Grace + Connor by Gianmarco Vetrano

For us, the beauty and history of the venue did most of the talking.

Tell us a little about yourselves, what you do, what you love…

We’re Grace and Connor. We’ve been together for 11 years after meeting at university, although funnily enough we grew up in the same area and somehow never crossed paths. Therefore, we’re big believers in the invisible string theory!

We have two big loves in life: films and animals (particularly cats).

We love movies for a few reasons. First and foremost, they’re part of our everyday life. Connor works in the film industry as a Camera Grip, so his job takes him all over the world filming in incredible locations. We love watching movies, going on cinema dates, watching a great series at home or setting up a projector in the garden on a summer evening.

We love animals, and always have. Our cat, Costco, probably deserves a mention too. We rescued her from a drain outside Costco in Hertfordshire after hearing tiny meows coming from inside. She was only a few weeks old, and naming her Costco felt like the only logical option. She came from the streets, but she’s now very much a material girl.

How/where/when did you meet – and what were your first impressions?

We met 11 years ago at university in Nottingham. We were friends for quite a while before we started dating, and only realised later that we’d actually grown up in the same area.

Once we figured that out, we discovered loads of mutual friends and realised we’d had really similar upbringings and probably attended the same house parties accidentally.

We met as much younger versions of Grace and Connor, both super outgoing and experiencing independence for the first time. My first impression of Connor was that he was very chivalrous for his age, confident, and very handsome, of course. Connor’s first impression of me was that I was a ‘ray of sunshine’.

What styling and visual elements worked best for you? (could be things, the florals, particular hire products or your marquee, etc., something the stylist created or simply just the scenic beauty of your location or the existing design of your venue).

For us, the beauty and history of the venue did most of the talking. Tonnara Di Scopello is such a special place to us – we got engaged there three years ago at sunrise, which is why we chose it for our wedding venue. We didn’t want to overdecorate it, but we did want the day to feel like us with some fun touches.

I’ve always loved colour, especially green and yellow. We wanted to use something a little different to flowers, which is how we came up with the idea of incorporating lemons throughout the styling. I always knew I wanted my bridesmaids in yellow, and with Sicily’s history and love of lemons, it felt like the perfect match.

Green works so beautifully with lemon, so the florals we did have focused on lots of green foliage with small touches of white to soften everything. It felt colourful without taking away from the venue itself. My wedding shoes were green too!

What did you enjoy most about the planning process, and do you have any tips for couples starting their wedding planning journey?

Our favourite part of planning was thinking about the order of the day, and all the surprises we had in store for our guests. I love surprises, so I didn’t tell any of my guests what was planned. No one knew if we had a band or music, what food we’d chosen, or my dress, of course. We wanted it to feel like a journey with delightful little surprises along the way, and were so excited for everyone to experience the magic of our wedding venue. When people travel across countries to celebrate with you, you want them to feel looked after and entertained, but also part of your love story.

Every part of the day was thought through, from the many playlists for each part of the day and the order in which the songs were played, to the surprise champagne tower and neon sign in our cave, ‘La Tana di Costco’, in celebration of our cat.

Our biggest piece of advice would be to not sweat the small stuff, enjoy the process, keep as many things a surprise as you can, and remember that communication is key.

Tell us about your vendors. Were there any standout suppliers you would like to make special mention of?

Without a doubt, our wedding planner was one of our standout vendors. As someone who works in marketing and events – and is a serial Type A girlie – I’m super meticulous in my own planning and, if I’m honest, probably had quite high expectations. Barbara and her team exceeded every one of them.

From the very beginning, right through to the wedding itself, she completely understood our vision and somehow made it even better. She brought our ideas to life while adding her own Barbara touch, which made everything feel so effortless. She is without a doubt one of a kind. I think it’s very hard to come across wedding planners as devoted and talented as her, and we are so lucky to have had her.

Another huge standout was our content creator, @alittlestorae. We actually hadn’t planned on having a content creator at all – it was Connor’s idea – but after seeing Rae online and her amazing work, we thought it would be a nice idea. Rae ended up being a huge part of the three days of events. First and foremost, from a personal point of view, everyone adored her.

We wish there were two of her: one that could join our celebrations, and one to be the content creator. Her talent for capturing amazing moments and coming up with brilliant ideas is unmatched. She’s truly one of a kind.

Tell us about your main outfits, what was unique, and is there a story?

Grace wore a customised Lihi Hod gown, the Dalia dress. I added an extra metre of fabric to the train, bringing it to two metres in total. The dress was a silk strapless gown with a structured corseted bodice.

I paired it with a custom-made blusher veil to add the drama, featuring heavy lace trim and personalised embroidery. Hidden within it was “111” – to represent the three amigos: Connor, Grace and Costco, our cat.

