ella grace x matthew

la foce

tuscany | italy

We’re both screenwriters, so of course the pair of us are hopeless romantics. We knew we wanted our guests to experience the magic and warmth you feel when totally immersed within a love story, and in the case of our wedding, it was ours. The first major holiday Matthew and I took together was a road trip around Italy, driving from Florence down to the Amalfi Coast. Every day was a new adventure and a different opportunity to discover something new about one another. We had the time of our lives there, exploring and falling in love! Along the way, we stayed for a few nights in Tuscany. It was here, while delighting in the intimacy of the hills, that we both agreed that if we were ever to get married, it must be around these parts. So, our location was set.

words by ella grace kennedy and matthew orton

The song ‘Faith’s Hymn’ by Beautiful Chorus is very sentimental to Matthew and I, so we always knew that it would be playing as I walked down to marry him. Many of our dear friends are also creatives, especially musically, and Matthew had the brilliant idea to ask them to form a small choir to perform a version of it for us. This was probably one of the best moments of our lives. Having the involvement of friends and family was crucial to us as we wanted to make the weekend feel as personal as possible, but hearing our friends sing this song, at this moment, felt like something not even two screenwriters could have written up.

Our ceremony took place in the utterly breathtaking lower gardens of La Foce. I walked down the iconic staircase under the beautiful Italian sunshine, then journeyed towards Matthew accompanied by my loving father. I always dreamt of having a long aisle as the bride’s entrance is my favourite moment at any wedding. I feel it’s one of the very rare opportunities in life that can act as a window into someone’s soul. The raw emotion on the couple’s faces is always so real, and perhaps because I’m a writer, I absolutely love to memorise those brief seconds of vulnerability. I feel so lucky to have had an aisle long enough to think on this during my own walk down. I was able to lock eyes with my husband, glance at my dad beside me, and also take in many of our guest's beaming faces. It was absolutely euphoric and immediately washed away all of the intense nerves I was feeling just moments before. After this, I was able to be totally present, experiencing the magical feelings of loving and being loved back. I shall treasure those images in my mind for the rest of my life.

" I was able to be totally present, experiencing the magical feelings of loving and being loved back. I shall treasure those images in my mind for the rest of my life."

ella grace and matt at la foce

I knew my dress would feature a dramatic skirt with a very long train, lace, and would be off the shoulder. As every bride-to-be should, I went to try on lots of different styles, from lots of amazing designers. But as I had predicted, nothing quite felt ‘the one’. With such a vivid idea of ‘my’ dress, I knew I had to go bespoke. I’d been following Emma Beaumont for quite some time, admiring her beautiful work on other brides. So when it was my turn, I was already quite sure that she was the only person I wanted to create my looks with. Together, we designed two pieces, my ceremony gown and my party dress. The process of watching a sketch become a toile, picking out fabrics by hand, witnessing Emma work her magic in front of my eyes, to somehow it all resulting in two masterpieces was truly an extraordinary experience. My ceremony gown was made from a silk blend mikado, corded Italian lace and silk chiffon. It was my very own Grace Kelly moment and to me it is truly a piece of art. For my second look, all I knew was I wanted something light to move in, without sacrificing personality. Emma and I decided we would keep a train on this look too, but feature a dramatic front slit for my legs to breathe. She used beaded lace with feathers and silk crepe to elevate the dress, producing an illusion of life and free movement as I danced the night away.

By a long way, my favourite part of the reception was Matthew’s surprise Magic Mike dance. At the end of his, otherwise incredibly heartfelt and loving speech, Matthew asked me to join him up on stage. Once up there, he told me to look over this once-in-a-life-time dinner scene, and take it all in. However, before I could fully bask in this moment, a single chair was placed in front of me. That’s when I knew what he was about to do. A long running joke between Matthew & I is that the best night of my life, even above our first date and both proposals, was the evening I got taken up on stage at the Magic Mike Live show in London. Any fun event we’d go to, or any particularly special occasion, we’d refer back to Mike and I’d tease him by saying nothing could beat it. So, in order to make sure our wedding day wasn’t just another second best for me, Matthew gathered a team of his best pals and made it his mission to learn the dance to Ginuwine’s ‘Pony’. Hiring Reece from Hozo, a choreographer for real male strip shows, Matthew and his four friends went to private rehearsals in secret for months. They mastered the choreography, had shirts with poppers specially made (somehow changing into them unnoticed on the day?!), and now it was their big moment. Totally surprised, it was the only thing at our wedding that I didn’t have the final sign off on, which is ironic as it might just be my favourite moment of the entire weekend.

The Trailer Film

a keepsake for ella and matt

Because Italian food is simply delicious, we decided to indulge in two pasta courses and a main - Cappellacci stuffed with grouper, almond pesto and confit cherry tomatoes, followed by Matthew & I’s favourite ever dish, pasta amatriciana. Matthew & I knew we wanted to gift something sentimental to each of our loved ones, for being such essential parts of our lives. So, instead of traditional name places on the dinner tables, we decided to write all 140 guests a personal, handwritten letter from us to them. Each letter expressed our love and gratitude for that person and highlighted any memories that meant a lot to us. The words in these letters touched our guests incredibly deeply and we’re so happy they all got to read our love for them. Our wedding stationary was all handmade by the amazing Alice from Alice And Letters, who painted beautiful named envelopes for our letters to go in.

