Real Wedding – Laura & Hugh, Lake Como Italy

Embarking on an effortless elopement journey, Laura and Hugh anticipated their Lake Como celebration with joy. Captivated by the mesmerising beauty of Lake Como, they embraced a minimalistic styling approach, allowing the natural surroundings to steal the show. Eliza of Lou Lou Memphis skilfully captured the essence of the lake and the majestic Italian Alps, infusing their wedding story with unparalleled finesse.

Turning Laura’s wedding dress vision into reality, the couturiers at d’Italia crafted a dreamy sheath dress with a detachable train. Laura radiated elegance on her special day, her attire a perfect reflection of the scenic beauty surrounding them.

A poignant highlight unfolded with a first look by the lake, setting the stage for their ceremony. Hugh’s squinty-eyed grin remains etched in Laura’s memories, embodying the genuine emotion of an unforgettable wedding day.

The meeting.

Hugh and I first met at a classic ‘Man O Man’ football club function when we were 18 and 20 years old. Hugh played a little more hard to get at the beginning, his family have always joked around and refer to me as ‘the stalker’ as I never gave up.

The one.

There’s no specific moment I can pinpoint when I knew he was the one but when you spend all of your 20’s with someone I guess you just know, we have accomplished so much together as a partnership and are always there cheering each other on.

The proposal.

It’s a funny story, poor Hugh had the perfect proposal planned. He was going to take me to a beautiful waterfall while we were visiting Queensland, however when he suggested we make the trek up to the waterfall I just flat out refused, I was there for a holiday and just wanted to lay on the beach. He swiftly made alternative arrangements and proposed to me at the Currumbin Rock-pools before heading to Rick Shores for lunch.

Planning process.

The planning and processes leading up to our wedding day were so easy as it was just the two of us! We had an amazing wedding planner based in Milan, she was an expert on elopement’s and organised everything for us, I literally did not have to organise a thing!

Style inspiration.

We just loved the backdrop of Lake Como so we wanted to keep all styling to a minimum and have the scenery as the main focus, our photographer did an amazing job of capturing the lake and the Italian Alps. However, as I did not have my parents there with me, I still wanted to draw some inspiration from them. My mum had a giant bow on the back of her wedding dress which to this day she still will laugh about but I just loved it and wanted to do something similar. My dad grew up growing orchids with his family, so I made sure that in amongst my white roses there was a beautiful orchid stem. I was also inspired by Instagram and real weddings on blogs. Once I had selected my photographer (Eliza from Lou Lou Memphis) I would stalk her Instagram daily and always feel so inspired!

The ceremony.

Our ceremony was so personal to us as it was literally just myself, Hugh, our celebrant and our harpist so we were not distracted by any guests and could really just be in the moment.

The outfit.

Myself, mum and my sister had the best day wedding dress shopping. The bridal boutiques make you feel so special! Once I nailed the style, I headed to d’Italia in Malvern. This is where my sister had her wedding dress made and we could not fault their service. After the ladies at d’Italia finalised the design, they handed me over to my couturier Mary and she made the vision come to life! As we flew over with my dress, I couldn’t have anything that was going to be too big or bulky, so I went with a sheath dress and a detachable train.

Favourite moment.

Hugh and I did a first look before heading to the ceremony by boat and that was my favourite part. You never know how your partner is really going to react when he sees you for the first time and I love the way our photographer/videographer captured Hugh’s squinty eyed grin.

Meaning of marriage.

A mutual commitment between two people who can’t wait to spend the rest of their lives together.

Wedding soundtrack.

We didn’t have any specific songs, we just had classical music played on the harp and it was beautiful!

Funny stories (or near disasters).

We had been travelling around Europe for 6 weeks and the only day it rained was of course, our wedding day! However, this didn’t matter as it was only for 10 minutes while we were undercover. Also, so many things were lost in translation and our poor celebrant couldn’t pronounce Hugh, so now I’m married to Huge!

Planning surprises.

How easy it was – although I didn’t have to do much because our wedding planner had everything planned out perfectly.

Words of wisdom.

Your suppliers are so important and such a big part of your day, make sure your vision aligns with theirs. As we had no friends or family at our wedding our photographer and videographer were the only people we shared our special day with, and we walked away with a new friendship with the both of them!

For Chloe and Charlie, who first met on an overseas trip, who have embraced a love of travel throughout their relationship, and who wanted their dream day to be a true adventure, a sweet Spanish elopement was the perfect choice – be inspired for your own destination wedding.

LAURA AND HUGH’S SUPPLIERS

I have worked in the wedding industry as a hair and makeup for years, so I have had the opportunity of meeting so many great suppliers, however as most of my suppliers we from Italy I had the recommendations of my wedding planner who I found on Instagram.

Ceremony venue location: Villa del Balbianello

Reception venue / location: Villa Vittoria

Celebrant/Officiant: Joanna Giacomone. Joanna did an amazing job of getting to know us as a couple, she sent through countless drafts to make sure we were happy with the ceremony.

Photography: Lou Lou Memphis – Eliza did such an incredible job capturing our day. Hugh and I aren’t great in-front of the camera, but she was able to somehow make us look good with her direction! She also had a huge selection of highlights for us to view the following day. Everyone comments on how beautiful our photos are and I couldn’t agree more! I can’t recommend Lou Lou Memphis enough!

Videography: These Wild Eyes –  Ben came over to Italy especially for us and we were so honoured. He bought about 8 different cameras with him and I’m pretty sure he used every single one of them. He is so insanely talented and brought such a relaxed energy on the day.

Florist: Figli dei Fiori 

Hair: Myself (Laura Dunstan)

Make Up: Myself

The Dress: d’Italia – I can’t recommend the ladies at d’Italia enough. I found it so impressive how they can understand a dress completely created in my mind and sketch it onto a piece paper in-front of me. They were so thorough with the fabric selection and helped choose the couturier that was the right fit for me!

Shoes: Dior

Suits: Peter Jackson

Catering: Le Luci Del Lago 

Bar: Le Luci Del Lago

Transport: Lake Como Classic Boats

Honeymoon: We travelled Europe for 6 weeks however straight after the wedding we did a road trip in the south of France and it so special.

Wedding planner: Michela Lunardi Events – Michela was amazing, she spoke such good English and was so well organised. If anyone is planning an intimate wedding in Italy I would 100% recommend reaching out to her.