Alyssa & Cannon's Elegant Italian Wedding

Florence, Italy

To whoever said a bride never wears her wedding dress twice, we officially have a one-word reply: Scusi? Alyssa slipped into her Anne Barge gown for a destination wedding in Italy, and again for her reception a month later in San Diego. Just outside of Florence’s city center, she and her beau tied the knot at the Villa Cora Hotel amid 50 guests who were delighted to indulge in their “international travel excuse.”

Taking “do as the Florentines do” as their MO, the newlyweds embraced Italian traditions throughout their big day, for example cutting the cake at an after-party instead of the reception. “It was the best of both worlds,” Alyssa says, with an added piece of wisdom for brides wary of breaking custom: “Don’t ask for too many opinions. Do what you two want, and everyone will enjoy!

If you Build It

Cannon, who’s in real estate, wants to build a replica of the hotel so he can feel like he’s back in Italy anytime he wants.

La Jolla, California

A month after their destination ceremony in Florence, Italy, Alyssa and Cannon celebrated their everlasting amore with 150 of their hometown friends and family. A brighter affair than their Mediterranean wedding, the Green Acre Campus Pointe reception was no less infused with the newlyweds’ Italian memories. A highlight video from the nuptials played on repeat, and Whimsíque fashioned a cotton banner to hang from the venue’s towering atrium with the last verse of Dante’s Divine Comedy, “L’amor che move il sole e l’altre stelle.” The translation? “Love that moves the sun and other stars.”