Simon and Natalie - The Wedding, Villa Durazzo, Santa Margherita, Ligure

The setting for Simon and Natalie's wedding is just amazing!  Santa Margherita, Ligure, in the North of Italy on the Italian Riviera is a spectacular backdrop, and the Basilica Santa Margherita has to be the most stunning church I have ever been inside.  The priest, who came all the way from Florence so that the wedding ceremony could be held in English, was lovely, with a kind spirit and a gentle heart, befitting of such a glorious church.  It was really sweet when Natalie got out of the car with her mum and dad - all the locals had gathered around the entrance to the Basilica and clapped and cheered her, and then again after the ceremony when the bride and groom came out of the church they were greeted with claps and cheers, and one little boy wanted to kiss the bride!

The reception was held in Villa Durazza, where the Rooney's recently got married, but I reckon this was a far better wedding!  The Villa is gorgeous, and I just hope I managed to captured enough of its glory in the fading light.  I'm thrilled with the photographs, and I hope that Natalie and Simon will love them too.  When we finished photographing the couple, they were kind enough to have arranged food for us, and when we went into the room where it was laid out (all very posh, I have to say!) we were greeted by the band, and Ricardo and Danielle looked after us perfectly (thanks guys!).

The photographs below are just a small selection of what I really wanted to post up on the blog!  I would have loved to show around 50 photographs, but I have to keep some surprises back for when Simon and Natalie come to view their proofs in a couple of weeks!

Natalie with her proud parents, Ken and Helen.

Just before the ceremony, looking like the perfect bride!
A slightly nervous looking groom, with the bridesmaids coming down the aisle behind him.
And the bride and her father enter the spectacular church, the Basilica Santa Margherita.

The bride and groom are both stunning - and strangely don't seem to know it!  A beautiful couple in every way.  And for the second time this year, I cried at a wedding, and then again when I looked at some of the photographs!  I have to get a grip of myself!!!  
We thought at first there was no confetti, but out of nowhere (well, Helen's bag, mainly, I think!) came masses of the stuff!
Antony managed to somehow look like the mafia when we were making our way up to the Villa Durazzo.
And what a backdrop - who couldn't have a great time with a setting like this!
The bride and groom making their way up to the Villa.
The beautiful bridesmaids
And proof, in case it's needed, of who caught the bouquet!
And to finish, the gorgeous couple - when I did their pre-wedding shoot earlier in the year people kept asking me if they are models that I did a mock shoot with - I guess I'll get asked that again with them looking so amazing in their photographs!