thus is the theme of my life!  Ha!  I digress...

Amy and Tony, Cassie and Jaime, their families, their friends and everyone's passion for life and having fun made for a week (or two) chalk full of laughter, vino, copious adventures, vino, exploration of cities and culture, more vino, mastering the pool table at the Villa, Malibu Rum (and vino…not together - eeewww), preparing and consuming GIANT Italian turkeys for an American-Italian Thanksgiving, Prosecco (a.k.a. vino), surviving the insanity that is driving in Italy (sans vino, of course) and getting to know the warmest and most welcoming couple in the entire country, Mike and Sonja - the Villa Peeps... oh and did I happen to mention... VINO?!!!  As they say... when in Rome, err... Tuscany, err... Sinalunga!  :)

I have to say, one of the most challenging aspects of photographing the wedding of one of your dearest and most cherished friends (and her betrothed) is keeping it together in order to accomplish this task!  (Hello, my name is Misty and I'm a total cry-baby at weddings... Hi Misty!)  Yeah, not an easy thing to do... as they will ALL attest, given the amount of tissue (and vino) provided to me during the reception (note for the sake of noting... it is unprofessional to NOT consume the vino whilst in Italy, just sayin')!  In all seriousness, I've attended my fair share of weddings and each one is special and romantic... but I have to say, this one... speechless!  I mean literally, I wasn't able to say a word due to the ridiculousness that was my crying (again, totally acceptable and professional, in Italy)... they (the family, the friends, the couple) did this to me!  :)  Again, I digress! 

Back to the fairytale...

Amy always dreamt of being married in Italy (she is, after all, Italian) and Tony was (obviously) all-in; along with their nuclear family and some of their closest friends... have Italian Wedding, will travel.  After dauntless research, she found the perfect setting at the Villa Scopetello, nestled majestically in the hills of Tuscany.  Seriously folks, you are missing out if you do not put this Villa, this town, this experience on your bucket list! The Villa glowed, the setting was surreal, the wedding day was perfect, the light and sky was luminous! If there is heaven on earth, this is most definitely one of those places that sings to your spirit and soul!

The love flowed from this family, these friends, this couple ... the ceremony was romantic and hilarious and emotional and hysterical... roosters crowing (which is a sign of luck), cats meowing (which is a sign they want tuna), horses neighing (which is a sign they want a carrot or a sugar cube) and Tony making Amy laugh with his countless facial expressions as he reacted to the wisdom offered by the officiants!  #priceless The deal was sealed with a kiss, their parchment officially signed and sealed (literally), champagne (a.k.a. Processo) was ceremoniously uncorked by the groom himself, countless photos endured (with lots of laughter and tolerance by all), cocktail hour ensued and then dinner was served!  Sonja created (I'm certain Mike acted as sous chef - ha!) a wedding feast that was delicious and prepared with so much thought and love!  The night was filled with the sharing of food, vino (shocking), stories, laughter, tears and finally to shake off the weight of emotion... dancing!  Ohhhh yes, while there are only a few 'dancing' photos shared in this gallery... folks were puttin' their right foot in, takin' their right foot out, puttin' their whole-selves in and shakin' it all about!  Tony was the Master DJ and he did us proud!  A great time was had by all and the night was danced away to the classics and hits from the 80s and today!  Another mentionable note... at no time was Taylor Swift played over the course of the evening!  Sad, but true!  LOL!  #wewerestillabletoshakeitoff

At the end of the week-long festivities, more tears were shed as friends and family departed (probably because they were faced with driving on the A1 to make their way to Roma or Milan, or in my case Firenze); hard leaving the bubble of this beautiful and historical country, this amazing villa and lovely couple who took such great care of us, this family, these friends, this couple and this love.  We had such an incredible adventure, so many of us having just met for the first time, yet found ourselves feeing like longtime friends and already family... so much so, we are looking forward to a 5-Year Reunion to rinse-and-repeat the celebration once again!

Until then, in the spirit of sharing words of wisdom for the newlyweds as they embark on their lives together... I call upon the infinite and immortal wisdom of the singular and most influential philosopher of our collective childhoods...

"we are all  little weird and life's a little weird, and when we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours, we join up with and fall into mutual weirdness and call it love."

"you know you're in love when you can't fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams."

"to the world you may be one person; but to one person you may be the world."

"sometimes the questions are complicated and the answers are simple."

"step with care and great tact and remember that Life's a Great Balancing Act!"

                                                                                                 -- Dr. Seuss

Knowing this couple as I do, there aren't wiser words spoken so true, than those spoken by cats in red hats, not blue.

                                                                                                 -- Misty Jean Angel, inspired by Dr.S

Lots of love to Amy and Tony; my photography sowl-mate Cassie and her sweet-as-homemade-pie brother Jaime; the ridiculously talented, gifted and awesomeness that is the Lassi (Butz/Lylo) Fam >> Cindy, Pete, Mary Pat, Emily and Patrick; the Collection >> Minke, Dave and Gavin; Brook, Chris, Jake, Avery and Jessica; Carolyn and Ben (my touristy companions -- thank you for allowing me to tag along); the Italian Cousins (Gianni, Giorgia and Melena); everyone's extended families and friends that couldn't be there too; and finally, the coolest, hippest, most hospitable Villa Peoples EVER >> Mike and Sonja and the Villa Scopetello... arrivederci a presto!!

Ciao!

-Misty

Visit the Villa Scopetello at http://www.amazingtuscany.com/index.html