Wedding | Jenni & Federico

Tell us a little about yourselves!

We are Italian (Fede) and German (Jenni), we live together in Geneva where we met in 2019 and work for different UN Agencies. We were good friends first before becoming a couple. We love to host and cook, swim in the lake, read, scout for new restaurants and wine bars, enjoy time in the mountains, hunting for vintage clothes and furniture, travel and spend lots of quality time with our friends. Last September we decided to get married. We did not want an engagement (or engagement ring(s) for that matter) but just decided together that we were ready and excited to plan!

Why did you decide to get married where you did?

We wanted to get married somewhere not too far from Geneva, so we were looking at either South of France or North of Italy. The South of France is special to us because we have gone there every year since we have been together, and Jenni also used to go there with her family every summer when she was young. We toured some venues and absolutely fell in love with Château Saint-Victor-La-Coste. It is not typically a wedding venue, but a home - where Alison and Costas, the lovely owners, live with their two Château cats Mathieu and Merlin. Because of this it had a magical charm and soul that no other venue compared to. It also meant that we could have free reign in choosing vendors and making it our own – something that was extremely important to us. We also loved the idea of staying with some of our closest people at the Château for a few days to really soak it all in. And once I (Jenni) saw the Roman style bathtub in the master bedroom I could not picture spending the wedding morning in any other way. We then scouted for a winery to host the welcome dinner and came across Domaine de Panéry – a beautiful winery that produces bio wine and olive oil and features an art gallery. The night before the wedding we hosted a wine and olive oil tasting and welcome dinner at the Domaine.

How many guests did you have?

62 of our friends and family who came from Italy, Germany, Switzerland, France, the UK, the US, China (and more) to celebrate with us

What was your budget? 

We sat down at the beginning of the process and decided on an amount we were both comfortable with spending. We did manage to stick with it (which seems quite rare). We handled a lot of things ourselves – including renting the plates and cutlery since we had a chef and not a caterer, buying all the wine and drinks except for the cocktail bar, designing and printing all the stationary, it was truly a labour of love!

Tell us about your outfits.

In everyday life we buy almost exclusively vintage/second hand, so it was important that the wedding reflected this. I knew I wanted to wear a vintage dress that would hold its value and was kind of keen on wearing something non-white. I happened to be in London and spontaneously went to two vintage archives with my friend to browse, and unexpectedly bought the dress - a 2003 John Galliano gown - on the spot because I loved it so much (even before we had decided on the date/place of the wedding). I was then on a mission to find a matching veil – I wanted to have a 1920s style veil that gathers on the sides of the head, ideally with antique lace, in a champagne colour. Turns out this was pretty much impossible to find so in the end I had the idea to get it tailored. I found a piece of antique lace in an antique shop in Lyon (I gasped when the shop owner opened a little hidden box and produced so many pieces of perfectly conserved antique lace) and one on Etsy, bought tulle in a champagne colour and had the veil tailored by tailor Noelie Teliano in Geneva. In the process, I also found some antique lace sleeves and wore those alongside too. My shoes were vintage Gucci by Tom Ford from Amiata Archive – simple, timeless, and I have re-worn them a lot already since the wedding. My short dress for the party was vintage Chanel from 2005 that I found for a very good price from a vintage shop in Italy. I added long red tulle gloves and vintage D&G heels with a red heart (from Vinted) for some fun.

Fede fell in love with a Givenchy suit jacket with a silver buckle when we were in Paris and managed to find it on Vinted for 1/3 of the prize. He then had the trousers tailored by his tailor in Rome, and paired it with his trusty Churches. For the party, he changed into a colourful silk shirt that I had gotten him as a present in India at the beginning of our relationship. 

The dress code for guests was “wear what you feel most fabulous in”.

What was the most important aspect for you, in terms of planning your wedding?

During a lunch in Paris, we brainstormed on an overall theme/name for the wedding and ended up coming up with “tempi alti”. The idea came because “wedding” is “Hochzeit” in German – which is a combination of the words “hoch” (high) and “Zeit” (time). We then translated it in a literal sense into Italian, making it “tempi alti”. It does not mean anything in Italian but encompasses both of our languages and more than that the sentiment and tiny slice of magic that we wanted the wedding to carry. As our friends and ceremony masters Daisy and Sophia put it in their speech: “Tempi Alti is about this day. About the one day in your life when all your loved ones are in the same place, at the same time – together. It’s about reaching the highest point – an ecstatic, once-in-a-lifetime kind of joy, surrounded by the people you love.” 

We wanted our guests to feel central to the experience and saw the wedding as an opportunity to reinforce our relationships with the people surrounding us. We wrote and read joint vows that included our promises to each other but also to our family and friends. Following this principle, we also took the time to write personal cards that doubled as place cards during the dinner, written on “Wish Cards” that included a match and a tiny inbuilt candle to light and to make a wish.

'Tempi Alti' subsequently became a bit of an accidental brand throughout the wedding. We created stationery (with the help from my friend Tanya), matchboxes, an embroidered tablecloth that doubled as the welcome sign, and together with my dad we even created a “Tempi Alti” wine label for his wine. He has a little vineyard in Germany from which he produces around 700 bottles of Riesling a year to drink amongst family and friends – so to have his wine with our label at the wedding added a special touch. Two of my best friends unexpectedly gifted us “Tempi Alti” embroidered napkins at the wedding – such a thoughtful gift that we will absolutely cherish.

Were there any elements that were important for you to incorporate?

