Micaela and Patrick’s story began on a summer day that felt almost too perfect to be accidental. On July 31, 2021, Micaela made her way to Sunset Beach Hotel, a place she had returned to for more than a decade and one that had been part of Patrick’s life for years, too. Their paths had crossed before, but somehow they had never really met.
Then Oliver intervened.
Micaela’s dachshund was instinctively drawn to Patrick on the beach, sparking their first conversation amid the sunshine, music, and rosé. Days later, a spontaneous DM led to their first date at a secluded gazebo just off the Shelter Island shore. Conversation came easily. So did everything that followed.
Years later, Patrick would bring Micaela back to that same gazebo for a proposal involving a fake medieval Halloween party, an imaginary appearance by Christie Brinkley, a race against the sunset, and a videographer hiding nearby.
It was a fittingly memorable beginning to their engagement—and only a preview of what they would eventually plan for their wedding: an entire fairytale week under the Tuscan sun.
A wedding week steeped in Tuscan tradition
Micaela and Patrick didn’t ask their guests to travel to Tuscany for a single wedding day. Instead, with help from Cloud Eight Weddings & Events and captured by Barbarossa Studio and Native Birds Films, they created a multi-day celebration that immersed everyone in the food, history, wine, and traditions of the region before culminating at Villa Cetinale.
The festivities began with the Palio di Siena, the centuries-old medieval horse race that transformed the beginning of their wedding week into something that felt like stepping into another era.
The following evening brought everyone together for an intimate private dinner at Officina Della Bistecca, where guests gathered around the table for a warm, family-style experience rooted in Italian tradition.
The next day brought another reason to celebrate: Micaela’s birthday. The couple spent the day touring Chianti, visiting Castello di Brolio, Dievole, and Borgo San Felice for wine, sweeping vineyard views, and a relaxed day beneath the golden Tuscan sun.
Patrick also had one more surprise waiting. He gifted Micaela a diamond tennis bracelet from the same jeweler who had created her engagement ring and wedding band—a birthday gift made even more meaningful by being presented at Villa Cetinale surrounded by the people they loved.
An intimate ceremony inside a 10th-century chapel
Before their larger wedding celebration, Micaela and Patrick held an intimate church ceremony with their closest family and friends. The setting was a breathtaking 10th-century chapel, calling for bridal fashion that felt equally timeless.
Micaela wore the Angelina gown by Jenny by Jenny Yoo, a satin silhouette with a sweetheart neckline. An Ofrenda Kepler veil trimmed in satin and ivory Jimmy Choo Saeda sandals finished the classic look. It was a quieter, more intimate beginning to the wedding celebrations that would follow the next day.
Later that evening, the couple welcomed the rest of their guests to Villa Cetinale for their official welcome party. For the occasion, Micaela changed into an ivory silk open-back dress by Selfie Leslie. The dress wasn’t new to their story—she had worn it the night before Patrick proposed. Bringing it back for the eve of their wedding created a subtle connection between two entirely different chapters of their relationship.
Bridal style: couture Berta beneath the Tuscan sun
The next day, Micaela and Patrick’s wedding day finally arrived. Micaela chose a couture Berta gown fresh off the runway, an intricately hand-beaded design with a sculpted corset bodice and delicate shimmer throughout.
She customized the gown with removable lace sleeves, bringing another romantic dimension to the silhouette. A two-tier veil finished with hand-sewn Italian lace softened the look and moved effortlessly around her as she walked through the villa grounds.
Patrick complemented her in a custom-made Italian black tuxedo, while perhaps the smallest member of the wedding party coordinated right alongside him.
Oliver—the dachshund responsible for bringing Micaela and Patrick together in the first place—wore his own tiny tux matching Patrick and the groomsmen. The “royal dog” was officially ready.
Writing their vows separately at Villa Cetinale
Wedding morning began quietly for both Micaela and Patrick. Patrick climbed the approximately 200 steps leading to the tiny chapel overlooking Villa Cetinale’s grounds. From above the sweeping Tuscan landscape, he sat down to write his vows.
Micaela remained in their suite, writing hers in solitude before her bridesmaids, mother, and mother-in-law joined her to get ready.
Before leaving for the ceremony, she shared an emotional first look with her father. He was already in tears.
