Singaporebrides | Real Weddings
May 2024
Jo-lyn and Lucas’s Romantic Destination Elopement to Scenic Italy
Instead of a run-of-the-mill wedding, Jo-Lyn and Lucas decided on a destination elopement in Italy where they got married and embarked on a romantic wedding shoot in the neighbouring Italian cities.
Jo-lyn, Designer, and Lucas, Pilot, met as students more than a decade ago when they were working at Starbucks. With a common interest in coffee, the pair found themselves drawn to each other. After a once-in-a-lifetime proposal under the Northern Lights, the pair decided to elope to Italy where they tied the knot in a private ceremony in Bolzano, said their vows by a scenic lake and embarked on a destination elopement wedding shoot in neighbouring Dolomites, Lake Braies, Verona and Tuscany.
What drew you to each other? What do you love most about your partner?
Jo-lyn: I was drawn to how down-to-earth and thoughtful he is, and I love how being with him makes me feel like home.
Lucas: We both have a shared love for coffee and her passion for arts drew me to her. I love how her smile never fails to warm my heart.
What was the proposal like?
Jo-lyn: It happened last February during our holiday in Finland, under the Northern lights in a glass igloo hotel we were staying at. We were blessed with strong solar winds and clear skies so we had an amazing view of the aurora that night. We were star-gazing in the igloo when he popped the question. It was the most surreal experience, it felt like a dream.
Lucas: It was a surprise for her. I picked the day when we had a one day stay at a renowned glass igloo and hoped that the solar winds were strong enough to give us a spectacular northern light experience. It was one of the places on her bucket list, so we were lucky the stars aligned for us that night.
Tell us about your elopement. What made you decide to elope and why Italy?
Jo-lyn: I have always pictured our wedding to be somewhere exotic and unconventional. We decided to elope in Italy as we were drawn to the amazing views, and we wanted to celebrate our love in our own way.
Lucas: I never imagined myself to have a destination wedding as I come from a more conservative upbringing. Jo-lyn opened my world by giving me the confidence in deciding on a destination wedding as it was always her dream and I find it interesting as well.
What were some of the challenges you encountered during your planning?
Jo-lyn: We found a wedding planner based in Italy to help us with the paperwork and legal stuff since we didn’t know where to begin. It was tough to secure a venue since we had such a short runway to plan our elopement.
Lucas: Yes, we had a couple of places in mind but the date was rather popular and hence our options became very limited as the wedding planner could not secure our ideal location.
Take us back to your elopement. What was the day like?
Jo-lyn: It was a simple affair. The civil ceremony took place in a town hall, and after that, we went to the mountains. It was just the two of us and our crew. Our wedding day was also our 10th anniversary together, so it felt like a true celebration of our commitment to each other.
Lucas: We held our wedding at the town hall located in Bolzano in Italy. We had a photoshoot session at our accommodation at a resort and a couple of street shots before heading to the town hall for the ceremony.
We felt carefree and excited as it was very different from any wedding I had attended and the day felt special for the both of us as it was also our 10th anniversary.
What was the most memorable moment of your elopement?
Jo-lyn: One of the best moments of our elopement was our trip to Lake Braies, where we booked the pier for an early morning shoot. Against the backdrop of the mountains, we read our vows to each other, and after that, had a boat ride in the lake. We ended the morning by popping champagne by the lake! It was the first time I had champagne for breakfast.
Lucas: Like Jo-lyn said, it was when we booked the lake and had to wake up extremely early in the morning. It was cold but the view was breathtaking.
You had also planned for a photoshoot during your elopement in Italy. Share where you went, and how you went about the planning.
Jo-lyn: Our elopement was more of an adventure, spanning five days across Italy with our crew whom we couldn’t have done it without. We didn’t just go to places for the pictures, we were there to explore and do things we enjoyed. We planned our trip according to places we wanted to go and things we wanted to do.
Our journey started in Venice, where we explored the canals and alleys. We then made our way to Bolzano, a city near the Dolomites. We had a picnic by the mountains until sunset the day before our wedding. The morning after our ceremony in Bolzano, we stopped by Lake Braies to exchange our vows and then made our way to Verona.
We spent an evening touring the streets of Verona on foot, and on our last day, we stopped by the beach in Tuscany to catch the sunset. Then, we parted ways with our crew, and spent the next three days exploring Rome, Vatican City, and Milan on our own before we returned home.
What was it like shooting at multiple locations in a short amount of time? Were there any difficulties you encountered along the way?
Jo-lyn: I had all the outfits and activities planned out, so we just needed to worry about getting there. Thankfully, our driver (shoutout to Xiang Yi) is great at navigating, so we always made it on time to our destinations and covered what we planned.
Initially, we weren’t sure how to pose for pictures so it took some time to get into it with the help of some cues from the photographer. After a while, we learned that it’s about feeling the moment and enjoying each other’s presence. My advice is to not worry about how you look in the pictures and just be yourself and in the moment.
Lucas: The shoot was as expected as Jo-lyn had already decided on some scenic places. We managed to get to the destination as planned on all days. We were also happy with the photos that were taken during our short five days in many different locations and settings.
What is one lesson you’ve learned about planning a destination elopement and wedding shoot that you’d like to share with other couples?
Jo-lyn: It was definitely one of the most intense trips we have ever had to plan. It’s important to set aside time to work on planning together, and it also helps to split the responsibilities. For us, I was in charge of planning the outfits, getting the props and booking the hotels, while Lucas was in charge of booking all the transport. We did our part but also sought each other’s opinion before making the decisions.
Lucas: You definitely need plenty of time and have back-ups in case things don’t go according to plan. I would say if we had more time, we could have explored more options and gone more crazy with the locations and activities.
The Pre-Wedding Shoot Venue: Venice, Dolomites, Verona and Tuscany, Italy
Bride’s Outfit: Reformation, Abercrombie
The Pre-Wedding and Wedding Photographer: Kenny from Wanderlust Dream Co.
The Pre-Wedding and Wedding Hairstylist and Makeup Artist: Adeline Ariel.L Professional Hair & Makeup
The Wedding Venue: Bolzano, Italy
The Bride’s Wedding Shoes: Stuart Weitzman
The Groom’s Wedding Outfit: Benjamin Barker
The Wedding Videographer: Dinie from Wanderlust Dream
The Wedding Bands: Cartier
Want to see your love story featured on SingaporeBrides too? Submit your wedding here!
All content from this article, including images, cannot be reproduced without credits or written permission from SingaporeBrides.
Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Telegram for the latest article and promotion updates!