Earlier this summer Jay and I celebrated our two year anniversary. We decided [Jay here: money decided] that since we stayed home for our first anniversary, we would travel for our second anniversary. We plan to blog about our anniversary trip to Paris (and our anniversary session in my favorite city in the world!) sometime in the very near future but before we do that, we figured it would be nice to add our own wedding photos to the blog and offer you a peek into our big day. But first, we’ll start with the back story to our wedding!
Our day started at Hotel Twenty-One. We chose this hotel for its location (within walking distance of the Vatican!) and because it was modern and had all the amenities that would make our guests happy. We had a great experience there so I would highly recommend it if you’re ever in Rome.
Of course, I had to have a “Mrs. Peterson” hanger for my dress!
We loved our passport wedding invitations by NVS Events. Click here to see the inside.
My sister-in-law Jill did my make-up that day. Thank you, Jill!
Jay got ready with his dad and Matt, his best friend.
I love this shot of Jay and his dad! [Jay: He looks more like Matt’s dad, but he’s my pop.]
These two have been pals for as long as they can remember, since their parents were friends before either of them came along. 
Love these black and whites of Jay getting ready!
Back in my room, the best matchmaker in the world stopped by to check up on me! Kristin is the woman who single-handedly, with the help of Matt, matched me up with Jay. [Jay: Matt and Kristin arranged a couple of “chance encounters” before Alex and I finally hit it off on a “this is not a date” date. Alex didn’t remember the very first time she and I met, for the record.]
Next, my best friend Heather arrived! Heather and I have been friends since sophomore year of high school when we met in French class. [Jay: You should see these two together.]
I still can’t believe how beautiful my bouquet turned out! 
Another of my beautiful sisters-in-law, Havva, came by with a special gift and was the first one to make me cry that day.
All the ladies looked so beautiful! 
I love this view of our room!
I still can’t believe I got my father to fly out to Italy! It was his first trip to Europe and I’m happy to say that he loved it!
Before we left the hotel I put on a bridal bolero – churches in Rome are very strict about bare shoulders!
We were married at Santa Costanza, a 4th century church built under Constantine as a mausoleum for his daughter Constantina, also known as Costanza. The church is the oldest in Christendom that is still in use as a church and it is a prime example of original early Christian architecture. We chose it based on photos that we found online and fell in love with it as soon as we stepped inside just a few days before the wedding. It was perfect for our intimate wedding.
Arriving at the church…
Get ready for lots of tears. I am definitely the sentimental type.
We had readings by Heather, Jay’s father, Matt, and my brother, who isn’t very photogenic, but against our repeated appeals to Daniele (j/k… not really), Jose is still depicted in our full-length wedding video! 
Jay’s two sisters, Jenny and Jill.
Best maid of honor ever :-)
On the left are my brother and beautiful sister-in-law and on the right, Heather and her wonderful husband Jay. I still can’t believe all of them flew all the way to Italy for our wedding! Love you guys!
We even had two wedding crashers!
Signing our marriage license…
Since Jay and I travel a lot, we thought it would be best for me to have a simple wedding band for times when we are traveling. Pictured below is the blessing of my “travel ring.”
This photo always reminds me of how much I missed my mom that day. But I know she was there in spirit.
And here is my favorite photo of the day! I just love this happy moment, exiting the church as husband and wife and surrounded by our family and friends. And bubbles. Lots of bubbles.
Our guests took bubble-making very seriously!
Jay and I still talk about how wonderful it was to have all of these amazing people come out to be with us on our wedding day. And how awesome they were to put up with our color-coordinated wedding party idea!
Jay set up our GoPro to get footage of us on the way to our luncheon. Too bad we still haven’t had time to edit it! Maybe for our next anniversary…
Since our ceremony was at noon we decided to have a luncheon before going out to take pictures. This was a great way to avoid the harsh midday light and it kept our guests happy, too!
Our first dance was to “If You Were Mine” by Billie Holiday.
The views from the venue were amazing!
Time for the toasts, tears, and lots of laughs!
Our wedding cake wasn’t exactly what we had planned but we’ll never forget our traditional Italian cake, complete with sparklers! [Jay: It was the weirdest cake I’ve ever seen. More like a sea creature, but wouldn’t have changed it for anything.]
After our luncheon we had our friend and favorite Rome city tour guide, Dina, accompany us on a sightseeing tour of Rome. We loved having her along to tell our guests all about the city along the way.
Blending into the crowd… [Jay: as well as a Honduran and Korean can. In Italy. In a tux and wedding dress.]
Our first stop was in Vatican City. We made our way to the Castle Sant’Angelo and then to one of my favorite spots in Rome, a bridge lined with statues by Bernini. 
If you’ve ever been to Rome in the summer you know it gets HOT and by this point, we were a sweaty mess. So much for my hair and make-up!
A funny thing happened on the way to the…. Colosseum when we ran into another bride and groom! It was the funniest moment of the day as it reminded us of a couple of dogs sniffing around each other cautiously. 
The “practice lift.”
Love was in the air!
This photo was taken in front of the Vittorio Emamuele monument, where we were engaged two years before our wedding day! It’s known in Rome as The Wedding Cake. I have no idea why they call it that :-/
Besties…
Love this photo with my brother!
By the end of the day we had taken so many photos! But before the day ended we took a few with some of the people who made the day possible. Here we are with Dina, the best tour guide in Rome:
And I love this shot with Federica, our wedding planner from The Italian Wedding Event. We owe this amazing woman so much! She made our dream wedding possible and we love her for it!
I wish we had taken a photo with our photographer and videographer. They were so fun and we loved spending the day with them. And of course we love the wonderful job they did capturing our wedding day. If we ever do a vow renewal, we are definitely hiring them again!
We hope you enjoyed this post! We can’t wait to share our two year anniversary session with you all!
Photography & Videography | Daniele Lanci Photography
Wedding Planner | Federica Nascimben | The Italian Wedding Event
Venue | Ristorante Mirabelle
Invitations, Menus, Programs | NVS Events
Hair | Mauro Lulli
Flowers | Claudio Patrignani | Bloemen Florist
More details on our Wedding Website
