Madison & Rotimi's Wedding at Villa D'Este: One Wooden Boat, 125 Guests, and Florals Nobody Expected

Love Story

Madison had just moved to Los Angeles. She was meeting college friends for drinks in Malibu when Rotimi showed up with one of her guy friends from school. They met that night, but nothing happened right away. "We didn't actually start dating until a few months later," she says. What kept them in each other's orbit was simpler than fate — they just kept running into each other around the city. Same circles, different evenings, until it started to feel like something. "Eventually one night I gave him my number and hoped he'd text me. He did, and our first date quickly led to many more." By the time they got married, it had been seven and a half years since that Malibu night.

Now Madison works in tech, Rotimi in real estate, and their life together has a particular texture to it: long walks with their dog, trips abroad (Japan is a shared favorite), Sunday mornings that probably involve very good coffee, because Rotimi is, among other things, a genuine coffee connoisseur. He's also an avid golfer, someone who picks up a new hobby and gives it everything. Madison reads, does Pilates, and is the kind of person who makes time for the people she loves. "We're both very close with our families," she says, "and make it a priority to spend as much time with them as we can."

About Your Wedding

The engagement came first — and they let themselves enjoy it for a while before touching a single spreadsheet or venue inquiry. "For the first six to eight months, we were happy just soaking up that season of life and celebrating with the people around us," Madison says. When they did get serious about planning, it took about twelve months to pull everything together.

The wedding Madison had pictured for years was small. Intimate. Probably Mexico. "So when we found ourselves planning a wedding in Lake Como," she says, "it honestly felt like a dream come to life. I couldn't have imagined a more beautiful place to celebrate."

The final wedding weekend stretched across three venues and three days: a welcome dinner at Acquadolce Lago di Como — everyone in white, candlelight on the water — then the main wedding day at Villa D'Este in Cernobbio, and a farewell brunch at Terrazza Olmo the following morning. One hundred and twenty-five guests, most of whom had traveled a long way, and every single one of them, by all accounts, felt it was worth it.

Morning Details

Before a single photo was taken or a single guest arrived, there was the stationery — and it's worth pausing on it, because it genuinely set the tone. Jill from The Letter Box Shop created a custom illustration of Villa D'Este and hand-wrote every piece. "The handwritten calligraphy added such a beautiful and personal detail," Madison says. It's the kind of thing you keep.

Custom venue illustrations on wedding stationery are having a real moment — and for good reason. A hand-drawn rendering of your specific location tells guests, before they've even booked their flights, that this weekend was designed with care. Paired with hand-lettered calligraphy, it becomes an heirloom rather than an envelope people recycle.

The rings were custom-made by their jeweler in Los Angeles. Rotimi had designed Madison's engagement ring entirely on his own — no hints, no Pinterest boards shared, just him deciding. "He surprised me with it, which made it even more special," she says. The wedding bands came later, built around his original design. "It was fun to build on what he'd already created and add something that felt like the perfect complement."

Madison's own accessories were minimal on purpose: earrings, engagement ring, and wedding band. Rotimi wore a Cartier Ballon Bleu and matching Cartier cufflinks. Two people who know their own taste and don't overdo it.

There's real confidence in restraint. Madison's decision to let the dress and the setting do the work — rather than layering on accessories — is exactly the kind of edit that photographs beautifully and ages even better.

Bride Getting Ready

Madison got ready in the suite she and Rotimi shared for the whole wedding weekend — a room that looked directly over the ceremony space and out across the lake. "It was actually the room Rotimi and I stayed in during the wedding weekend," she says, "which made it feel even more meaningful."

Her dress had been decided long before she was ready to admit it. A Vivienne Westwood Galaxy Cape gown, found at Loho Bride in LA on one of her first appointments. "I fell in love with it right away," she says. "Still, choosing a dress on the very first day felt a little too quick, so I visited a few other bridal boutiques to explore more options. But I couldn't stop thinking about that first gown." She went back to Loho. She chose it. "I still adore it."

The Vivienne Westwood Galaxy Cape gown is not a safe dress — it's a dress with a point of view. The structured cape element gives it a sculptural quality that most bridal gowns deliberately avoid. Against the columns and gardens of Villa D'Este, it read like it was made for exactly that setting. Loho Bride in LA remains one of the few boutiques genuinely stocking designers willing to take that kind of risk.

The veil was Vivienne Westwood too. The shoes were Manolo Blahnik. Her bouquet — designed by Riccardo Ciceri — was small and pink, intentionally quiet against the ceremony's bolder floral landscape. Keeping the bouquet small and tonal when the surrounding florals are vibrant is a smarter move than it looks. It draws the eye to the bride's face rather than her hands, and it photographs cleanly against a busy background. Riccardo Ciceri understood the assignment.

Groom Getting Ready

Rotimi got ready in a secondary suite at Villa D'Este — Ralph Lauren tuxedo, Christian Louboutin shoes, and presumably a level of calm that suited the setting. He'd already put so much thought into the details that mattered — the ring, the proposal dinner, the one wedding request he ever made — that by the morning of, there wasn't much left to worry about.

Ralph Lauren for a Lake Como wedding is a pairing that makes complete sense once you see it. The tailoring reads European without trying to be, which matters when you're dressing for a setting this specific. Louboutin shoes underneath add the right amount of personality without pulling focus.

First Look

They chose the grand staircase inside Villa D'Este's main reception hall. Marble, old light, the particular hush of a historic interior that has seen a lot of things and holds them quietly.

