Sassy Bride Alexandra Ambrocio On Her Dreamy Lake Como Wedding

Alex brings her Pinterest wedding board to life with a dreamy venue at Lake Como and her dream dress…

Straight out of her Pinterest wedding board, Sassy Partnerships Manager Alex makes her dream wedding a reality. From her gorgeous venue at Lake Como to a serendipitous opportunity to try on the dress she’s been eying, she shares how everything fell into place for her Italian destination wedding. Most memorable of all, however, was the quality time spent with her partner Calvin (like picking out her engagement ring together), and the joy of celebrating with their loved ones from around the world.

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How did you and your husband meet?

We went to the same high school, but weren’t that close until one sports day. We were hanging out with mutual friends, cheering on one another, and I think discovering our shared sense of very questionable humour was the spark that started it all. 11 years later, and here we are.

Every bride has a proposal story. What’s yours?

We’ve had the marriage talk, which made sense given how long we’ve been together, so I knew it was difficult for Calvin to surprise me. He popped the question during the pandemic, on our first trip post-lockdown. We were going to Thailand and it turned out our friends were making bets on whether or not he would propose on the trip (the majority were betting he would).

Of course, they were right. Calvin went down on one knee in Phuket. Once I saw the poolside dinner set-up with flowers under a canopy, I knew it was coming. What really was the most surprising thing was that he managed to hide a large photo album behind his back (inside his shirt!) that was filled with pictures of us throughout the years, along with small notes of memories we shared. Stuck on the last page was one last note asking me to marry him, and in my blubbering state, I obviously said yes.

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Tell us about the ring. Was it a surprise or did you pick it out together?

We picked out the ring together, which I think is the best way to do it. That way, I’m 100% guaranteed to love it and it also took the pressure off Calvin.

I went in with a very clear idea of what I thought I liked. I suspected I was either a round or princess-cut girl, but after trying several rings on, I ended up picking an oval-cut ring with a setting neither of us even knew existed! It was really fun to go through that process together and we came out with a better understanding of what we wanted for our wedding bands as well.

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What did you do for your hen party?

In the beginning, I wasn’t sure if a bachelorette was possible just because a lot of my friends were living in different areas across the world. However, I am super thankful to have an amazing group of friends that made time during the holiday season to plan and organise a trip to Boracay, Philippines.

The funny thing is I was the only person that’s actually ever been there so while they did ask for advice, I truly loved all of the activities, dinners and games that they planned from massages, beach days and dinners. One of the most memorable moments was definitely going on a sailing paraw boat and laughing hysterically when one of us would get dunked in the water.

What was your favourite thing about your wedding dress?

My wedding dress was one I had pinned on Pinterest for a while but never thought I would be able to try on because it wasn’t available in Hong Kong. But the stars had aligned when I was visiting New York for another friend’s wedding. There was a trunk show happening for this designer at the same time and luckily one of my bridesmaids was able to come with me to try it on and see if it lived up to the fantasy I had in my head.

My favourite thing about the dress is how it mixes modern and traditional elements – I love how the cut and pattern was modern, yet it also reminded me of traditional Filipino lace that I really wanted to incorporate.

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Let’s talk about your gorgeous venue. What made you pick Lake Como in Italy?

Honestly, never in my wildest dreams did I ever think we would get married at Lake Como. It was also one of the places that I had pinned on a Pinterest board as a dream wedding venue. Calvin and I knew that we didn’t want to have a wedding in Hong Kong, especially after feeling quite cooped up during Covid. We also realised that since so many friends and family would be flying in from different countries, it would be a destination wedding for most of them anyway.

Ideally, we wanted a place that overlooked water, had a big enough venue to house the majority of our guests and, of course, gorgeous architecture that needed minimal decor. But on top of that, we wanted to pick a destination that our families and friends would be happy to tour around before and after our wedding since they would be making the trek over!

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What was the most challenging part about planning a destination wedding?

Definitely the time difference and the language barrier since both Calvin and I live in Hong Kong and don’t speak Italian. We were very fortunate to have a great wedding planner based in Italy (shoutout to Annie from WeddingBox Lake Como!) that helped coordinate all of the vendors and everything we needed.

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Can you share the most memorable moment of your wedding?

I have two if that’s okay – the first one is the private first look with Calvin. As a man of few emotions, it was very touching to see him tear up during our first look and that’s when it really hit me that it was really happening.

The second was definitely watching our guests react to their place cards. I love giving gifts so we had customised place cards with all of their faces on it (it took some questionable stalking methods to get close-ups of our friends) and wrote thank you letters at the back of each card as a token of appreciation. Seeing the people that we love react (hopefully) happily to their faces and letters is a core memory I will cherish forever.

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Is there anything you wish you had done differently?

Spent more time in Como and our wedding venue after the wedding! Since our honeymoon was right after the wedding, we were in a rush the next morning to check out and leave Como to head to Florence. Coupled with the amount of alcohol we had the previous night and our lack of sleep, it was a miracle we both made it to our train in time. In hindsight, I would’ve loved to stay an extra night to unwind and reflect on the day before!

How did you spend your honeymoon?

Calvin and I had our honeymoon immediately after the wedding since we were already overseas – it just made sense to keep the adventure going. After leaving Como, we spent some time in Florence. Nothing tops fresh pasta and gelato. We then headed to Barcelona, which happened to be Calvin’s first time in Spain. We landed in Barcelona on Sant Jordi (Saint George’s Day), a beautiful and serendipitous experience. The timing was perfect because the day is all about love and books, creating a truly romantic and meaningful atmosphere to kick off our married life

Any advice for future brides-to-be?

Find a time for the two of you to be alone during the wedding day – the day will pass quickly and you’ll be surrounded by so many people so it’s important to have time to yourselves so you can truly enjoy each other’s company and your time as newlyweds! Also, prepare for unexpected weather especially during spring/autumn times (transitional seasons) – Calvin and I had arrived in Como days before during a heat wave, but on our wedding day it had dropped more than 10 degrees and people were in coats by the end of the night!

Read More: Your Ultimate Hong Kong Wedding Planning Guide

Venue: Villa Cipressi, Varenna
Wedding dress: Anne Barge (ceremony), Micah Lacap (reception)
Makeup artist: Samantha Pretto
Florals & Decor: Riccardo Ciceri
Wedding photographer: Alberto & Alessandra