A Maratea marriage made in
heaven
Published on Thu,
05/28/2009 - 14:11
Read about how couple Nina Rennie
and Paul Gustard managed to combine contemporary style with environmental
accountability to create their fabulous eco-friendly wedding
WORDS: NINA RENNIE and PAUL GUSTARD
IMAGES: TTL PHOTO AGENCY FOR MARATEA WEDDINGS
Read about how couple Nina
Rennie and Paul Gustard managed to combine contemporary style with
environmental accountability to create their fabulous eco-friendly wedding
IN
THE YEAR 2000, rugby player Paul Gustard and Nina Rennie (then a student of
literature) met on their university campus in England, and just a few months
later, started dating. A year later, to celebrate their ‘anniversary’, Paul
organised a surprise trip to Italy, which turned out to be the start of many
romantic Italian breaks. ‘Nina had always loved the Italian way of life, but
the more time I spent there with her, the more I loved it too,’ says Paul. ‘I
think it could bring out the romance in any man!’
It certainly brought out the
romance in Paul. In 2007, he got down on one knee outside one of Nina’s
favourite museums, as fountains trickled around them, and proposed. Nina
accepted, and they both immediately knew where they wanted to get married. Nina
explains: ‘We both love the Italian lifestyle, the art, the history, the
language, the passion of the people...We’ve seen lots of Italy now and there
are so many stunning parts we’d happily keep returning to but when we found
Maratea, it seemed to have a unique charm. We fell in love with it and knew it
was the place where we wanted to have our wedding.’
Paul agrees: ‘Ruggedly beautiful, steeped in history yet unspoilt by tourism,
Maratea was the perfect location. We wanted our wedding to be a fantastically memorable
celebration for us and everyone who was there to share it.’
In June 2008, the couple married on the coast, at The Santavenere Hotel,
Maratea.
'ruggedly beautiful, steeped
in history yet unspoilt by tourism...'
THE PLANNING
‘For
me,’ says Nina, ‘because of my work in sustainability, it was very important to
have a wedding that was as lovely but also as environmentally-friendly as
possible. Maratea was the perfect location for this reason too. We could have
locally-sourced food and drinks, entertain everyone outside in the fresh sea
air with guaranteed sunshine and offer our guests some eco-chic accommodation
whilst supporting a small community.
‘Although I’d planned to be fluent in Italian by this stage, I was far from it
and we knew it was going to be difficult to organise the whole thing unless we
had the help of an English-speaking wedding planner.
Luckily, we found Maratea Weddings and as soon as we contacted them we felt at
ease because they were so friendly and helpful. Gabriella and Ilaria turned out
to be invaluable. Both Paul and I have pretty intensive jobs, (Paul’s a
professional rugby coach and I’m a communications consultant focused on consciousness-raising),
and we both travel for work, so we weren’t able to dedicate as much time to
wedding planning as we would have liked. Maratea Weddings proved a godsend.
‘We encouraged friends and family to arrive a few days before the wedding so we
could all spend time together and really enjoy the area. However, this meant
people needed extra help finding accommodation and organising travel plans, and
we were worried that Maratea might not be the most straight forward place to
get to. But we needn’t have worried. We handed everything over to Maratea
Weddings and they helped with everything from car hire to organising day trips
and activities throughout the week. The whole process was completely painless.
‘Gabriella and Ilaria had found us a wonderful villa, Villa Cristiana, with
gardens and a private pool overlooking the sea. It was secluded but not far
from where our guests were staying. It’s the sort of place where I would love
to live. (Maybe one day, I keep everything crossed...)
the italian string quartet was
fantastic and created a wonderful ambiance
a friend of ours… stood up to
sing nessun dorma at the end of the ceremony...
THE BIG DAY
‘The
ceremony in the town hall was lovely; relaxed and not too formal, just as we’d
hoped. We felt like we’d truly been welcomed to Maratea by the mayor. Locals
congratulated us as we left the town hall and had photographs taken by the
fountain. Then we all celebrated in the square with the hospitality of La
Caffetteria, before everyone headed off for dinner at La Locanda Della Monache
which is one of the most stylish and sophisticated hotels we’ve ever seen. We
highly recommend it.
‘Let me start by saying that the day was just bellissimo! We look back now and
smile. The setting was blissfully picturesque and everyone just seemed to
really enjoy themselves.
‘The Italian string quartet was fantastic and created a wonderful ambiance
whilst our guests sipped wine. I was so grateful that my late Grandad’s violin
could be played. He was in the London Symphony orchestra and it will always be
treasured.’
Nina continues: ‘Paul loved the idea of me arriving in a little boat, to
surprise our guests. I did too, but I was slightly concerned about falling in
the sea with nerves. I had decided on a one-off recycled couture dress, made by
Gary Harvey, that he customised for me. It was so beautiful I was worried about
going near anyone with a drink in their hand, let alone getting in a little
boat wearing it! However, luckily my favourite girls had kept me entertained
while we all got ready, I was in safe hands and the boat got me to Il Carrubo
beach of the Santavenere Hotel safely whilst my brother chatted away to me kept
me calm.
A TOUCHING NOTE
‘A
friend of ours, Riccardo Orefice, stood up to sing Nessun Dorma at the end of
the ceremony and there weren’t many of us without a tear in our eye. He was
absolutely amazing.
‘The Santavenere staff and Maratea Weddings had organised everything so well we
could just enjoy ourselves and celebrate with our guests. Later, we released
good luck lanterns into the night sky, then everyone danced and sang into the
night. Our day had been absolutely perfect: the ideal start to a life
together.’
For more information on Maratea Weddings, visit www.marateaweddings.com
