Bridal Boudoir Wedding

Morning in Venice sounds completely romantic and the city is the perfect place for a wedding! Wake up and treat yourself to a relaxing start to the day as you prepare for this momentous occasion. Carry the silky and tranquil lingerie of the bridal boudoir with you as you dress in a luxurious and flowing wedding gown as pictured in our wedding shoot.

What to Look for in a Venue for a Bridal Boudoir Wedding

One of the biggest influences on this bridal boudoir theme is the architecture of the beautiful Italian city. Having such a rich history with influences from all over the world and throughout multiple ages, there are plenty of options when it comes to choosing a wedding venue.

With Renaissance, Gothic, and Venetian-Byzantine eras to choose from, it’s all down to personal preference, but in some cases, you might find features of all three architectural styles in one wedding venue location, which will provide the perfect romantic, historic and cultural backdrop for you to build your Venetian bridal boudoir theme upon.

Color Palettes for a Bridal Boudoir Wedding

When it comes to the color palettes for your bridal boudoir wedding, you want to have quite a neutral backdrop like the medieval brick or ivory colored columns of your wedding venue that you can build upon with wedding details and ceremony decor.

Although your wedding color palette is primarily creams, whites and paler shades you can bring antique gold elements to highlight the historic element of your bridal boudoir theme. Similarly, you can bring in some natural green leaves to mirror the green water of the beautiful winding Venetian canals that are all around you and your new spouse.

Wedding Invitations for a Bridal Boudoir Wedding

Although wedding invitations are one of the first parts of the wedding planning process, they’re often overlooked in favor of sorting out the details of the day itself. However, wedding invites are an important first look at your wedding for your guests – what kind of theme you’re going for, location and formality levels.

With a bridal boudoir wedding, which may take place in a city like Venice as in our shoot, take inspiration from the beautiful, historic city around you. Depending on the era of the wedding venue that you’ve chosen, use romantic imagery and illustrations from that time period to give a nod to the culture that’s going to be a big part of your big day.

Wedding Cake Ideas for a Bridal Boudoir Wedding

Who doesn’t love cake, especially when you get to go to a whole bunch of tastings before your beautiful wedding day! With such a classically informed, romantic wedding with a lot of flowing white outfits, you’re going to want to stick to the traditional tiered style white cake.

To adorn your cake you could bring in color elements from your venue and your surroundings, whether that's some of the foliage and flowers from your bouquet to some gold leaf lightly placed around the white icing to give an elegant but subtle nod to the opulence of the historic city around you.

Reception Decor for a Bridal Boudoir Wedding

Your reception decor for your bridal boudoir wedding really does all depend on your chosen venue. If you’ve opted for an opulent hotel or old building then those decorative points will serve as the main inspiration for your reception. As there are so many different styles of building in Venice, there are plenty of options for reception decor.

With this wedding theme, you want a romantic, old-world style to your reception, so stick with the traditional couple top table and have your loved ones spread around you with flowing drapery, hints of gold and plenty of floral notes.

Wedding Photo Shoot Ideas for a Bridal Boudoir Wedding

With Venice as your backdrop, there are thousands of showstopping, beautiful options when it comes to your wedding photo shoot. From gondolas to rooftops to piazzas and beyond, the sinking city is your playground here, and with so much history and culture, it would be hard to get a bad wedding photo in a place like this.

This being said, the Venetian bridal boudoir wedding theme has an air of mystery and secrecy around it – almost like a forbidden Shakespearean romance – so perhap opt for hidden balconies and stairwells that have the city in the background, but where those outside on the ground wouldn’t think to look.  

Budget for a Bridal Boudoir Wedding

Although on the surface having a bridal boudoir wedding in secret locations high above the beautiful city of Venice in semi-ruined historical buildings sounds like it would be an affordable, low key option – in reality, Venice is a pretty expensive place to visit let alone get married.

When you’re using historical buildings there are usually a lot of restrictions and rules to follow and to maintain the building in line with the existing architecture, costing the owners a lot of money which they pass along to those people willing to rent. Add in the factor that nearly everything has to be brought in on boat and via old cobbled roads, logistics can be an expensive issue.

Wedding Dresses & Accessories for a Bridal Boudoir Wedding

For your beautiful Venetian bridal boudoir wedding dress, you want a simple, elegant, floating number that looks a lot like you’ve just woken up in a renaissance play. Think Romeo & Juliet with Juliet floating around the balcony in her nightdress. That’s the kind of cultural, historic vibe that you want with this kind of theme.

In terms of accessories opt for a vintage or antique look in a sort of rustic gold tone. It doesn’t matter here if the gold is a little bit tarnished as it’ll add to the historic, Venetian, boudoir atmosphere that you’re trying to create here.

Bridesmaid Dresses for a Bridal Boudoir Wedding

As with your bridal gown for your Venetian bridal boudoir wedding, your bridesmaids' dresses should follow the floaty, simplistic, romantic memo. Pull your chosen bridesmaid dress colors from your dream Venetian wedding venue and the vibrant green from the canals all around you. Make sure to tie in any softer textural elements such as tulle or lace across the board, even if your bridesmaids aren’t wearing the exact same dress.

When you think about accessories keep it stripped back – after all, you want to tie it back into the boudoir side of your Venetian bridal boudoir wedding theme, and who wears tons of heavy looking jewelry when they’re in their bedroom?

Food for a Bridal Boudoir Wedding

When you’re considering food for your Venetian bridal boudoir wedding, think about a menu that is airy and light, just like a boudoir outfit or a flowing wedding gown. A champagne fountain, fruits and salads, and appetizers beforehand that are easy to carry and also easy to digest suit sunshine and simplicity.

Venetian style foods could also be zucchini pasta with a garden sauce, thin crust pizza with a light tomato topping, and a savory minestrone to start.

A romantic morning in Venice

From Kir & Ira Photography – “Inspired by a mysterious beauty of Venice we created this bridal editorial shoot to showcase how beautiful and picturesque and relaxing a bridal morning can be. The unique location, Scala Contarini del Bovolo, set the tone for the shoot.”

“With its spiral staircase which is most impressive and valuable in Venice, the Italian wedding venue provided the perfect synthesis of different styles: Renaissance, Gothic, and Venetian-Byzantine. The impressiveness of this medieval architecture created a terrific atmosphere; the light breaking through the countless arches were the perfect backdrop for an ideal bridal morning.”

“We were really happy to have an opportunity to work with an incredible, soulful, and creative wedding planner Ema Giangreco with her talented and resourceful team of florists – Pretty Flowers by Fioreria San Rocco and handwriting calligraphy artist Filovagando who cared about every detail and each element in the frame.”

“Dreamlike dresses by Natalya Kurjan and Anastasia Ravlushevich made our beautiful bride-to-be Eva looks like a real princess waiting for her beloved in the medieval castle. Stunning hair accessories were provided by Nea Bridal Milan and added an extra gloss and personality to our bridal wedding morning inspiration shoot!”

See another gorgeous international shoot from Kir & Ira Photography here.

Credits: Photography: Kir & Ira Photography // Design & Planning: Ema Giangreco // Florist: Pretty Flowers by Fioreria San Rocco // Stationery: Filovgando // Model: Eva Ambruoso // Bridal Hair Accessories: Nea Bridal Milan // Wedding Dresses and Peignoir: Natalia Kurjan and Anastasia Ravlushevich // Ring Box: Flowers For Lola // Beauty: Irina Kondratenko // Venue: Scala Contarini del Bovolo in Venice, Italy.