An international wedding in Valpolicella with 250 guests: the fairytale of Luca and Carine
There are weddings you photograph that stay with you for days, together with the quiet awareness that you have witnessed something extraordinary.
Carine and Luca’s wedding was exactly like that. August, Valpolicella, 250 people from every corner of the world. And a love story that had already crossed continents and time zones.
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Carine, a bride with a remarkable story
Carine Kanimba is an international lawyer and activist. The adopted daughter of Paul Rusesabagina, the man who inspired the film Hotel Rwanda and who saved thousands of refugees during the 1994 genocide, dedicated the years before her wedding to a fight for justice to secure the release of her unjustly imprisoned father.
In 2023, after years of international pressure, her father was finally freed and reunited with his family.
One year later, Carine walked down the aisle with him by her side.
There is something extraordinary in that sequence. Exactly one year between the end of a battle and the beginning of a new life. Photographing that day meant having the privilege of witnessing one story closing and another, full of joy, beginning.
Luca sees Carine for the first time on television, she is giving a live interview on the BBC. She is one of those presences you simply cannot ignore: energy, clarity, a certain grace under pressure. Before the interview is over, Luca sends her a message on LinkedIn.
From there, months of phone calls. Different hours, different cities, different continents. Brussels, London, Berlin, Lisbon, New York, Lake Garda. Their first kiss is at the Grand Place in Brussels and the barista at the Starbucks they go to straight after writes on their cups, without anyone asking: “We’re together.”
Some things are obvious to anyone who pays attention
Valpolicella as wedding destination
For their wedding they choose Villa Rizzardi, in the heart of Valpolicella. The villa is located in Negrar, just a few kilometres from Verona, surrounded by vineyards and the historic Pojega garden, one of the finest examples of an Italian formal garden from the eighteenth century. A place I know well and love to photograph: it has that rare ability to enchant from every angle.
It is the perfect place for a couple like them and for a day that brought together cultures, languages, stories and emotions.
The ceremony: a sea of orange flowers and a moment that stops time
The floral design by Il Fiore all’Occhiello was an explosion of orange and white. Two hundred and fifty guests from around the world filled the space with a multiplicity of languages, outfits and culture. There were representatives of international institutions, long-standing friends, family. A microcosm.
The moment that stayed with me most is without doubt when Carine’s father walked her down the aisle. There was something in that gesture, in his composure, in the way she looked at him, that moved me deeply.
It is a true privilege to be able to tell moments like these.
The aperitivo: between traditions and suspended moments
After the ceremony guests moved into the garden at the back of the villa for the aperitivo. And there, one of the most beautiful things of the day happened: a group of African dancers transformed the historic garden into something completely unexpected. Singing, percussion, movement, a joyful, physical presence that captivated and delighted both the couple and their guests.
La cena sotto il viale dei carpini di villa Rizzardi
For dinner, a long imperial table was set beneath Villa Rizzardi’s celebrated hornbeam avenue, one of the most cinematic settings this venue has to offer. The evening light filtered through the canopy, the warm tones of the sunset blending with the white of the tablecloths and the orange of the flowers. It is the kind of scene you spend the whole day looking for as a photographer, one you could photograph for hours.
During dinner, several heartfelt speeches moved the everybody and the newlyweds with hugs from family and friends.
I fuochi d’artificio, la musica e il ballo con il papà
For the cake cutting, the couple moved to the villa’s amphitheatre, the ancient Teatro di Verzura, where a fireworks display lit up the sky above the hornbeams. Then the dance floor, the music and once again the African dance company: a rhythm that swept everyone along, photographers included.
To close the evening, the party moved inside the villa. Carine changed into a lighter, more comfortable dress for dancing and there, in that more intimate space, came the dance with her father. One of those moments that cannot be planned, that simply happen. I had tears in my eyes.
It is not the first time that has happened to me while photographing a wedding but every time feels like the first.
Fotografare un matrimonio in Valpolicella
What I love about Villa Rizzardi and about the Valpolicella region is its ability to welcome very different stories without flattening them. It does not impose an aesthetic but it adapts to the taste and personality of each couple. International weddings like Carine and Luca’s find here a space that manages to be both neutral and magnificent at the same time.
If you are thinking about a wedding in Valpolicella and are looking for a photographer who knows how to be present in your day with discretion and empathy, get in touch. Every story deserves to be told with the care it deserves and some, like Carine and Luca’s, remind me why this work is a privilege.
Team
Foto: Giovanna Aprili
Video: Filmsdiary Danilo Grassi
Planning: Foorevent
Location: Villa Rizzardi
Catering: Food and Sweet
Flowers: Fiore all’occhiello
