Weddingbee Blog

I know it’s been a long time since you’ve seen my icon pop up, but I’ve got a crazy story that I just had to come back and share with you!

Back in March a writer getting married in Italy was announced. Miss Carousel, remember her? I know I was really excited to hear all about her wedding, and I decided to send her an email letting her know we would be coming to Italy to find out if she had any advice regarding where we should stay and what we should see. She didn’t just write back a few ideas—she composed an extensive spreadsheet brimming with resources and an itinerary complete with estimated costs!

I wrote back a BIG thank you, and asked a few more questions, but never heard back from her. I stop by Weddingbee every so often, and I noticed she wasn’t showing up here, either.

After months of waiting and planning, our Italian vacation (minus our 18 month old son, so I deemed it our second honeymoon) arrived. We started in Bologna, moved to Florence, stayed out in the Tuscan countryside, saw the Cinque Terre, and ended in Lake Garda. By this point I had completely forgotten that we were staying in Lake Garda on Carousel’s wedding day.

We were eating breakfast in the hotel lobby when a woman walked up and asked if I was a writer for Weddingbee. I was stunned when she told me that she was Carousel’s wedding planner and that Carousel would be arriving shortly from the hair salon. She wasn’t just staying in the same hotel, we were literally staying in rooms adjacent to each other! Somehow, the bride-to-be and I had managed to book the exact same hotel for the weekend, without even knowing it. I found out when she would be arriving, and went over to surprise her and say hello. It was so fun!

She was waiting for her mom to get there before stepping into her dress, and after we talked for a few minutes (and got over the shock of seeing each other in person!) she was kind enough to invite us to the ceremony and cocktail hour held later that afternoon. The ceremony wouldn’t work with our schedule, but I sheepishly agreed to stop by at some point, feeling a little bit like a wedding crasher. Ha!

Carousel said she is very sorry she fell away from blogging, as a job change combined with wedding planning overwhelmed her. I assured her we all want her back, and to see pictures from her beautiful wedding! Her dress was handmade in Germany and just stunning. I took some pictures of her in it, but she asked me to save the “big reveal” of her wedding day for her own posts. So I’ll just show you a few pictures and we’ll have to keep our fingers crossed she makes her big return soon! Here I am showing off the yummy appetizers they had at cocktail hour. We didn’t go to the ceremony or reception, but the guests just coming from the ceremony were all remarking how beautiful it was!

In the middle of the cocktail hour some guys in period costumes came over and started a sword fight right in front of the guests. The hotel where they held the cocktail hour was located on the lake right next to a Medieval reenactment castle and they wanted us to come over and see some of the fights. Carousel wasn’t around during this so I didn’t get a chance to see whether she thought this was an interesting development or an annoying one.

I couldn’t resist posting this one photo that shows a bit of the wedding details/style. I’m not sure if this little boy was acting as ring bearer for the day or some other part of the wedding party, but he was SO CUTE. I need to get a church outfit just like that for Babycado.

Enjoy your honeymoon, but come back soon Carousel! It was so fun to meet you on your wedding day, halfway across the world!