I wore bright green Prada heels, which I’d wanted for years after seeing them displayed one day in Selfridges. They matched my bouquet perfectly and felt like the perfect little slice of me.

On the morning of the wedding, Connor surprised me with a beautiful Tiffany necklace, which complemented the dress perfectly (by chance, of course – that man has good taste!) I tried on well over 100 dresses before finding the one, which I know is crazy. I’d always loved Lihi Hod’s designs, and with the help of the wonderful team at Browns Bride in London and my incredible seamstress Katie, my dream dress became exactly that. It fitted like a glove, and the veil gave all the drama I’d hoped for.

Connor wore a black tuxedo with an oversized velvet bow tie, paired with his grandfather’s gold cufflinks from the 1970s, Louboutin Chambeliss patent leather Derby shoes, and his Omega Seamaster Aqua Terra watch. For dinner, he changed into a custom white dinner jacket.

Tell us about your wedding and engagement rings.

Connor designed my engagement ring completely himself – a pear-shaped solitaire with a platinum pronged setting and 18 carat band. After we got engaged, I genuinely think I looked at it every evening for about 18 months in complete awe. I still do.

Choosing my wedding band felt surprisingly difficult because I didn’t want anything to take away from my engagement ring. Eventually I found the perfect one – an 18-carat yellow gold channel-set diamond band. It complements my engagement ring perfectly.

Connor’s wedding ring is his dad’s wedding band, repurposed to fit him. It’s gold and has such sentimental value.

What were one or two elements that were most important to you both that you were happy to spend a little more on? (food, photography, florals, the venue, your outfits?).

For Connor, photography and videography were always the priority. As someone who works in film, it was really important that the day was captured. We wanted editorial-style, classic photos and a videographer who felt more like a filmmaker whose style we liked.

Gianmarco captured our day so beautifully. His style is timeless, elegant and exactly what we’d imagined. Bruno was our videographer because he approaches weddings like a filmmaker rather than simply documenting events, which really resonated with Connor. I remember whilst we were having photos and videos taken, Connor was commenting exactly what they were doing, explaining things to me, and in that moment I knew we’d made the right choice.

Bruno and Gianmarco were complemented so well by our content creator Rae, always capturing unique moments, details and more, whilst also providing creative direction and fun ideas. All three of them and their crew were so seamless, and I still look at the photos and think, WOW, how did I not know they were there!?

For Grace, the dress was always the biggest priority (hence trying on over 100 dresses!). I wanted something that felt like me, suited the venue and would still feel timeless in years to come.

Was there a favourite moment (or two) that you will treasure always?

Grace never told Connor what song she was going to walk down the aisle to. Instead, I surprised him with a song that meant so much to us when we were at university – M83 – Wait. We used to listen to it in our student accommodation when we were in our feels. We hadn’t listened to it for about five years, so he’d completely forgotten about it, but I hadn’t! The moment it started playing, it instantly transported us both back to those early days. I’d secretly listened to it over and over on my journeys to work and on walks, imagining that moment. I love surprises, and seeing it land exactly as I’d hoped made it incredibly emotional for both of us.

We’ll also always treasure just how emotional the day turned out to be. After nearly 12 years together, our wedding had been a long time coming. Connor is very Irish in his ways and never one to wear his heart on his sleeve. On our wedding day, though, everyone saw a completely different side of him.

His vows and speech genuinely took my breath away. Even after all these years, he still manages to make me feel so deeply loved, but hearing him express that so openly in front of all the people we love made the day unforgettable.

People always say the bride is the star of the wedding day, but honestly, on our day, Connor was the star. During his speech, he said, “Your name is my favourite word. Your voice is my favourite sound.” I still can’t quite believe those words came from the man who never writes for fun and is usually happiest behind the camera. But on our wedding day, he stepped into the spotlight, and I’ll treasure that forever.

What does being married mean to you, and are there any special rituals you have that you would like to share?

I actually don’t agree when people say married life is the same – it’s not! Our love is deeper and more seen and understood by our friends and family, so it feels more special in that way. We also have this continual feeling of pride for the wonderful wedding we orchestrated, and also how much our guests fell in love with Sicily – and that pride hasn’t dwindled even nearly six weeks after the wedding.

Perhaps not a special ritual to share, but I always think one of the secrets to Connor and me is the amount of time we’ve spent, and continue to spend, apart. In the grand scheme of things, it’s only around two months a year, but with Connor’s job, and in our earlier years when he lived and studied in New Zealand, we’ve spent a lot of time apart. Because of that, we continue to grow fonder and more grateful for one another because, as everyone says, absence makes the heart grow fonder. Time apart makes you more grateful for someone, and I think sometimes, as humans, it’s easy to take that for granted.