A Tuscan Love Story at Villa Le Capanne, Volterra

Apr 3
8 min read

Updated: Apr 26

There are weddings that are beautiful. And then there are weddings that feel like someone reached into your chest, pulled out every warm feeling you've ever had, and scattered them across the Tuscan countryside.

June and Michael's was the second kind.

Three days in Volterra at the end of August 2025. A 13th-century church. A 100-year-old farmhouse. 107 of the most wonderful humans we've ever been around. British, Irish, Italian, Lebanese, South African, all of them packed into the hilltop towns and rolling green of Tuscany for what turned out to be one of the most joyful, emotional, multicultural celebrations we've ever had the privilege of capturing.

Country Relais & Spa Le Capanne sits on 100 acres of Tuscan countryside, about 9 km from the ancient Etruscan town of Volterra. It's the kind of place where you arrive, look around at the 360-degree views of those iconic rolling hills, and immediately start rethinking your entire life plan. A century-old farmhouse, lovingly restored, with olive groves and cypress trees and a pool that looks out over... well, everything. Dario and Vera and their family have been running weddings here for over 35 years, and it shows in every single detail.

We've been lucky enough to shoot some epic weddings in Italy over the years, but this one? This was something else entirely.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvp9d6szULw

THE PRE-WEDDING SHOOT: SAN GIMIGNANO

We always arrive at least a day early for our destination weddings, partly as a contingency, partly because we genuinely love exploring the area. But also because it means we get to do this, a relaxed pre-wedding shoot with just the two of them before the madness begins.

San Gimignano is about 30 minutes from Volterra and it's the kind of place that makes you forget you're holding a camera and just stare for a bit. A UNESCO World Heritage Site, this medieval hilltop town once had over 70 tower-houses built by rival noble families competing to show off their wealth and power. Fourteen of those towers still stand, and they give the whole skyline this extraordinary, almost Manhattan-in-miniature silhouette rising out of the Tuscan hills. The cobblestone streets, the triangular Piazza della Cisterna with its 13th-century well, the warm stone facades catching the late afternoon light... it's a photographer's dream, basically.

And June and Michael were completely natural in front of the camera, which is always the actual dream. Two people so obviously comfortable with each other that all you really need to do is point them in the right direction and let them be themselves. We wandered through the narrow streets, the towers looming above us, found quiet corners away from the tourists, let the golden light do its thing.

It set the tone perfectly for everything that followed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIxYuscj6Z8

THE EVENING BEFORE: WELCOME DRINKS AT I PONTI VOLTERRA

The night before the wedding, around 90 guests gathered at I Ponti Volterra Bistrot in the heart of the town, right on Piazza Martiri della Libertà. If you haven't been, the terrace there has these completely ridiculous sunset views out over the Tuscan valley. The kind of view that makes everyone instinctively reach for their phone and then, if they're smart, put it away again and just... look.

This is the thing about multi-day weddings that single-day weddings can't replicate — by the end of night one, everyone knows each other. The awkward early-reception energy doesn't exist by day three. By the time the wedding itself comes around, these 100-odd people have shared meals and sunscreen and probably danced together already, and it shows in every photograph.

We moved through the crowd catching those little moments, the introductions that turned into instant friendships, the quiet conversations at the edge of the terrace as the sun dropped behind the hills. The warm-up, in the best possible sense.

By 9pm, nobody wanted to leave. Which is always a very good sign.

THE WEDDING DAY: VILLA LE CAPANNE & CHIESA DI SAN MICHELE ARCANGELO, 30TH AUGUST

THE MORNING

Hair and makeup kicked off at 7:15am for the bridal party, but June e herself didn't start until around 11:40, which meant a beautifully relaxed morning for everyone. Grace, Maria, Shauna, Lucy and Rina, the bridesmaids, doing what the best bridesmaids always do, holding things together, keeping the energy up, crying at precisely the right moments. Little flower girls Emilia and Olivia floating around being impossibly cute.

We arrived to capture all of it. The villa is gorgeous in the morning, light pouring through the windows, the Tuscan countryside stretching out in every direction, the kind of backdrop that makes every getting-ready shot feel like it belongs in a magazine.

Meanwhile, Michael and his groomsmen, Rosario (his brother and best man), John, Chris, Federico, and Rosario 2 (yes, two Rosarios, we love Italian families), were getting ready elsewhere in the villa. Page boys Alfie and Frankie Allen looking impossibly smart in their little suits.

And then the dress. The @dressdreamsbridalboutique gown. The moment the bridesmaids cleared the room and June put it on... you know that moment. That silence that falls over everything. We will never, ever get tired of capturing it.

THE CEREMONY: CHIESA DI SAN MICHELE ARCANGELO, VOLTERRA

At 2:30, the convoy headed for Volterra. Chiesa di San Michele Arcangelo is a 13th-century Romanesque church right in the historic centre, originally documented as far back as 987 AD. The facade alone, those gorgeous bichromatic marble stripes and sculpted capitals, tells you this is somewhere with serious history. A thousand years of prayers and promises, and now June and Michael were about to add theirs.

