Julia and Cam are wedding photographers. They saw plenty of weddings throughout their career, and when it came time to get married, they knew exactly what they wanted. Julia told us about what their wedding was like, as well as the story of meeting Cam.
How did you meet?
We are from opposite sides of the world, Cameron is from New Zealand and I am from Germany. We met by chance in the middle of Bali! We knew very early on that we had found our big love and so we had to quickly figure out how we would be able to stay together. Luckily we were both self-employed with some flexibility in where we could live. But we took it one further and decided to start a business together.
What do you do for a living and for fun?
We both had backgrounds in photography and so we created HAUTE Weddings, our wedding photo, and video company. We have since been photographing weddings all over the world, between New Zealand and Europe. For us, it is the best way to be able to stay together while we figure out where we want to base ourselves long-term. We love traveling, fashion, creating, taking photos, and trying new restaurants, and we have a particular soft spot for an Aperol spritz overlooking Positano.
What was the concept behind your wedding and how did you find your inspiration?
Being wedding photographers ourselves and having captured over 300 weddings, we had a strong idea of how we wanted our wedding to feel. We have seen over and over couples get caught up in all the details and not enjoy the day and so we knew we wanted to just have a big old party with everyone we loved. All under the motto "Pizza, Pasta, Grand Amore". I think I can proudly say that I was probably one of the most relaxed brides ever, maybe a little bit too relaxed at some points. The key was choosing vendors that we really trusted so that on the day we could know that they would take care of everything. We have also seen so many trends come and go in the industry and so we knew we wanted to keep our styling and concept very timeless and classy. Something we're gonna look at in 30 years and still love.
Where was your wedding? Why did you choose this venue?
With both of us being such big Italy fans, we decided to get married at La Foce in Tuscany. For us, it is one of those places that just has it all. The spectacular garden, the romantic villa, and of course the view out into the iconic Tuscan countryside.
How many guests did you have?
We wanted to keep our wedding small and intimate as we knew people would travel a long way for this and wanted to make sure that we had enough time to speak to everybody. In the end, we had 60 guests coming all the way from New Zealand and Germany.
Tell us about your outfits.
I studied fashion and had a clear vision of my wedding gown very early on. I absolutely love flowers and beautiful gardens so I wanted the dress to just be a huge petal. I searched the internet for hours and couldn't find anything I liked. One day I came across a photo on Instagram from Kaviar Gauche that didn't even show the full dress but hinted that it could be similar to what I was envisioning. I got in contact with them and they told me it was just a one-off piece they made for the launch of their "Bloom" Collection. I asked if there was any possibility to try it on and they said yes! The moment I tried it on I fell in love with it straight away. As it was a short dress, we designed an overskirt together for the more official part of the day. Later in the evening I took the skirt off and danced the night away! My shoes were from Magda Butrym and my Jewelry was from Carolina Wong, a London-based artist who crafts upcycled and sustainable luxury jewelry. What was really special for me was my veil which was custom-made by my lovely friend Natalie, who owns a beautiful bridal store in Auckland, New Zealand, and unfortunately couldn't attend the wedding. Cameron wore a classic tuxedo from Working Style with a few special details from P Johnson tailors.
What was your first dance song?
We had a spontaneous dance session break out during the dinner as our band got everyone up and involved. It was such a fun moment! Later on, we had the chance to dance just by ourselves and our song was "Take Me Where Your Heart Is" by Q.
What flowers did you choose for the bride's bouquet and why?
Thinking about our budget and also sustainability, we wanted to have flowers that were local and easy to source. We worked with the amazing, internationally renowned Siloh Florals and they came up with a great flower concept for us after we told them what we liked. We had hues of green, blue, pastel, and burned orange and I absolutely loved the combination. Our main focus for the florals was our ceremony piece which intertwined with the garden statue at La Foce. I didn't want to have a bouquet as I wanted the dress to speak for itself!
What was your wedding cake like? And where did you order it?
We had always found the 'cake cutting' at weddings a little underwhelming, so for ours, we wanted to make a big deal of it. We had our cake surrounded by candles and flowers and had all our guests hold sparklers as we popped some champagne and cut our cake! One funny part about this is that a waiter was a little too motivated and lit 20 sparklers all at once which led to a big fireball that set some of the surrounding grass on fire. After the first initial little shock, we all laughed about it and the best part is we have it all on video!
Are there any vendors that you would like to tell us a little more about?
All of our vendors were absolutely amazing. The best investment was definitely our wedding planner, Sonja from The Wedding Company MUC. She was always so supportive and organized and no ask was ever too much for her. Throughout the whole process, she took all the stress off us and during the week of the wedding ensured that everything was on track. We can not recommend her highly enough. I also absolutely loved Judy and our catering team. They were so professional, and accommodating and made us all feel so special on the day. The food was incredible! We made a last-minute decision to have a band on the day and it was one of the best choices we made! The band brought so much life and energy, all of our friends and family were blown away by their talent! It was a real highlight, especially the dinner dance party!
Bride @julepipilotta
Planning & Design @theweddingcompanymuc
Florals @silohfloral
Photo @antonovakseniya @angelika.dupuis
Video @paramonova_movies
Venue @lafoce
Catering @guidilencicatering
Cake @sweetiepie.love
Stationary @
Hair & Make Up @hottbrides_brautstyling
Music @goodvibeslivemusic
Lights @weddingmusicandlights
Bridal gown @kaviargauche_official
Veil @natalierosebridal
Bridal shoes @magdabutrym
Bridal jewelry @carolinawongldn
Suit @workingstylenz
Cufflinks: @pjohnsontailors
Brides ring @oliveavejewelry
