Did you know that there is an island in Venice that you can rent entirely for your wedding day? Imagine your friends and family celebrating their wedding on an exclusive, beautiful piece of Venetian history.
Well, you don’t just have to imagine the beautiful occasion, because today we are going to attend a real fairy-tale wedding in the exclusive St.Clemente Palace Kempinski. Barbara and Klemens spent time on the island years ago and when they were engaged, the upcoming wedding knew that there would be no better place to celebrate their wedding.
As you might expect, booking an entire island in a historic Italian city has a rather regal ripple effect. With such opulence and splendor of the city streets and the rooms of the Hôtel du palais, one could be inspired by fashion and decor. Enter Galia Lahav: last year we worked with the Israeli designer on how to dress royally on her wedding day, and it’s no surprise that Barbara looks practically regal in her custom-made Galia Lahav wedding dress.
The tailored Galia Lahav dress
I started at the Galia Lahav boutique in Hamburg because I knew the brand of some red carpet styles. After that, together with my bridesmaid, I visited many other stores of various brands. But in each store we agreed: “Galia Lahav’s clothes were better.”So my choice for Galia Lahav was pretty simple.
Then we started working on the dress because I wanted a tailored dress with a very long train. I had a few fitting sessions in Hamburg, a Skype meeting with Sharon Sever, who made the first sketch of my dress, and finally a fitting session in Tel Aviv, as I really wanted to meet Sharon and Galia in person. The journey to my perfect dress was magical and in the end it was the dress of my dreams.
The whole experience was really awesome and everything felt very personal. Galia Lahav really cares about her women and does not give up until the perfect dress is ready. I couldn’t think of a better brand to work with on a dress. On the one hand, I had very clear ideas about my dress, but I also did not know exactly what I wanted. You have mastered both situations with a lot of patience, creative ideas and love. I always felt welcome and we also found a second special dress for me to dance all night.
Bridesmaid Dresses
I am a fair fashion ambassador at the Federal Ministry for Development and am also privately interested in environmental protection. The day before the wedding ceremony, I was wearing a fair fashion dress and I really wanted my bridesmaids to wear fair fashion dresses during the wedding ceremony. So my close friend Sasha Gaugel and I started researching. We found peace silk, organic paint to color the fabric, and sequins from recycled plastic bottles
Goal
A year and a half ago I shot a film in Venice – a historical drama set in the 19th century. After the filming I spent two more days with Klemens in St.Clemente Palace Kempinski. We were just amazed by the very special atmosphere on this island. As soon as you enter the island, you will forget about the stress and bustle of your life.
When we visited the small chapel of the island, we both said almost at the same time: it would be a great place to get married! We weren’t even engaged yet, but somehow we already knew this was the place to be. After our engagement, we thought of many different options, from the south of France to Vienna to a deserted beach, but we always returned to this special little island of Venice.
Planning
The first step was to find the perfect location. We knew that we wanted a very special place and since we were already there and liked it, we decided to rent a whole island in the lagoon of Venice with a hotel (the Palace of St.Clemente Kempinski). With the location, we also set a limit on the number of guests. We had rooms for about 300 people and thought it would be the perfect number for us as we have so many friends and family members all over the world, but we still wanted to have a private feeling.
Then we tried to find a wedding planner that we really trust. We chose our friend Sabine Königsberger from Eventboutique in Venice. After these first two big decisions, another 1000 followed. We had to find artists and groups, choose dinner menus, find a decoration team, design print invitations and make a lot more decisions.
Favorite moment
The moment we said yes to each other. Ultimately, a wedding is not about music, food, dancing or decoration; it is a promise that you make to your husband to be there for him in good times and especially in bad. I am not afraid of bad times, as I know I have found the man I will love forever. It is so good and liberating to know that I also have someone by my side, no matter what I will experience in my life.
In addition, we had many unforgettable moments at our wedding: the second dance I did with my father; the moment when I went to church with my father and my future husband stood in front of the altar, the moment after the “yes”, when the choir sang “Hallelujah”, and the next morning, when I woke up and knew that I am now a woman. We, and I think most of our guests, will never forget these magical and special days in Venice!
Galia Lahav played an important role for me so that I feel beautiful and comfortable all day long! Thank you for making me the happiest bride in the world, or at least in Venice!
Tips for other couples
Relax and enjoy! Enjoy the preparation! No matter how stressful it is! That time will never come again. And even more: enjoy your wedding day. Do not pay attention to everything that is wrong! It’s not important at all! It’s just important that you have a good time and enjoy every second!
And of course: buy a dress Galia Lahav! You will feel like a princess!