Our wedding day didn’t come to an end without a huge party, and we had one final surprise before the night was done. Matthew and I had just made a lifelong commitment in front of our friends and family, so we thought it was only appropriate for them to make one back. We arranged for a tattoo artist, Claudia (from Letters To Elise) to set up next to our dance floor, offering real tattoos to all of our guests. We knew this idea was a little mad, and that a few of our friends were mad enough to participate, but we didn’t prepare for just how many people would want to get inked! Claudia had an endless line from the moment she opened, to the moment the lights went out. Getting something sentimental, or something more regrettable, everyone went crazy for it. Fortunately, we’re still talking to every person who left our wedding with more body art than they came with, so we take the entire idea as a big win! Of course Matthew & I got something sentimental, which will forever remind us of how much fun that night really was.

emma beaumont

dreses

laura bravi

planning

flowers living

floral design

la foce

venue

letters to elise

tattoo artist

bridal styling

alena bezrodna

linger in this story

ella grace and matt

cherished memories

"Oh my goodness!!!! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! We are so overwhelmed by how perfectly you have captured our day and the love / fun within it. Matthew and I cannot stop watching the film as it truly is like reliving those special moments. You are both so incredibly talented at your craft and we're so thrilled to have been able to work with you. We're the most grateful that we have this wonderful film, to watch again and again in all the years to come! It is honestly better than we could have ever imagined.
We're so sad that our journey with you both is now over! You have been such a joy to work with and have given us the most treasured keepsakes of our wedding."

"You have been such a joy to work with and have given us the most treasured keepsakes of our wedding. "

FROM LONDON

Ella x Matthew

"Wow! Wow! Wow!!
The Full gallery is insane!! I am blown away by how many strong shots are in here - like I CANT believe it!
It was such a pleasure to work with you. Thank you for all of the creativity and good energy. You guys captured these special moments so beautifully. I am over the moon! The colors, the emotions, the lighting... its amazing. You guys knocked it out of the park."

"It was such a pleasure to work with you. Thank you for all of the creativity and good energy."

FROM NEW YORK

Alyssa x Allen

"We’ve just been absorbing how amazing these photos turned out. They are truly iconic (as you would say)! You two do absolutely mind blowing work and we’re so thankful to have found you."

"We’ve just been absorbing how amazing these photos turned out. They are truly iconic (as you would say)!"

FROM canada

Laura x Todd

"Finding the right photo/film duo was a top priority for us. We knew these relics would allow us to relive our day and become the fragments we would pass on for generations to come. Planning an international wedding can be a wild ride, yet knowing we had a professional, organized team gave us the confidence to relax and be present. When we found Flora & Grace, we felt relief and excitement. Their imagery is authentic and timeless, artistic and inspiring. Jasmin and Tim were a breeze to work with, before, during, and after our Venice affair. And, now we have these incredible, emotion-filled mementos to love on for the rest of our lives."

"Their imagery is authentic and timeless, artistic and inspiring!"

FROM the USA

Alisha x Tyler

"There will never be enough words in any language to express our gratitude to Jasmin and Tim at Flora&Grace. Every image tells a story and takes you right back to that day. When we saw our photos and videos for the first time we couldn’t even speak right away. They are an absolute dream."

"There will never be enough words in any language to express our gratitude."

FROM NEW YORK

Erin x David

"Your film brought us to tears! We have watched it again, and again, and again. It is so incredibly wonderful. We love the mix of color and black & white imagery, the music choices are perfect, and you brilliantly captured the subtleties and emotions of the day. Thank you so much for adventuring across the world to be a part of our wedding, for your hard work, and for creating a film that we can revisit for the rest of our lives to relive this beautiful day. We appreciate you both."

"you brilliantly captured the subtleties and emotions of the day."

from california

Samantha x Austin

"Words cannot describe how happy it makes us to look at these recordings of time. Tim not only captured the look of this wedding - but above all - how it really felt for us and for our guests. Whenever we look at the pictures, all the excitement and bliss comes right back!"

"Whenever we look at the pictures, all the excitement and bliss comes
right back to us"

from berlin

Josephine x Ben

"Their photography was so elegant, stylish, yet without pretense. We really loved how positive and excited they were about the wedding and the fact that their
shooting style was to simply capture us as we were naturally."

"their photography was so elegant, stylish, yet without pretense."

FROM NEW YORK

Hallie x Jason

"You have created art "en passant", which in our perception on the day, we hardly noticed - and if then only as very pleasant. You have far exceeded our expectations and given us a wonderful gallery of memories to last a lifetime."

"You have given us a wonderful gallery of memories to last a lifetime."

FROM germany

Sasha x Matthias

"On a wedding day, multiple things can be stressful, but with Jasmin, photography was not one of them. She talked with us a lot before and understood what we wanted out of it and what we're comfortable with. She was light as a feather the whole time and everything felt very natural. She was smiling, laughing and open to all our needs. We trusted her art and she trusted our story. Once we saw the final pictures, we actually got to relive our entire day which was priceless. Everything was captured with the same energy it happened, from the location, to getting ready, to the first look, the ceremony, the guests, the hugs, the tears and the smiles."

"She was light as a feather the whole time and everything felt very natural."

FROM CALIFORNIA

Anna x Samer

"Jasmin & Tim, you guys were super amazing and accommodating, made us feel at ease and beautiful. I'm so glad we had the chance to see Positano together and share these moments. We just wanted to express our gratitude. Thank you guys so much!

With Love,
Lisa & Russell"