Reception: Hotel Santa Caterina – Amalfi
Ceremony: Giardini della Principessa di Piemonte – Ravello
Wedding Planner: The Amalfi Experience – Lucy Kiely & Jocelyn Stahl
Photographers: Simone Stanislai & Antonio Bartalozzi
For a Wedding Photographer: if there are locations that represent the “non plus ultra” for their beauty, elegance, atmosphere, poetry, definitely Amalfi, Ravello and, more generally, the Amalfi Coast can be counted among these.
We have been lucky enough to spend a few days in these enchanted places to photograph the wedding of Susie and Robin, a beautiful couple we met thanks to an another couple (Nora & Lee – if you’re curious to see their photos, you can click this link). Amalfi, the city that gives its name to the stretch of coast that goes from Vietri sul Mare to Punta Campanella, is the oldest among the maritime republics and it is considered the “queen” of the Amalfi Coast, a “symbolic place” that still enchants tourists and visitors from around the world as in the days of the “Grand Tour”. Just over three square kilometers, with his back covered by rocks of Lattari Mountains and its front that opens out towards the sea, Amalfi is a village of white houses hugging each other, narrow streets and porticoes, Saracen towers and the inevitable lemons.
The Hotel Santa Caterina, the place where preparations, aperitifs, dinner and festivities took place, stands close to the center of Amalfi: it is a late 19th century liberty style villa immersed in the beautiful scenery of the Amalfi Coast, an elegant seaside residence surrounded by the perennial blue of the Mediterranean sea and sky, by luscious bougainvillea and by lovingly cultivated olive groves and fruit orchards. We were very lucky because Hotel Santa Caterina provides a spectacular setting for a wedding reception: the secluded, sun-kissed veranda and the light-filled dining room overlooking Amalfi are the perfect venues to take great photos.
Of course, also Ravello has won our hearts and it was the venue for the ceremony: this ancient village is considered the “balcony” of the Amalfi Coast, a treasure trove of art, music, villas (how not to mention the fabulous Villa Cimbrone and Villa Rufolo) and verdant gardens towards the infinity. Ravello is a very quiet and chic town and from its terraces we have been able to admire the same wonderful panorama that once enchanted Richard Wagner and the great Greta Garbo. The civil ceremony was officiated on the lookout of the Gardens of the Princess of Piedmont, a unique and exclusive place where you can enjoy another breathtaking view. After the ceremony, we took advantage of a half-hour of freedom to walk with our newlyweds in the streets, exploring the most famous – but also the lesser known – corners of this village, remaining constantly enchanted by a thousand original frameworks suspended between sky and sea.
It would take a whole day to try to return, using the photographic language, the magic of these places and that of Susie and Robin’s love, but our work is often ruthless, the time is short and sometimes we must be really quick to seize the poetry and the sense of a place and the intimacy and the character of a couple. We’ve tried to do our best. Below you will find a selection of images from this unique wedding on the Amalfi Coast.
