Harpers Bazaar feature of Capri Wedding By Sugokuii Events // Diana Sorensen

Reposted from Harpers Bazaar

http://www.harpersbazaar.com/wedding/photos/a18738/sofija-sid-mehta-capri-wedding/

Photos by Aaron Delesie

Event Design & Production and Planning by Diana Sorensen from Sugokuii Events - www.sugokuii-events.com

After a meet-cute in Ibiza at a party at Sid's villa with a view of the ocean, it was pretty much love at first sight, recalls Sofija. "We felt a deep connection right away and couldn't stop talking. Sid actually told me on the first day I met him that I was going to be the mother of his children and we would marry–it all turned out to be true!" Sid's predictions came to light during a vacation on the Amalfi Coast in August of 2015, which Sofija identified as the turning point in their relationship, and where she realized she was falling even more in love with Sid, and with Capri. Based between London, Ibiza and Hamburg, it was a toss-up where Sid would propose. He invited Sofija's friends from Hamburg to London for what he promised would be a surprise birthday celebration, but what turned out to be a "double party full of tears and excitement." Sid surprised Sofija with her friends, the ultimate birthday party and a proposal with a ring he had designed for her in India with Joaillier Privé. Above Image by Pepe Russo.

 With his family in India and busy schedules considered, the couple set out to plan their dream wedding in Southern Italy–in two months. Both in hospitality and obsessed with all things celebratory, culinary and luxury service oriented, the two were focused on creating the ultimate Capri experience for their guests. The couple reached out to Italian-based planner Diana Sorensen to help them plan a three-day celebration in a matter of weeks complete with a forest ceremony, a quintessentially Capri reception and bespoke everything. Sorensen of Sugokuii Events turned to her design roots, all things Italian and designers like Dolce & Gabbana, who have such a strong Capri influence, for inspiration.

Sorensen credits the couple's laid-back Ibiza vibes and how deeply in love they were with each other, with Capri and with their family and friends when speaking about the easy and exciting time she had planning their wedding weekend. "Capri is almost tropical, it's a fun island and not too uptight," she explained. "Sid and Sofija wanted something non-traditional and whimsical," like a ceremony in a fairytale forest setting and a lounge-like reception at the famous lemon tree restaurant, Da Paolino. Their weekend of events felt like the perfect marriage of posh and polish with the influence of Southern Italy, sprinkled with touches of Sid's Indian roots. A Mumbai-based stationer crafted their suite, using Indian motifs paired with Southern Italian tile designs and a hybrid of customary color palettes. The welcome basket, a straw bag by Micaela Spadoni, was filled with little pieces of Capri for each guest to enjoy throughout their stay: lemon cookies by local Pasticceria Buonocore, Sofia Prosecco by Coppola wines in honor of the bride's name, lemon scented candles by Carthusia, fresh lemons and chilies, charm bracelets from Russo Capri, homemade nutella from Napoli and cheeky notes, like a taxi coupon for guests to use as paid transportation to the ceremony and an Italian lottery ticket that guests had 'won' in being able to experience one of Italy's most luxurious locales.

 When looking for a wedding dress, "the McQueen designs were the closest to my spirit," remembers the bride. "Sid always wanted me to wear Alexander McQueen for our wedding day, as it is also a favorite designer of his. I made an appointment with the head of design to discuss what I imagined my dress to be and they understood very quickly–I wanted an elegant and timeless dress with open shoulders. They made some beautiful sketches and we started almost immediately. They did an amazing job in such a short period of time! After all, we moved the date of the wedding last minute from September to July, and consequently only had 6 weeks to design the perfect dress!" Sofija paired the gown with flat René Caovilla sandals, an Alexander McQueen veil and earrings by Sabbadini Gioielli. Sid wore a custom made Kiton suit, made in their ateliers in Napoli and Capri. For her bridesmaids, Sofija turned to friend (and bridesmaid) Millane Fernandez; together, they chose a sage green fabric embroidered with leaves that was inspired by the forest setting.

 The night before the wedding included an Indian-Italian inspired rehearsal dinner on a mountain top, which guests could only reach by chair-lift. "The ceremony took place in a forest setting in Anacapri, an incredibly beautiful, unspoiled, private and tranquil location not known by many visitors, but familiar to locals. It has this unique combination of being woodsy while overlooking the sea, so it truly has the best of both worlds," Sofija explained. Guests walked through an archway of bougainvillea spelling "Amoré" as they entered the forest. "We didn't want anything too traditional; we consequently didn't have an arch or your typical ceremony setup," said the bride. The ceremony was presented in the round, with a flower field of delphiniums planted to frame the small gathering of friends and family. "We added a whimsical aspect to the ceremony by having guests clutch balloons, which were released into the air at the end of their vows by all of our guests." Instead of ceremony programs, a book of poems by Pablo Neruda (a writer and poet who once called Capri home) was placed on each guest's seat along with a printed fan. Before the ceremony, guests were greeted with fresh limonata with rosemary and a table of fresh floral crowns to done as they witnessed the couple's vows. "We walked down the aisle to Cesaria Evoro's Sodade & Petit Pays which we love and sounded so magical in the setting and reminded us of when we met in Ibiza." After their vows and the balloon release, the couple were escorted to a flower-adorned vintage car by a procession of close friends and musicians to be driven to their reception.

 

From the start, the couple sought to establish a supper-club feel for their reception, full of good food and an easy-yet-polished ambiance. Guests entered the reception and plucked their names from an escort card fruit stand, full of illustrations of the bride and groom and topped with their hashtag in lights, which served as a backdrop for photos as the night wore on. "We really wanted to celebrate Capri–and all things Capri–and there couldn't be a better place to do that for us than Da Paolino," said Sofija. The dining institution set the tone for the genuinely Italian experience. "We were not looking to have an over the top wedding, we were looking for something that really represented us," she remembered fondly. The reception was an all-night party beneath the lemon trees; fun but stylish, with a focus on fun and local details. Tablescapes included bespoke plates adorned with illustrations, floral embroidered napkins with the name of each guest in lieu of place cards and straw placemats in floral shapes.

 

Da Paolino was transformed by florists Capri Flor to accompany the lemon trees already in the space–using greenery, bougainvillea and bright florals. Custom circular sofas created an easy vibe, so much so that guests took to the dance floor mid-way through dinner. The menu, which the couple fine-tuned through multiple visits and tastings in the Amalfi, included a Caprese salad with a burrata from Puglia and three varieties of pasta, including a Cacio e Pepe served in hollowed-out, individually-sized Parmigiano rounds. For dessert, an abundant dessert bar was displayed along with a wedding cake adorned in Capri tile patterns, bougainvillea and lemons made of sugar. For the after party bites, pizzaioli from Napoli were brought in to make pizza in a custom designed tiled booth–they take pizza so seriously that water was brought in from Napoli specifically to make the dough

 Late night dancing was irresistible when a Sicilian band from Palermo and a DJ took to their stations, and the bride changed into a cocktail dress by Hamburg-based brand Aikon Couture, paired with Giuseppe Zanotti sandals for the late-night festivities. In speaking about Sofija and Sid, planner Diana Sorensen could not stress enough the true, undeniable love one felt between the two of them, and that their friends felt towards them. The couple remember their wedding similarly, after capping off the weekend with a seaside post-nuptial brunch at Ristorante Il Riccio, "The energy was incredible, the people, the locations and the setting–you truly felt the love everywhere."

 FINE