This bride’s medieval Italian wedding venue was finalised even before she met her husband

On day two, the couple had a symbolic catholic wedding ceremony in the manor garden that was co-officiated by Rice’s sister and Ramaiah’s brother. “A string quartet from Kaleydo played “Can’t Help Falling in Love” as Brendan and the wedding party walked down the aisle. Alongside, one of my bridesmaids, Jordan, sang “Until I Found You” by Stephen Sanchez, as I walked down the aisle,” she shares.

The bride wore a corseted, basque waist ball gown from Galia Lahav. Made with French guipure lace, it had a cat-eye plunging neckline. For the ceremony, she added a matching bolero jacket and a 10-foot, lace-trimmed veil with ‘Forever’s gotta start somewhere’ text embroidered on it. “The day I met Brendan, I was wearing a blue polka dot dress. So my maid of honour Lauren cut a piece of it and stitched it into a little heart, pinning it to the bottom of my gown as my ‘something blue’,” she adds. She completed the look with a messy updo and natural makeup, along with a tennis bracelet from Ring Concierge that Rice gifted her right before the ceremony. The groom wore a white tuxedo with black trousers and a bowtie paired with a gold Ferragamo watch with their wedding date engraved on it that Ramaiah gave him.

A sangeet ceremony followed later, where the amphitheatre was decorated in pink and floral arrangements by Giardino Delle Fate Flower Design, which did all the decor for the wedding. LetterInk designed custom bar fronts and tablecloths and guests relished an Indian buffet spread by Haveli Restaurant as they danced to dhol beats by Elite Drummers and peppy tracks by DJ Aman from Kudos Music. The couple wore a Seema Gujral peach fishtail lehenga and a custom blue sherwani.

The final day of festivities began early morning with Telugu rituals including a mangala snanam and gouri pooja for the bride, and kashi yatra for the groom. “I deeply understand the significance Hindu culture holds for my family. From the very beginning, it was important for me to honour and preserve these traditions,” says Ramaiah. She walked to the mandap wearing a traditional gold sari from Kanchipuram paired with a blouse with pink flowers that was designed and stitched by Bhuvi Kilpady. The highlight was a 60-foot-long veil held together by her cousins.

She picked sentimental family heirloom pieces like ruby and diamond-encrusted bangles and antique temple jewellery in remembrance of her late grandmothers. Rice opted for a custom-stitched dhoti-kurta for the occasion. A pandit performed rituals like vadhu pravesham, muhurtham, maala maarpidi, kanyadana, mangalsutra dhara and more, followed by a traditional sit-down lunch or yele oota where guests ate with their hands.

A reception dinner and their first dance marked the end of the couple’s wedding celebrations, where guests received handwritten thank you notes, traditional bomboniera, and Italian wedding cake.