We are very big on food and love to cook for our friends and host dinners, so the menu and quality of the food was very important. The brief was a vegetarian (both of us are vegetarian) Italian tavolata style dinner, and since the Château has two gorgeous big kitchens, we loved the idea of bringing a chef rather than a caterer. We scouted for Italian restaurants in the area and came across Italie-là-Bas, a restaurant in Avignon run by chef Italia Palladino. We contacted her and asked her if she would be willing to cook at our wedding and she immediately said yes (conveniently our wedding was on a Monday when her restaurant is closed). She absolutely nailed the brief and the food was a work of art. Our guests (most of whom are not vegetarian) still talk about it, specifically about the beetroot carpaccio with coffee. We also did not want to have a cake but had the idea to have pistachio paris-brest during the cocktail hour instead – which Italia also absolutely nailed.

My sister, who was my witness, created a little “Sherlock of the Château” challenge where she hid photo prompts all around the château. Some of our guests got very competitive and Fede and I laughed so much reviewing the “wall of proof” with all the polaroids the morning after the wedding.

Any tips for couples getting married?

Think outside the box and make it your own, there are no rules! We saw it as a creative project and as an opportunity to embrace our passion for hosting (what else is a wedding but a gathering on steroids). It was a lot of fun to work on it together and for each of us to play into our strengths.

We will say it was extremely helpful that we got married on a Monday – it meant that basically all the vendors we requested were available which saved us a lot of headache and time. We planned everything in 7 months. So if your guests are flexible and open to a weekday date we would highly recommend it.

Are there any vendors that you would like to tell us a little more about?

Honestly, the whole team of vendors was impeccable. We highly recommend all of them.

Maélys Izzo, our photographer, is an absolute magician and such a dream to work with. She is creative through and through, has a can-do attitude, is spontaneous and very fun to be around, and she also jumped on the opportunity to join us in Rome for our civil wedding the month before. Her pictures are incredible and her turnaround time is unmatched. We loved having her with us and wish we could do 492648 more weddings.

Séraphine from Empreinte Ephémère, our coordinator for the day, was amazing and so meticulous, and even went to the Château numerous times to double check the set up (since it was not a typical wedding venue, but a lived-in home space was tight). She also created an extremely detailed plan for the vendors. We trusted her completely with the coordination on the day and really felt like we could fully lean back and enjoy – and everything went absolutely swimmingly. Thank you so much for all your support and for helping bring our crazy ideas to life!

Italia Palladino and her team from Italie-lá-bas went above and beyond and we cannot thank them enough. She is an amazing professional and you can tell the amount of passion she pours into her vocation. Her team balanced along the edge of the pool in order to serve everyone during dinner with a precision and ease that was incredible. Aurelie from Cocktails & Confidences prepared amazing cocktails that were so memorable and delicious.

Smahane & Co did the perfect glowy make-up and hair – I loved it so much Doris and Marion also nailed the hair and make up for our family and friends – everyone looked incredible. 

Emilie from Les Herbes Sauvages created the perfect bouquets and followed the brief to a T. We spent the day after the wedding by the pool and kept admiring the big column bouquets. My family even took one back to Germany so my grandma could enjoy them.

Billy Boguard, our singer during the ceremony, made us well up multiple times, practised and sang so many additional songs we had wished for on top of his repertoire, and made our guests dance and sing at the top of their lungs. Mat from Wildfire DJs made sure the dance party vibes continued well into the night – we had so much fun and our feet hurt like no tomorrow when we went to bed!

A very special thank you to Alison and Costas, the sweet owners of Château Saint-Victor-La-Coste. They really are dream hosts, shared their home with us and were very supportive in the process. We could not have wished for a more magical place to celebrate and call home for three days, and we will be back every year.

Last but definitely not least, we want to thank our amazing family and friends who were absolutely pivotal in making the dream come true. They helped us move around furniture at the Château, organise the wine and drinks, they hosted our ceremony, created the stationary, helped me with make-up and hair for the civil wedding and welcome dinner, prepared games, and gave speeches that made us cry. It truly takes a village – and that is and was always the point - and we are grateful for ours!

Photographer: Maélys Izzo @maelysizzo | Day-Of-Coordinator: Empreinte Ephémère

@empreinteephemere | Flora: Les Herbes Sauvages @les_herbes_sauvages | Ceremony & Reception Location: Château Saint-Victor-La-Coste @chateaustvictorlacoste | Celebrant: friends of the couple | Hire: Be Lounge @be_lounge_officiel & Pink Rabbit Events @pinkrabbitevent_ | HMUA: (Bride) Smahane & Co @smahaneandco, (Guests) Marion Beauté @mariondeymier & Doris Coiffure @doris.coiffure_maquillage | Catering: Italie-lá-bas @italie_la_bas | Beverages: Cocktails et Confidences @cocktails_et_confidences | Stationery: Wish Cards Studio | Entertainment: Billy Boguard @billy_boguard & Wildfire DJs @wildfire_djs | Dresses: Vintage John Galliano via One of A Kind Archive @oneofakind.archive & Vintage Chanel via Angelo Vintage @angelovintagepalace | Suit: Givenchy jacket & pants via Vinted.fr @vinted | Tailor: Antonio Caiazza @antonio__caiazza | Veil: Antique, tailored by Talent Aiguilles @talen_taiguilles | Antique Lace Sleeves: Etsy @etsy | Wedding Rings: Custom | Shoes: Vintage Gucci by Tom Ford via Amiata Archive @amiata.archive, Vintage D&G & Churches via Vinted @vinted | Vintage Earrings: from an antique shop