Designing a Venetian Wedding is no small task, especially when you’re doing it from half way around the world. Since there’s no room for error, everything must be thought through as completely as possible.
Begin with a solid floor plan. You’ll need to be clear on how you want to move through the space. Where will you sit? How do you want your guests to see you? What will be behind you? A mirror, a draped window, a baroque water fountain? Think about what will happen when the camera’s flash. Will your photo white out because of the glass window or mirror behind you reflecting the flash? You’ve only got one chance to get it right, so it’s important to minimize the possibility of mistakes. These drawings were my springboard for the event. They helped me decide on things like lighting, fabrics, candelabras and even camera angles.
Our wedding took place in a renowned historic space in Venice, Italy, the Ridotto Ballroom. Located in the Hotel Monaco and Grand Canal, it sits on the edge of the famed lagoon and faces the Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute. Built in 1638 by the Dandolo family, the public gaming room was Europes first casino and was frequented by famed ladies man Casanova. We love this space, and what makes it special to us is the authentic Baroque ceiling fresco. It’s very similar to one that hangs over the shampoo bowl of my hair salon in the Hancock Park neighborhood of LA.
The wedding decor was guided by the two color palettes in the room: The warm tones of the terrazzo floors, peach walls and gold trim, and the cool tones of the ceiling fresco. The ceiling fresco is the focal point of the room, and I wanted to bring that color down to eye level by covering the table tops in an iridescent ice blue fabric. After weeks and weeks of clipping fabric samples from nearly every fabric store in Los Angeles, I created these sample boards of colors.
I wanted a little something ‘extra’ for the guest tables. So I chose one of my original floral paintings and had it printed onto fabric. After finding the right fabric that wouldn’t wrinkle or curl up, it was cut it into a circle and trimmed with gold fringe. I chose tall candelabras for the tables because of the ceiling height. I had the flowers arranged not at the base, but up towards the top by the candles. This allowed the guests to be able to see across the table and again helped add volume higher up in the room.
I also created accent pillows from my original bird paintings, trimmed them in fringe, and then tossed them around the room for added color. I wanted to capture the feeling of an imaginary Venetian garden with birds, butterflies, and flowers.
Construction of all of these items took far longer to complete than I expected. My seamstress was working at her own pace… perfection takes time. I’m so glad that I gave myself extra time for these bespoke items. Ultimately it was worth the wait.
I chose Venetian masks and Chinese fans as party favors. I knew the room might be hot… and it was. The fans were a life saver for this elegant soiree.
The final factor for the wedding was the lighting. As you can see above, the marble columns and inset panels are very grey during the day. Because our event was going to be 8 hours long, we needed to create a continuous mood throughout the event. I wanted it to glow with warm pink tones late into the evening. Thanks to digital lighting effects, we had exceptional mood lighting for the entire evening.