The procession order was beautiful. Michael walked in with his mum Ursula, followed by Rosario with Angelo (Michael's dad), then the groomsmen, the page boys, the flower girls, bridesmaids, Grace (maid of honour) with Marie (June's mum), and then... June with her dad Shaun.

The ceremony was a traditional Catholic Mass, conducted by a priest who is a close family friend, which gave the whole thing this incredibly personal, intimate feel even within the grandeur of a thousand-year-old church. Michael's cousin played violin throughout, hymns echoing off those ancient walls, and it was one of those sounds that just gets under your skin. Two readings from family and friends, a prayer from a friend, then June and Michael's joint prayer together after exchanging rings.

They were married.

The confetti outside the church was absolute chaos in the best way. Volterra's medieval streets filled with 107 people cheering and throwing confetti and hugging and crying, a proper, unreserved explosion of joy.

BACK AT THE VILLA: WELCOME DRINKS, APERITIVO & THE ROAMING BAND

A bus brought everyone back from the church to the villa, and what followed was one of those golden Tuscan evenings you dream about. Aperol spritzes, local meats and cheeses, the whole aperitivo spread laid out against a backdrop of those endless rolling hills, and The Italian Wedding Band roaming through the crowd with their acoustic set, playing traditional Italian songs mixed with international hits, weaving between guests, pulling people into the music.

We stole June and Michael away for portraits during this window. The grounds of Le Capanne, the golden afternoon light filtering through the cypress trees, the Tuscan hills stretching out behind them... honestly, we barely had to direct a thing. These two just look at each other and the rest takes care of itself.

"Shooting June and Michael at Villa Le Capanne was effortless in the best way. The light, the setting, these two people so completely wrapped up in each other, you just point the camera and magic happens." — Ruby

DINNER & SPEECHES AL FRESCO

At 7pm, guests sat down for dinner outside the villa, long tables stretching out under the open Tuscan sky, candles flickering in the warm August evening air, and those 360-degree views of rolling hills fading into the dusk behind them. And this is where it got really emotional. Because June and Michael chose to weave their speeches throughout the meal rather than front-loading them, and it gave the whole evening this beautiful rhythm.

Michael went first, before the first course. Then his parents Ursula and Angelo together, and already the tissues were out. Before the pasta course (because of course there was a pasta course, this is Tuscany), June's dad Shaun spoke. And then June herself.

After the main, Rosario as best man, and then Grace as maid of honour brought it home. Six speeches, each one personal and heartfelt and funny in different ways, spread across a three-course Italian feast prepared by the @gveweddings catering team and served al fresco under the stars. The kind of dinner where you lose track of time because every course comes with another wave of laughter or tears or both, and the Tuscan night is so warm and so still that nobody wants to go inside, ever.

THE EVENING: FIRST DANCE & THE PARTY

At around 9:45, the first dance. And these two... they'd been learning choreography from YouTube tutorials (their words, not ours), and honestly? They absolutely nailed it. Whether they managed to convince the wedding party to join in at the end, we'll leave for the photos to tell you, but the dance floor was packed from that moment and it never really emptied.

The Italian Wedding Band kicked into their full live set and the place just erupted. That blend of cultures June and Michael had talked about, British, Irish, Italian, Lebanese, South African, it showed on the dance floor. The band read the room beautifully all night, and when they handed over to the DJ the energy never dropped.

THE DAY AFTER: PIZZA & POOL PARTY

If the wedding day was all ceremony and emotion, the day after was pure, unfiltered fun.

Around 70-80 guests were bussed back to the villa from 3:30, and by 4pm the pool party was in full swing. The Tuscan sun doing its thing, music going, everyone in swimwear and sunglasses, and the whole atmosphere just... exhaled. That gorgeous post-wedding energy where nobody has anywhere to be and everyone's still buzzing from the night before.

And then, around 6pm, the pizza truck arrived.

There's something about a pizza truck at a pool party in Tuscany that just works. It's casual and fun and completely Italian, and watching everyone gather around this tiny vintage truck with plates of fresh pizza, the hills stretching out behind them, kids running around, the late afternoon light going golden... it was one of those scenes where you look around and think, right. This is exactly what the day after a wedding should feel like.

TO JUNE & MICHAEL

June and Michael, thank you. For bringing us to Volterra, for trusting us with three days of your world, for introducing us to your incredible families and friends from every corner of the globe. The way you two blended your cultures, your traditions, your people, into something that felt completely, effortlessly yours... it was a privilege to witness and an honour to capture.

We left Tuscany with full cards, full hearts, and a serious craving for more of that pizza.

With all our love,

Dominic & Ruby xx

P.S.: This is what it all looked like from our Meta glasses...

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/0ec07f_f70732aa1aad46f2ac66cb34f501d810/1080p/mp4/file.mp4