Authentic Sicilian Wedding

Wow, what a wedding this is. I have photographed weddings in Sicily in the past. Though this is the first time I’d photographed a wedding for an actual Sicilian bride and family. This Authentic Sicilian Wedding exceeded all of my expectations for this wedding in Italy for Rosalia and Matthew. I hope you love these pictures just as much as I loved making them. Being a Sicily Wedding Photographer makes me really proud of this work and super excited to get back out there to photograph another wedding soon.

Sicilian Countryside Preparations

Rosalia and her bridal party all got ready in the small village of Santo Stefano Quisquina in the heart of the Sicilian countryside. The opening shot in the video above was taken directly over the gorgeous Italian house that was used for all of the bridesmaids and the bride to get ready in. The colours in Sicily are like nowhere I’ve seen before. My previous weddings in Sicily have all been in Taormina so it was nice to get out into the heart of Sicily and see more of the Italian island.

Groom Prep In A Sicilian Village

I don’t always photograph groom prep. Sometimes its requested by the couples and sometimes it isn’t. Sometimes it’s not practical and sometimes a second photographer is required. I really enjoyed getting to take the short drive (driven by Rosalia’s brother) to the centre of Santo Stefano Quisquina. I hung out with the groom and his groomsmen for a short while in the Sicilian apartment before heading out to a traditional Italian cafe for espresso’s. After I’d finished getting some candid photography of Matthew and the guys getting ready. I headed back to Rosalia to capture the finishing touches and the Journey to the wedding ceremony location.

Authentic Sicilian Wedding Ceremony

Like I said earlier in this post. I’ve photographed wedding in Sicily before ad they have all been in Taormina. So it was really good to sink my teeth into they Authentic Sicilian Wedding. The ceremony took place at the Chiesa Madre Di Santo in Stefano Quisquina. I’d say that less and less people are getting married in churches these days. I can’t say what I’d prefer in terms of shooting when it comes to the location of the ceremony. As in, if its in a church or not. Sometimes churches have the most beautiful light. Sometimes they are incredibly small and there is little room. That’s a topic for another blog post I guess.

This wedding took place mid July. So the temperatures where in the high thirties easy. It was super hot outside. Though every person was just just full of excitement and anticipation. The Sicilian colours of the village, the colourful guests and the smiles all round made for excellent photography. Inside the church was cool, had great light and a wonderful atmosphere.

After the ceremony was over there was an amazing confetti throw of rice outside. There was enough rice thrown to feed the entire island! It was fun to shoot and Ros and Matt enjoyed it.

Bride & Groom Photos

After the wedding ceremony was over myself, Rosalia and Matthew headed over to Eremi di Santa Rosalia which is an old Convent or Shrine. It was nestled in to the Sicilian hills. I honestly could have photographed here all day. Though we didn’t have too much time as we had to make a drive to Parco degli Aranci 2 which is 60 mins away. To be honest though I don’t like to take the bride and groom away for long on a wedding day anyway. I don’t believe weddings shot revolve around photography. In fact it should be the complete opposite way around. Even for this wedding I’ve made as many candid photos as possible and worked around the wedding to document it as best as possible.

Authentic Sicilian Wedding Speeches

Almost finished with the formalities at this point. Just these speeches and then some traditional Authentic Sicilian Wedding dancing. One of the reasons I love being a destination wedding photographer is because I get to soak up new cultures around the world. Again another reason why I loved getting involved in this traditional Sicilian wedding. So after the drive down from the portraits and ceremony we arrived at Parco degli Aranci 2 in the coast not to far from Ribera.

The speeches were spoken both in Italian and English and although Matthew is English his Italian was awesome! I’ve been learning a new language for 2 years now (Spanish) though I would never be as confident as Matt was. So cool. There was dancing throughout the meal and proper Sicilian stuff too. The atmosphere and energy was amazing.

So there you have it. Thank you so so much to Rosalia & Matthew for having me as their Italy wedding photographer. I have some more weddings booked in for Italy next year though sadly none of them are in Sicily. That could change I guess! So if your looking for a wedding photographer to capture your wedding in Sicily or anywhere in the world please get in touch.