A ceremony beneath the Tuscan sky
Micaela’s father walked her down the aisle to a string rendition of “Unchained Melody.”
Oliver had his own important role in the processional, trotting alongside each couple in his miniature tux before Micaela and Patrick met beneath the Tuscan sky.
The ceremony centered on the personal vows they had written separately that morning, creating an intimate moment within the grandeur of Villa Cetinale’s grounds.
Afterward, the newlyweds made their way down the grassy aisle and into cocktail hour as a string duo transitioned into modern love songs.
Then came one of those wonderfully random wedding-week coincidences: Micaela’s father realized he recognized the violinist. He had seen him performing during a boat tour in Florence earlier that week.
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Candlelit dinner as a storm rolled over Tuscany
Dinner unfolded outdoors at two long tables illuminated by candlelight and softened with delicate florals, but the Tuscan sky was putting on a show of its own.A storm began circling in the distance, with lightning flashing across the horizon as dinner continued beneath the open sky. Instead of diminishing the atmosphere, the changing weather made everything feel increasingly cinematic.
Speeches from Micaela’s father, her maids of honor, and Patrick’s best men moved between laughter and tears as guests remained gathered around the candlelit tables. It was the kind of dinner that could only happen once: friends and family together in Tuscany, candlelight flickering below while lightning illuminated the distance overhead.
Millefoglie and a surprise fireworks show
After dinner, Micaela and Patrick turned to another Italian tradition: their millefoglie wedding cake. The layered dessert became part of the evening’s experience before the couple had another surprise waiting for their guests.
Fireworks suddenly illuminated the sky above Villa Cetinale. After days of celebrations—from Siena’s Palio and dinners to vineyards and chapel vows—the wedding night reached its most dramatic moment yet, or at least everyone thought it had. The weather had one more surprise coming.
A first dance in glittering rain
As Micaela and Patrick began their first dances, the storm that had been hovering in the distance finally reached the villa. A light rain started to fall. Under the glow of the surrounding lights, every drop caught the light as it came down, creating the illusion of glitter falling from the sky. It wasn’t planned. It couldn’t have been, and that made it even better.
What could have been the dreaded rain at an outdoor destination wedding instead became one of its most romantic moments—a little bit of beautiful chaos arriving at exactly the right time.
A Galia Lahav mini and dancing until 3 a.m.
As the celebration shifted into party mode, so did the fashion. Micaela changed from her couture Berta gown into a Galia Lahav mini dress, while Patrick swapped his black tuxedo jacket for a custom ivory dinner jacket.
With the rain arriving outside, the party moved into Villa Cetinale’s Limonaia, where guests continued dancing until 3 a.m. At some point, even the polizia made an appearance.
As Micaela put it, it wouldn’t be a Nota party without a little drama, but not even that could bring the celebration to an early end.
One final pool party under the Tuscan sun
After nearly a week of celebrations, Micaela and Patrick weren’t quite finished. On the final day, everyone gathered one last time for a pool party that blended the energy of Nikki Beach with the celebratory spirit of Bagatelle.
There was wood-fired pizza. There were spritzes. There was dancing beneath the Tuscan sun. More importantly, there was nowhere else anyone needed to be.
It was the perfect finale to a wedding designed not around a few hours, but around giving the people Micaela and Patrick loved an entire week of memories together.
A cinematic wedding week that couldn’t have been scripted
There was an almost cinematic quality to Micaela and Patrick’s wedding week, but some of its best moments were the ones no one could have planned.
Their relationship began because a dachshund wandered over to the right person on a beach. Their proposal required a fake medieval Halloween party and a race against the sunset. Their wedding week brought an unexpected reunion with a violinist, a storm circling their candlelit dinner, fireworks above Villa Cetinale, and rain that looked like glitter during their first dance.
Against that spontaneity were the details they had chosen with incredible intention: a return to the dress Micaela wore before their engagement, multiple bridal looks marking different moments of the week, centuries-old Tuscan traditions, personal vows written separately on the morning of the wedding, and days devoted simply to experiencing Italy with the people they loved.
Under the Tuscan sun—and eventually a little Tuscan rain—Micaela and Patrick created something bigger than a destination wedding. They created an entire week that felt like their own Italian fairytale.
