Italian wedding cake, first dance and party
After the delicious Italian wedding reception, you have to cut the Italian wedding cake, do your first dance and PARTY!
Cutting the cake
Once dinner finishes it’s time to move to the party but before you can hit the dance floor you need to cut the cake. In Italy, the Italian wedding cake is traditionally a millefoglie or thousand layer cake. It consists of many layers of fine pastry with a Chantilly-style cream between them and on top they put fruits of the forest. If you prefer a more traditional wedding cake there are plenty of specialist cake makers that can make a cake with tiers and icing with your preference of style and design.
You can decorate the table or area where you cut the cake to make it even more beautiful, flowers and candles don’t cost much but make a huge difference to the aesthetics. It’s quite common at the moment for people to light sparklers during the cake cutting.
As well as having a wedding cake quite often there will also be a dessert buffet. This offers other delicious Italian desserts, mini cakes, chocolate fountains and crowd favorites like tiramisu! Often it is also accompanied by a coffee corner for those that would like an espresso before starting the party. A very elegant solution is to offer some sweet dessert wine which many haven’t tried but everyone likes.
The first dance or dances
The first dance traditionally takes place after you cut the cake but I see couples having their first dance whenever they want. I have seen it at the start of the reception and during it and even during the cocktails. However, most people still have it at the end of the evening before the party. For my American clients, it is also common for them to have the father-daughter dance and the mother-son dance. I love these dances as the parents are often so emotional!
If you need to bustle your dress before you dance so you can move more freely then make sure the people that are going to bustle it for you know how to do it. It’s worth practicing once or twice before the wedding as it’s not much fun having to go to your room and stay there for 20 minutes as someone figures out how to bustle the dress – you will be missing the party!
Some dresses bustle better than others and some don’t look very nice when they are bustled. So while you are choosing the dress you may want to check how your dress bustles.
The Party
My photography of the party is purely documentary. I am there to capture people having fun and the atmosphere. Earlier in the day, we did the group photos, these usually include the parents, relatives and bridal party, and often we don’t have time to include other people. However, later in the evening you can take more photos with your friends as you are having fun!
If you are having any surprises then make it a surprise for someone but not for the photographer! So if you have organized a surprise fireworks display let me in on the secret so I am ready for the photos.
Contact usMy photography of the party is purely documentary. I am there to capture people having fun and the atmosphere. Earlier in the day, we did the group photos, these usually include the parents, relatives and bridal party, and often we don’t have time to include other people. However, later in the evening you can take more photos with your friends as you are having fun!
Stunning Wedding Receptions
Here is a collection of images of Italian wedding reception themes, decor and ideas. I love photographing all sort of events and themes from the over the top extravagant, to rustic chic, modern, elegant and understated it doesn't matter what the mood I love to photograph the colors, textures and shiny twinkly stuff!
Portfolios & Advice For Each Part Of Your Wedding
Discover inspiration and expert tips to perfect every detail, from the "I do" to the final dance, in these comprehensive wedding photography portfolios.
Heartfelt Testimonials
Explore rave reviews from treasured clients. Find out why couples are over the moon about their wedding photography experience.
- We picked Jules because we loved the way he captured light so perfectly in his work and we were not disappointed at all when we received our photographs. He captured exactly what we were after and they were even more ........Stephen Townsend
We picked Jules because we loved the way he captured light so perfectly in his work and we were not disappointed at all when we received our photographs.
He captured exactly what we were after and they were even more stunning than we could have hoped for!
We met him at our venue a few months before and him and his wife we a delight and made us feel at ease.
On the day, he cracked jokes yet orchestrated us professionally.
We were delighted to receive all of the photographs less than a month later, which is unusual as many photographers can take several months!
His invoicing and communication were always professional and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend him if you want the perfect wedding pictures.
- My wife and I were privileged enough to book Jules as our wedding photographer. Planning a wedding can be daunting escpecially when you initially start the process, however these concerns were alleviated after ........Jonathan Verham
My wife and I were privileged enough to book Jules as our wedding photographer. Planning a wedding can be daunting escpecially when you initially start the process, however these concerns were alleviated after contacting Jules.
His communication is prompt, professional, and he does his best to go above and beyond. We were very grateful for his offer to help find us a wedding coordinator, and get in touch with a makeup artist for our wedding both of whom we contracted with. Throughout the time leading to the wedding Jules kept in contact and was reachable regardless of his hectic schedule.
