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Aaron and Katerina met in London at The Ned, the sort of beginning that gives a couple a landmark of their own in the middle of a crowded city. When the pandemic narrowed daily life, their relationship continued through quieter routines and secret meetings in Hyde Park. Those hidden hours became part of a story that would eventually stretch far beyond London.
The proposal came in Tokyo, spontaneously, adding another city to the map they were making together. Italy, however, was the country they kept returning to, not as a one-off backdrop but as a place already woven into their time as a couple. Choosing it for their wedding meant inviting their closest people into somewhere they knew and loved.
At Villa Bonomi, the four-day gathering began with a sunset welcome dinner before moving into the wedding day. The villa’s four-acre terraced garden, designed by Italian landscape architect Pietro Porcinai, faces Lake Como’s western coast, setting architecture, greenery, and water in close conversation. From there, the celebration moved from an easy first evening into ceremony, portraits, dinner, and a full dance floor.
An Italian Welcome at Sunset
The opening dinner gave everyone time to arrive before the ceremony carried its own momentum. A long table stood near the villa, framed by the formal grounds as sunset lowered over the evening. Italian wine was poured, and the first gathering remained simple: dinner, conversation, and a shared view in a country Aaron and Katerina had chosen through repeated returns. Rather than preview every detail to come, the welcome established a warm, unhurried beginning.
Wedding Morning Inside Villa Bonomi
By morning, the setting shifted indoors, where the villa’s rooms held the smaller details before guests assembled outside. Shoes, jewellery, white flowers, stationery, and a monogrammed ring box opened the sequence. Katerina and her bridesmaids began the morning in feather-trimmed sleepwear, followed by a quiet portrait with her mother once she was dressed. Gown and veil portraits came next, with Aaron’s black-tie portraits and a celebratory toast closing the preparations.
A Painterly Ceremony in the Garden
The ceremony translated its Monet-garden inspiration into soft, layered floral colour rather than a rigid theme. Beneath the trees, Aaron waited as Katerina approached the floral arch, with the lake and distant hills held in the wider view. They exchanged rings under the installation, then sealed the ceremony with a kiss. A petal-filled recessional changed the picture at once, drawing guests close around them as they walked back through the garden together.
From the Terraces to Lake Como
After the ceremony, the portraits opened the day out to the landscape that had been visible all along. Aaron and Katerina boarded a boat, where the moving water, a wind-lifted veil, and the shoreline gave the photographs an easy sense of motion. Back at the villa, they paused on a bench facing the lake and walked beneath a tree-lined promenade. Closeness and scale met in the same afternoon: a kiss on the boat, the sweep of Katerina’s train across the lawn, and the two of them framed by water and mountains.
Aperitivo and Dinner Above the Lake
The monogram returned at aperitivo before guests moved into a garden reception shaped by flowers, candlelight, and long tables. Soft painterly tones continued through the arrangements, while suspended chandeliers glowed above the lake-facing dinner setting and the garden’s hedges and statuary provided structure. When rain arrived, clear umbrellas appeared among the tables, but speeches, dinner, and a kiss at the sweetheart table continued beneath the changing sky. A clean white cake, surrounded by loose floral colour on the terrace, brought the quieter side of the design back into focus.
Live Music, Caricatures, and Fireworks
The evening loosened its collar with live music, saxophone, and caricature artists, moving the celebration from candlelit dinner toward the dance floor. Aaron and Katerina took the dance floor together, then guests closed in around them as coloured light replaced the garden’s softer palette. Cold-spark fountains framed the cake, with fireworks following later in the evening. The night ended with Aaron and Katerina in the middle of their people, the dance floor crowded and the sky above Villa Bonomi lit in celebration.
CREDITS
Bride: @katyagord1, Wedding Planner: @wowitaly_events, Flowers & Decor: @alexafiorart, Photography: @kalibri_group, Videography: @palm.films, MUAH: @irinakostenko__, Catering: @sunlake.catering, Host: @paul_evers_mc, Technical Support: @blunotteeventi, Music: @georgeferdinand_official, Stationery: @cartaliastudio, Calligraphy: @valera_sha_design, Reels Maker: @videosam_production, Venue: @villabonomi