They'd planned a first look deliberately — they wanted a moment before the ceremony that belonged only to them. What we can tell you is that when Madison appeared at the top of those stairs in her Vivienne Westwood gown, time did what it does in those moments. It slowed.
"Among all the wedding weekend craziness, Rotimi and I had a moment to ourselves on our wedding day after the first look where we got to just soak it all in together. It was so special to have that time before celebrating the night away with our friends and family."

We advocate for first looks more than almost anything else in wedding planning, and Madison and Rotimi's reasoning is exactly why. A ceremony is a public act — it belongs to everyone in the room. A first look gives the couple something that belongs only to them. It also means that by the time vows are exchanged, the initial shock has passed and both people can actually be present for the words.

Photoshoot Before The Ceremony

After the first look, the four of them — Madison, Rotimi, photographer Roman Ivanov, and a vintage wooden boat — headed out onto the lake.
"One of the most special moments was heading out onto the lake in a vintage wooden boat for a photoshoot on the water," Madison says.

This is the kind of location decision that separates a good wedding shoot from an extraordinary one. The reflective surface, the distance from shore, the particular quality of light over the lake mid-morning — Roman Ivanov clearly knew what he was doing by getting them out there.

Ceremony

The ceremony took place in the Mosaic Garden at Villa D'Este, under open sky, surrounded by old cypress and the geometry of an Italian garden that has been exactly this beautiful for centuries.

A string quartet played throughout. Rotimi walked in to Until I Found You. Madison came down the aisle to Pachelbel's Canon in D, played live — which is a different thing entirely from hearing a recording. Madison's niece Kobe was the flower girl.

Live strings at an outdoor ceremony in an Italian garden is one of those combinations that sounds obvious in retrospect and yet so many couples don't do it. The difference between a recording played through speakers and a quartet performing ten feet away is the difference between watching a film and being in one. If your venue and budget allow it, it is never the wrong call.

Photoshoot After The Ceremony

Wedding Venue & Decor

Madison describes her personal style as neutral. Simple. Understated. "I tend to gravitate toward neutrals and simplicity in my everyday style, so naturally that was the direction I imagined for the wedding." Then Rotimi said he wanted colorful flowers. Just that one thing. "It ended up being the most beautiful decision we could have made," she says. "It was so fun stepping outside my comfort zone and watching our planners bring such a vibrant vision to life. The bright florals brought so much energy and life to the celebration, and we loved how beautifully everything came together."

This is one of the most honest things a bride has ever said to us, and it points to something real: the weddings that surprise their own couples are usually the most alive. When one person pushes the other slightly past their comfort zone — and a great planning and floral team catches that energy — the result tends to be more distinctive than anything either person would have chosen alone.

Getting the reference right took real effort. Most wedding inspiration, Madison found, skews safe on florals. So she looked elsewhere. "One of my biggest inspirations came from WildFlora, one of my favorite flower shops in Los Angeles, known for their vibrant and beautifully layered arrangements." Their bouquets went straight onto her mood board and became the visual language she used when talking to the team at Riccardo Ciceri.

On the day, the guests arrived at Villa D'Este in color — they had read the room and dressed accordingly. "Our guests also leaned into the moment and came dressed in beautiful colors, which looked incredible against the Villa D'Este setting." The night before had been its own world: the welcome dinner at Acquadolce, all white clothing and candlelight by the lake. Same people, completely different atmosphere. That contrast was intentional and it worked.

As for how they landed at Villa D'Este in the first place — it took a pivot. "We originally thought we would have a small wedding in Mexico," Madison says. When Italy entered the conversation, their travel agent Abby Adams searched for months — Tuscany first, then further north. "The more we looked, the more we fell in love with Lake Como. Abby spent months helping us find the perfect place."

Lake Como rewards couples who are willing to look past the obvious choices. Tuscany is extraordinary, but it's also the first answer for most people planning an Italian wedding. Como has a different quality — more intimate, more vertical, the water always present. Villa D'Este specifically sits at a level of historic grandeur that very few venues anywhere in the world can match. It is not a backdrop. It is a collaborator.

Reception

The reception opened with a first dance to Find Someone Like You by Snoh Aalegra. It's a song about recognition more than declaration — about looking at someone and knowing. It suited them.

The evening ran the way good wedding receptions do when the planning has been thorough: it felt effortless from the inside, even though the people responsible for it had been working toward this weekend for months. That team was led by Alena, Kristina, and Anastasia from ILES Events. "They were some of the kindest and most wonderful people we could have asked to work with," Madison says. "They brought our entire wedding weekend to life in ways we never could have imagined. Everything felt seamless from start to finish, and they were there cheering us on every step of the way."

"Our friends and family couldn't stop talking about how wonderful the entire team of planners and vendors were." Managing a 125-person weekend across three venues in a foreign country, with a vendor team spanning multiple disciplines, while making it feel relaxed and personal is a serious undertaking. The fact that guests noticed — and commented — says everything.

Then the fireworks over the lake — Franco Pozzi Brightlight — and that particular quiet that comes after something genuinely good, when everyone stands outside for a moment before heading back in, not quite ready to let it end.

After the display, Madison changed outfits — Roman captured that moment — and then the night handed itself over to something smaller and more private. A boat left from Villa D'Este and took them out onto the lake: their closest friends, dancing, drinking, eating, the water dark around them, and the lights of the shore receding. They stayed out until around 2 a.m.

The reason was practical, and it became something better than practical. Villa D'Este has noise restrictions after midnight — a reasonable rule that would have ended the evening just as it was finding its second wind. "Our guests had traveled so far to join us for the wedding," Madison says, "and we didn't want the night to end at midnight." The boat solved the problem and created a memory. The content creator took over from there; what happened on the water belongs to the people who were on it. The following morning, everyone gathered again at Terrazza Olmo for a farewell brunch.