Unlike Cameron, I didn’t think much after our first meeting, just that he was really friendly and easy to talk to. It wasn’t until a little bit later that I realised he was someone I wanted to know more. It didn’t take long for me to fall for him. You always meet the one when you aren’t looking!
Tell us a little about yourselves, what you do, what you love…
FS: I am a professional contemporary dancer based in London and Cameron is a carpenter, by profession, and a project manager of bespoke constructions in London. We live together with our cocker spaniel, Jaego in Stoke Newington. We share a mutual love of design and architecture so we spend a lot of time talking about our forever home and future properties we hope to develop. We also love to travel and some of our best memories are when we’re away together. We like to find remote places, off the beaten track, that are authentic and rural.
How/where/when did you meet – and what were your first impressions?
FS: Cameron and I met just over 5 years ago in Brighton. I was there dancing in my first ever professional job, wasn’t thinking about meeting anybody – I was just excited to be booked on a job. But during my time dancing, I happened to meet a mutual friend of Cameron’s. Unlike Cameron, I didn’t think much after our first meeting, just that he was really friendly and easy to talk to. It wasn’t until a little bit later that I realised he was someone I wanted to know more. It didn’t take long for me to fall for him. You always meet the one when you aren’t looking!
CS: A friend invited me over for dinner to his place mid week. I wasn’t too fussed to go until he told me a good looking friend of his was crashing there too. A tad shallow maybe but it turned out to be the best decision of my life. I met Finetta and we hit it off straight away. True love at first sight moment!
When did you first realise that this was someone you’d like to spend the rest of your life with?
FS: Cameron took me out to get a pizza and a pint one evening after rehearsal and as soon as we sat down and he started talking, I knew he was the one for life. That was it. Never been so sure of something or someone. Ever.
CS: Ditto to that, maybe even sooner. There was a connection I’d never had with anyone before. A month after meeting we were travelling around Naples together. Italy has always been a big connection for us.
Tell us about the vision you had for the mood or style of your wedding…
FS: An Italian garden wedding. We wanted everyone to be sun soaked, relaxed and in love. And the vibe was captured perfectly because everyone had made the wedding a holiday for themselves so they were in the best spirit possible to celebrate. We only had 40 guests which was immediate family and closest friends who we consider family. We focused a lot on how the guests would feel during the wedding – we wanted them to feel celebrated like we felt celebrated because everybody there was special to us.
CS: The vision we wanted to create was our take on a classic Italian wedding – from the invitations right through to the evening party. Each detail was brought to life with lots of help from friends and family. We did a bit of a DIY do, a family affair, and that really shone with the love and togetherness on the day.
Did anything happen on your wedding day that you laugh about in hindsight (even if it was stressful at the time)?
FS: It was a heatwave! When the guests arrived, instead of being outside enjoying the sun, they had to come inside the Masseria to cool off and Cameron was shirtless until I walked down the aisle! Luckily there weren’t loads of guests all crammed in, but we felt like idiots because the caterers had told us to move the ceremony to a later time to avoid the heatwave and the stress. It all worked out in the end…we got married in the blistering heat and nobody fainted.
Tell us about your main outfits, what was unique, is there a story?
FS: I always wanted a very simple wedding dress, something timeless with not too much going on. But we have a family veil which all the women in my family have worn on their wedding day. It’s been with us for YEARS and it’s a traditional Brussels Lace veil with a beautiful, intricate floral design all over. The two ideas together worked beautifully and felt very fitting for the location. Sadly my grandmother isn’t with us anymore, but I felt that she was with me because she had worn the veil on her wedding day to pops.
Ceremony: Masseria Angiulli Piccolo, @masseriaangiulli / Photographer: Harriet Clare, @harrietclareweddings / Styling: Amare Bride / Catering + Beverages, Cake: Rotondo Catering, @rotondocatering / Bride’s attire: Ala Robe, @alarobe / Groom’s attire: Sandro Paris, @sandroparis; Wax London / Ring/s: Bleue Burnham, @bleueburnham / Shoes: By Far, @byfar_official; Blackstock & Weber / Jewellery: Charlie Carr-Gom Jewellery, @charliecgjewellery