Each of us was enjoying being independent in our lives at the time, but we were both quickly enamoured with one another and felt very early on that we had found our special person.
Tell us a little about yourselves, what you do, what you love…
Savannah works in public health, while Mitch is a litigation lawyer. We share a love for wine, food, and travel.
How/where/when did you meet – and what were your first impressions?
We were lucky enough to meet online before the COVID-19 pandemic. On our first date, we drank a few too many McLaren Vale reds, and on our second date, Mitch cooked at home. Each of us was enjoying being independent in our lives at the time, but we were both quickly enamoured with one another and felt very early on that we had found our special person. With the escalating COVID-19 crisis and restrictions in place around movement, we were forced early on to commit to spending either a lot more time together or apart, and the easy decision was to keep spending time together. From there, our love for one another grew quickly and insistently, and soon enough, we bought our first home together, and Howie, our beautiful Groodle, joined us to grow our little family.
Was there a proposal? Tell us a little about it…
In the winter of 2022, we were in South Australia on holiday, working our way through the wine regions. A few days into the trip, we arrived at Sequoia Lodge in the Adelaide Hills, where Mitch proposed. Sequoia was a total surprise – he told me on the way that’s where we were staying. We both came across the lodge on Instagram a few months prior and fell in love. However, I never thought I would stay there. In the lead-up to the proposal, Mitch wouldn’t stop checking the weather; he was so caught up about whether it was going to rain or not. That coupled with the surprise accommodation, I thought perhaps there may have been something he was planning. We were sitting on the deck on the afternoon of our arrival, having a glass of champagne (it had just finished raining), and Mitch proposed. We celebrated with some more champagne, then went to Hardy’s at Mount Lofty house for dinner. It was pretty special – if you haven’t been to Sequoia or Hardy’s – it’s most certainly a must-do/see!
Tell us about the vision you had for the mood or style of your wedding.
We initially considered a typical Australian wedding, albeit briefly, before realising we would prefer something more intimate. As soon as an overseas wedding was raised as a possibility, we both began to feel excited rather than daunted by the prospect of planning our wedding. We intended to travel to Europe for our honeymoon at any event and were looking for a unique, elegant, and intimate venue. We found the perfect venue for us in the Italian hills of Umbria on a vineyard next to an ancient church, whose head chef had a Michelin Star. We had both visited Italy previously and loved its wine, food and la dolce vita. We fell in love with Chiesa del Carmine from afar.
Our vision was rustic and elegant. We wanted to celebrate the natural beauty of the area’s green hills and the rustic setting beside the ancient 13th-century church. We wanted to create an experience with our immediate family that lasted longer than one special day and take time and linger on such an important time. On the wedding day, we had an intimate setting outside, followed by aperitivo and dinner beside the church. In the subsequent days, we enjoyed a pizza party by the pool, truffle hunting, wine tasting, and enjoying the area with our family.
What was one element you were happy to splurge on?
A hard question, we were happy to splurge on our photographer. We wanted to look back on our wedding photos in 20 years’ and still love them. We were also happy to splurge on Savannah’s makeup artist. Given we were getting married overseas, we wanted to know we could trust who we were working with without the concerns of things being lost in translation, and I just wanted to feel like me on the day. I didn’t want to look overdone when I didn’t recognise myself. Cass does the perfect ‘less is more’ bridal makeup.
Did anything happen on your wedding day that you laugh about in hindsight (even if it was stressful at the time)?

Everything went very smoothly. The weather looked worrying during the morning, but the sun shone on us as Savannah reached the end of the aisle. The reception was going wonderfully, and the time had come for us to cut our incredible traditional Italian Millefoglie wedding cake when all of a sudden, we heard an almighty bang, and fireworks – completely unanticipated by almost all of us – went off right above us. The chefs raced out to cover the cake while debris began to rain down on us from the fireworks while we all stood in shock.
The fireworks were a wonderful surprise gift from Savannah’s mother, Lisa. We’re still not sure how she managed to pull it off, but it was no doubt thanks to our wonderful wedding planner, Alessandra.
Tell us about your main outfits, what was unique, is there a story?
As a fashion lover, I thought long and hard about what I wanted to wear. I tried on a lot of gowns and didn’t feel like any of them were really ‘me’. I knew I wanted my first dress to be silk and my second to be lace – which made it easier to narrow down the selection. Sarah, who owns Sphere Bridal Gallery (my now good friend), made me try on a Prea James gown. Prea is a local Australian designer – her designs are elegant, chic and minimalist (exactly how I envisioned myself on the day). When I tried on one of her gowns, I knew straight away she was who I wanted to work with. My second dress was from an American designer, Stone Cold Fox. It was comfy, high neck and something I will hold onto for my daughter to wear one day.
LOCATION Chiesa del Carmine, La Bruna, Perugia, Umbria, Italy PHOTOGRAPHER Bek Smith, @beksmithimages VIDEOGRAPHER I Do Cinema, @idocinema STYLIST By the Bride PLANNER Alessandra Zucca, @alessandra_wedding_planner FLORIST Sartoria Floreale, @sartoria_floreale CELEBRANT David Lang – Chiesa del Carmine ENTERTAINMENT Ensemble Hubay – String Quartet CATERING & CAKE Delfo Schiaffino, @delfo_schiaffino; Vineria del Carmine, @ubria_vineriadelcarmine STATIONERY & SIGNAGE Vanessa Nguyen, @byv___ RINGS Natasha Schweitzer, @natashaschweitzer CEREMONY DRESS Prea James Bridal, @preajames_bridal BRIDE’S SHOE Gilda Crystal Heels – Amina Muaddi, @aminamuaddi RECEPTION DRESS Allure Dress – Stone Cold Fox, @stone_cold_fox ACCESSORIES Natasha Schweitzer, @natashaschweitzer; Bag – Cult Gaia, @cultgaia MAKEUP & HAIR Cassandra Lusi, @cassandralusi_mua BRIDE’S FRAGRANCE Poppy and Barley – Jo Malone SUIT, SHIRT, & TIE P Johnson, @pjohnsontailors GROOM’S SHOE G. H. Bass, @ghbass ACCESSORIES Cufflinks – Antique HAIR Cody Ricks, @codyricks
