Dazzling Wedding at Italy's Villa Valentini Bonaparte

A group of men in formal suits, one in a white jacket, walk in front of a large, elegant villa with green shutters and arched windows.

Dazzling Wedding at Italy’s Villa Valentini Bonaparte

May 8, 2026
Words by Kinsley Brown
Photos courtesy of Erin & Gabri

There’s a reason people don’t come back from the Umbria region of Italy the same. While it’s not as well-known as Tuscany, what it has instead is a kind of stillness that gets under your skin: romantic rolling green hills, historic charming villages, and food and wine that tastes better than it has any right to. Plus, there is an energy, as recent bride Carley describes it, that “forces you to be present and invites even the most ordinary moments to feel enchanting.”

This is exactly why she and Kyle, after meeting in high school and later reconnecting and dating, got married in the region in September of 2025 at a 19th-century villa named after a Napoleonic duchess!

She’ll also be the first to credit Kyle for making it happen. “The truth is, without Kyle’s encouragement, this wedding might never have happened here. He believed wholeheartedly that we deserved a celebration that thrilled us. He’s my biggest hype man in every sense, always cheering me on to be my most ‘Fabu’ self, whether we’re choosing a wedding venue or navigating everyday life.”

The venue found them in a bit of an unusual way. Carley had fallen hard for a gown by Valentini Spose and was Googling the designer name and scrolling through the tagged photos when Villa Valentini Bonaparte appeared in her search results. Same name, different Valentini. A video tour with the venue’s coordinator, Sara, confirmed it.

“Even from thousands of miles away, we could tell we’d be in exceptional hands,” Carley says. “By the end of the call, we were already imagining our wedding unfolding there.”

Unfortunately, planning a destination wedding across an ocean would be no small feat. Lucky for Carley and Kyle, they had an ace up their sleeve: their planning trio from BWeddings Chicago and The Italian Bride – Barbara, Anna, and Valentina. “They were our lifeline,” Carley puts it. “They secured our vendors, translated our vision into reality, and ensured that every detail felt authentically us.”

One site visit in April proved pivotal. The couple flew to Italy for a long weekend and chose every meaningful location: the ceremony spot, the showcake moment, and their first dance. They also sat down to a menu tasting, and all of this combined made everything feel beautifully (and finally) real to Carley and Kyle.

When the wedding itself came around, it was full of the kind of choices that only make sense when you know the couple. Carley’s aunt Janine handstitched her veil from pieces of her mother’s 1994 wedding veil, embroidering “C + K” and their date into the fabric. Their wedding party sat in the front row with their partners instead of standing at the altar, so everyone could actually take the ceremony in together, like a shared moment rather than a performance. The rings were hidden under two guests’ chairs instead of being carried down the aisle by a kid in a tiny suit. Their friend Tim Hopkins officiated. Their vows, written separately earlier that week in a quiet neighboring town, turned out to mirror each other almost line for line…completely by accident!

At the reception, Bugsy, their French bulldog who couldn’t make the transatlantic trip with them, still made an appearance on the cocktail napkins: painted in full bridal veil, sitting inside an Aperol Spritz, by illustrator Alexandra Bertaki. Guests lost their minds over it, as they should!

A floral arrangement of white hydrangeas, roses, and baby's breath cascades from a table to the floor beside two chairs on a parquet wood floor.

And their first dance? Choreographed with love (and plenty of laughter) by their friend Gabriella Shofer. “She helped us turn a moment we were nervous about into one of our favorite memories,” Carley recalls.

For couples dreaming of their own Italian adventure, Carley offers this: “Weddings are ultimately about curating feelings. Every detail, every moment, every bit of ‘extra’ contributes to an experience that becomes a once-in-a-lifetime memory. And yes, the investment is worth it.”