JOHN CLARK PHOTOS · REAL WEDDINGS IN ITALY

Anna & Tom’s Malcesine Castle Wedding on Lake Garda

Words and photographs by John Clark

Anna and Tom stand together at the end of a jetty with mountains across the lake.

The sound I remember is the pipes. I’m used to following a piper at a Scottish wedding. Following one through the little streets of Malcesine, past people having lunch and down to a boat on Lake Garda? That was a first.

Anna and Tom chose me to photograph their wedding in Italy, flew me over from Scotland and looked after me from the minute I arrived. You two, thank you. This is one of the few places I’ve photographed where I got home and found myself saying, “You’d have to see it.” So here it is.

Getting ready above the lake

The morning started at a villa with everyone gathered round the table. Step through the door and the view opened up. Blue water below, mountains opposite and Anna on the terrace with the whole train of her dress laid out behind her. My favourite from the balcony is the three of them together, the bridesmaids waving their bouquets in the air.

Sunlight breaks through clouds over Malcesine harbour and the mountains.
Anna and her friends gather round the villa table during morning preparations. Anna holds hands with a man in a pale blue jacket on the villa balcony.
Anna stands on the terrace with her bouquet, her train spread behind her. Two bridesmaids in lilac raise their bouquets beside Anna on the balcony.

An Italian ceremony at the top of Malcesine Castle

Tom followed the piper up the castle steps. Anna arrived in a little white three-wheeler. Up on the terrace, the guests took their seats facing the lake. With all that scenery, the photo I love from the ceremony is a close-up of Anna and Tom sitting side by side, looking at each other and grinning.

Tom climbs the castle steps behind the piper, with the lake visible beyond the walls. Anna rides in a small white three-wheeled vehicle along a cobbled street.
Guests face the ceremony canopy on the terrace overlooking the lake.
Anna and Tom turn towards each other, smiling in their ceremony chairs. Tom closes his eyes as he hugs a guest after the ceremony.
A stone doorway frames Anna and Tom standing above the lake. Anna and Tom stand at a railing looking across the blue water to the mountains.

Follow the pipes to the boat

Back down in town there was time for a gelato in full wedding gear, then the piper led everyone through the streets to the boat. We had the drinks reception out on Lake Garda and watched the town slip away behind us. Anna flung her arms out on deck with Tom behind her. That picture sums up how it felt to be there better than I can.

Anna and Tom take a bite of their ice creams outside a gelateria. The piper leads the wedding guests past colourful buildings through Malcesine.
Anna stretches her arms wide on the boat with Tom standing behind her.
Anna sits between two guests on a boat bench with green water behind them. Two suited guests laugh with drinks in hand beneath the boat canopy.

Rooftop dinner and a few minutes by the water

Dinner was on the rooftop of a local restaurant overlooking the lake. The food was one of my favourite things about the trip, and I loved finding a little bit of home among the glassware. One of the tables was named Loch Lomond. When the light softened we nipped down to the waterside. Tom had his jacket off, there was a little boat beside the jetty and the castle was catching the last of the sun. A few photos there, then straight back to their people.

White-clothed tables are laid outside under a canopy of green leaves. A handwritten Loch Lomond table sign stands among glassware and greenery.
The low sun catches Anna and Tom as they touch foreheads beside the lake. Anna and Tom embrace on a narrow jetty below the castle at sunset.
A guest leans into the frame as Anna and Tom cut their cake. Guests raise their glasses over a man laughing at the centre of the table.

One last shot under the castle

Once the tunes came on, it was a proper party. Drinks in the air, arms round shoulders, Anna right in the middle of it. We finished with one last portrait outside, just the two of them, her veil lifting and the castle lit up above them. Some finish to a day.

Anna looks up at Tom as they hold each other on the dance floor. A woman stretches her arms wide as the dancers around her point upwards.
Anna dances with her head down and her arms out among streaks of gold light. Friends gather shoulder to shoulder and sing with drinks raised.
Anna and Tom beneath the illuminated castle, her veil caught in the air, in black and white.

Planning a wedding in Malcesine? Look after your guests before they arrive.

If you’re asking people to fly out for your wedding, borrow an idea from Anna and Tom and put the useful bits on a wedding website. For Malcesine, Verona is one airport to look at. Give guests the onward journey as well as the airport name. Tell them where to meet a transfer, which bus to look up, or who might share a hire car. If you’ve found a good place to hire a car, say where the desk is and where guests can leave the car when they arrive. Give them a couple of places to stay, somewhere you’d actually go for dinner, and a meeting point they can find on foot. Those are the details that make arriving in an unfamiliar town feel easy.

My own packing tip? Bring a fan. The light at the top of the castle is gorgeous, but goodness, it’s hot. And if you want photos by the lake, give yourselves a few minutes near sunset. You can have the meal, enjoy the speeches and still get that light without disappearing for the whole reception.

DESTINATION WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY

Taking me to Italy?

I’m based in Scotland and I leave room in my diary for a couple of weddings abroad when the travel fits. If you’re getting married on Lake Garda or elsewhere in Italy and you like the look of Anna and Tom’s day, tell me where you’re headed and when. I’d love to hear what you’ve got planned.

Ask John about your wedding in Italy