When Jennie and Kevin Meehan started listing all that they dreamed of in a wedding location, they had no idea that such a place really existed

AS SOON AS we saw the spectacular Medieval village of Gradara in the Le Marche Region of Italy, we knew instantly that this is where we would become husband and wife.
It was a stormy end of October weekend when we first arrived in Cattolica for our sourcing tour, but the warm welcome we received from Marion and Franco at Dream Academy more than made up for the badly behaved weather.
As this was the first location we had chosen for a potential wedding destination, we didn’t want to get our hopes up too high and decided to take an open minded approach - I even brought my sister along for an ‘out of the bubble’ opinion.
As we drove up towards the fortress walls, the rain got heavier and the clouds darker, but as we took our first steps towards the medieval village, the clouds started to disperse allowing the sun to burst through, revealing the breathtaking beauty of Gradara Castle. Being true believers in fate and destiny, we had no option but to see this as a ‘sign’. When we were discussing possible locations, we came up with a list of what we thought would constitute an idyllic setting, but we really didn’t think that it would be possible to satisfy all of the criteria on our list in just one place.

THE BEST OF BOTH WORLDS

We eventually narrowed it down to either a castle or a sea view setting. Little did we realise that dreams do come true, and our wish list was about to become reality. Not only is Gradara Castle circled within the walls of one of Italy’s finest Medieval villages, but it is also perched up on a hill with one side looking down over the crystal clear waters of the Adriatic Sea, and on the other side, a patchwork of wheat and sunflower filled fields, olive groves, cypress trees and vineyards.
Having decided that Gradara was to be the wedding destination, we spent the next couple of months planning and preparing for what was to be the most magical day of our lives.
Of course this would not have been possible without the professional guidance of Marion and Franco, and we could see that they had all the right contacts. Dream Academy were the first British/Italian wedding planners to feature the very beautiful Marches Region, and, in fact, are Gradara and Le Marche’s Leading Wedding Planners.
We decided that we would spend a week in the nearby small coastal resort of Cattolica with its sparkling fountains, lush gardens and wide sandy beaches, so that we would all have ample time to relax before and after the wedding. Before we knew it, the wedding week had arrived, and so, on Wednesday 10th September 2008, 30 of us set off from Dublin to Bologna Forli Airport.
Everyone was delighted to be greeted by the 32 degree heat and splendid sunshine - our long lost friend! We travelled by private coach to Cattolica, which had been arranged by Marion, because we felt that organising 25 adults, three children and two babies onto a train was simply not feasible.
After three days of complete (well almost complete - the majority of our guests were Irish don’t forget!) relaxation, the big day finally arrived. We were both very calm and composed and didn’t keep to the tradition of spending the night before apart. After all, this was never going to be a traditional wedding from the very start.
We broke away from the traditional Irish Church Wedding, instead wanting to fuse the two ethnic backgrounds of Chinese and Irish into the event. So we woke to what were to be our last moments of being single, and strolled down for a leisurely breakfast in glorious sunshine and overlooking the sea.
We had not revealed the location of the wedding ceremony to any of our guests, not even to our parents, so nobody knew what to expect and this all added to the excitement of the day.

…WE STROLLED AROUND, FEELING JUST LIKE THE KING AND QUEEN OF THE CASTLE
...THIS WAS NOT GOING TO BE A TRADITIONAL WEDDING...

COUNT DOWN

At 11:30 am, I set off back to the hotel room to meet Paolo my hairdresser.
However, somewhere between the breakfast terrace and the room, the weather had taken a turn for the worse. As Paolo worked his magic on my hair, I sat looking out onto the beautiful courtyard of the Carducci 76 hotel where raindrops began to fall from a dull grey sky. I could not believe this was happening, but Paolo assured me that for Italians it was lucky to have rain on a wedding day, to which I replied with a polite but nervous giggle.
At 2:50 pm, my bridesmaid Katie (my sister), and I made our way out of the hotel towards the wedding car in the rain. Our lovely driver Giorgio assured us once again that it was good luck to have rain on your wedding day. By the time we reached Gradara, the rain had started to subside and as we got out of the car, we were greeted by the ever enthusiastic Franco, ready and waiting with a smile and two large umbrellas at hand. Fortunately we didn’t need them, and made our way towards the waiting groom.
The ceremony venue was in the little bespoke theatre within the castle walls, just perfect for an intimate wedding party of 47 guests. It was beautifully decorated with red as the predominant colour, balanced with delicate pink flowers. This was in keeping with the Chinese tradition of using red as a celebratory colour. We exchanged our vows on the stage to the strains of an Italian Quintet as our backdrop, and with our family and friends as the audience. It all felt so surreal and magical.
By the time we stepped out of the theatre as man and wife, it felt like a completely different day.
The sun had once again found its way out of the clouds for us - well we like to think it was just for us - and in perfect time for our photographs.
We had arranged a champagne and finger food buffet in one of the little traditional and friendly restaurants within the cobbled streets of the village, allowing our guests to relax and have fun while we had our photographs done in the castle, and even dancing on the castle walls overlooking the sea. The locals were all there to greet us and to shout their best wishes as we strolled around, feeling just like the King and Queen of the castle. Even two very handsome carabinieri took part in the fun!
We left our guests to head back to Cattolica and the fabulous Carducci 76 Boutique Hotel, (owned by one of Italy’s leading fashion designers no less), while we did a small detour with our photographers to have some quality time and more photos on the beach.

A WONDERFUL WELCOME

Our guests were totally wowed, not only by the stunning design of the hotel and its friendly staff, but also by the amazing Champagne welcome reception which had been laid out on the terrace overlooking the sea. We were equally impressed by the wedding banquet which followed and which Stefano the chef had prepared for us at the poolside restaurant. After dinner, we had a gorgeous candlelit dessert buffet on the terrace where we also cut our fabulous wedding cake before starting a night of dancing. Our cake was superb and presented in a truly unique way with candles and lights all around, and of course, lots of popping corks and flowing champagne!

We just did not want this day to end and so reluctantly at 06:15 am, we decided to head to bed and call it a day, and what a day!

It was amazing to know that we are loved so much by all our family and closest friends, and to have them all there with us on what was the most wonderful week of our lives is something we will never forget. We are so proud of everyone for making the journey and sharing the most magical day of our lives - this truly is what dreams are made of.

We knew that Marion and Franco from Dream Academy, and Marco the manager at the hotel would not let us down, but not only did they make this event the most memorable and special in every way imaginable, but they far exceeded our expectations and made our dream wedding day a reality.

Weddings at Gradara Castle by in house Wedding & Event Designers Dream Academy Web: www.dreamacademy.it