The photography process on the day of the wedding was very smooth as well. Jules showed up to the venue early, was very professional and attained AMAZING shots that we were hoping he would be able to achieve.
Having been to our wedding location before for previous weddings, Jules knew the different areas to go and various poses for impeccable photos.
As someone who is not a professional model having someone take photos of me was odd at first, however Jules made us feel at ease throughout the process through his casual but firm demeanor and by providing exact direction.
After the wedding, Jules provided the photos to us within weeks, and had our wedding album designed shortly after. I would caution anyone who hires Jules not to skip on the photo album, it is a very elegant piece that you would be hard pressed to have duplicated elsewhere.
He also provided us with links to download high quality images of the photos he took for us to store electronically. I create a google drive to store them in the cloud as well as a hard backup on a flash drive.
We used some of these downloaded images to have printed on aluminum for our home. I would not hesitate to recommend Jules to anyone getting married.
The product he produces is well worth the money spent a thousand times over and is something my wife and I will treasure for the rest of our lives.
- We are so happy we chose Jules to photograph our very special day! He was very professional while also being extremely personable, which made us both feel very relaxed. He gave great direction when needed, to ensure he ........Laura Hunt
We are so happy we chose Jules to photograph our very special day! He was very professional while also being extremely personable, which made us both feel very relaxed.
He gave great direction when needed, to ensure he captured us in photos that looked natural and truly captured the essence of our day and us as individuals, as well as a couple.
When we received our photos we are in awe at how absolutely beautiful they were! There were so many wonderful ones to choose from, it was difficult to pick our favorites.
Our friends and family were also very impressed and many mentioned they looked like they were straight from a magazine. WE AGREE!
Thanks so much, Jules, for everything. We appreciate you and will definitely refer you to others for their destination weddings/elopements/etc. – Laura & Chris
- Jules has a professional eye for photography and fine details. He was very meticulous with all of my poses and worked with my husband and I to ensure we had the best shots possible. He was great at directing my wedding ........Amanda Orlando
Jules has a professional eye for photography and fine details. He was very meticulous with all of my poses and worked with my husband and I to ensure we had the best shots possible.
He was great at directing my wedding party and even helped keep my train perfect. He knows his way with lighting, poses and backgrounds.
All of my pictures came out beautiful! He even helped with some editing afterwards which wasn’t even included in our pricing. Jules goes above and beyond to see his clients are happy. I’m so happy he was part of my dream wedding in Italy!
- Jules was a fantastic photographer for our wedding in Tuscany and I’m still in awe of how well he captured all aspects of our wedding. The quality is amazing and you can see every detail within each photo. I really ........Hannah H.
Jules was a fantastic photographer for our wedding in Tuscany and I’m still in awe of how well he captured all aspects of our wedding. The quality is amazing and you can see every detail within each photo. I really wanted someone that would capture the gorgeous landscape of our destination wedding and he did exactly that.
He’s very professional and gives great guidance when you are posing which is extremely comforting.
I couldn’t believe how quick we got the photos as well, within 3 weeks of our wedding we had all of them, I don’t know anyone else that has a photographer that has that kind of service.
- Planning a destination wedding is extremely stressful and you’re basically praying and crossing your fingers that you pick the right vendors. To put this simply: Jules was the best vendor that we selected. We can ........Yvonne C
Planning a destination wedding is extremely stressful and you’re basically praying and crossing your fingers that you pick the right vendors. To put this simply: Jules was the best vendor that we selected. We can confidently recommend him to any of our family, friends, and anyone having their wedding in Italy because we know how hard-working he is and his amazing attention to detail.
On our wedding day, it was raining and thundering a couple hours before the ceremony. Jules arrived on time and came to greet us. Instead of just waiting around for the rain to stop, he left our room to scout out the property and to assess the rain situation. We didn’t know this but he was also taking drone shots as the rain was dying down. Not a moment was wasted, he put his 100% effort into getting as many shots as he could for us. We really felt that we lucked out booking with Jules. He is organized, knowledgeable, and detail-oriented.
On top of everything, Jules captured the most beautiful photos of our wedding. He put us at ease and made us feel natural as we took photos around the property. He knew the perfect angles and lighting. We are so happy with how photos turned out and appreciated that we have these memories to keep forever!
International Recognition
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