Some couples stay with you long after their wedding is finished, and Evan and Kirsty are definitely two of those people.
I arrived in Tuscany two days before their wedding, which gave me a day to settle in, relax and actually appreciate where I'd ended up before everything started.
And what a place to end up.
Agriturismo San Galgano sits in the Tuscan countryside near Chiusdino, surrounded by fields, meadows and woodland, with the incredible Abbey of San Galgano close by. The estate describes around 500 hectares of land surrounding the property, and you really do feel completely immersed in the countryside when you're there.
I'd travelled out there to film a wedding.
I came home having made friends.
Kirsty and Evan made me feel welcome from the moment I arrived, and we've actually stayed in touch ever since. We've tried a few times to arrange going out for some food together back in the UK, but our diaries have never quite lined up.
We'll get there eventually. 😂
The night before the wedding was when everything really started.
Kirsty and Evan had organised a proper Italian welcome party outside beneath the stars.
You could hear the crickets and birds around us, there was a singer performing, drinks were flowing and before long everyone was up dancing.
It was magical.
And from a filmmaking perspective, having that evening included gave me so much more to work with.
Rather than their wedding film simply beginning on wedding morning, I could establish where we were, introduce the people and atmosphere and show everyone arriving in Tuscany ready for this incredible weekend together.
Those extra pieces of a destination wedding are often what turn a film from a record of one day into the story of the whole experience.
The following morning couldn't have been much more relaxed.
Kirsty and her bridal party were getting ready in a room with loads of natural light, which is pretty much music to my ears as a filmmaker.
It gave us beautiful soft light for the morning and allowed me to create some incredible bridal portraits without having to manufacture anything.
Evan and the boys were downstairs.
Their room was considerably smaller, so rather than trying to squeeze everyone and the cameras inside, we took them outdoors to finish getting ready.
Best decision we could have made.
The light outside was fantastic, everyone looked incredibly smart in their tuxedos and we had loads more space to work with.
Evan had also bought all of his groomsmen lordship titles as gifts.
I'd never seen anyone do that before.
I posted a TikTok about it afterwards which went pretty viral — and now I seem to see people doing it everywhere. 😂
I'm claiming absolutely no responsibility.
This was the moment where the location really came into its own.
The ceremony was beautifully arranged on the lawn with San Galgano Abbey in the background.
It's an extraordinary backdrop.
The estate sits just a short distance from the historic abbey and specifically promotes its surrounding indoor and outdoor spaces for wedding celebrations.
We had a bit of wind to contend with during the ceremony, but that's destination weddings for you.
It didn't stop anything.
And visually, having that huge historic structure sitting beyond everyone while Kirsty and Evan got married made the whole ceremony feel unmistakably Tuscan.
You couldn't really mistake this wedding for being anywhere else.
After the ceremony everyone moved onto another lawn for the drinks reception.
And the energy immediately went up.
There was a DJ and sax player, loads of Italian buffet food, drinks flowing and everyone properly settling into the celebration.
Nobody seemed particularly interested in rushing anywhere.
That's one of the things I love about destination weddings.
When everybody has travelled abroad specifically to be there, the wedding can feel like much more than a single day's event. People have already spent time together the night before, they're staying nearby and there's this feeling that everyone is completely invested in the experience.
Kirsty and Evan's drinks reception went on for a good while.
And nobody was complaining.
Eventually we moved back into the courtyard for dinner.
This was where the day changed gear again.
The speeches were incredibly heartfelt and emotional.
You could genuinely see how much these two loved each other, and how much the people around them loved them too.
For me, that's gold.
The visuals of Tuscany might make a wedding film beautiful, but it's the voices, relationships and emotion that actually give me a story.
Those speeches gave me exactly that.
Towards the end of dinner an Italian band began performing Italian songs and gradually got everyone involved again.
So the emotional part didn't stay emotional for particularly long.
The party was starting.
Kirsty and Evan had their first dance outside in the same courtyard where everyone had eaten dinner.
I put the drone up for it.
And I'm very glad I did.
Seeing the courtyard, the guests surrounding them and the Tuscan setting from above added something completely different to the sequence in their film.
It gave a sense of scale that you simply can't achieve from the ground.
Once the first dance finished, everyone moved inside.
And that was pretty much the end of any remaining restraint.
The music was brilliant.
Everyone was dancing.
The vibes were very high.
And by this point, quite a few of the guests were very drunk.
Exactly what you want. 😂
It was brilliant.
This wedding had pretty much everything I love about destination filmmaking.
A couple I genuinely connected with.
An incredible location.
A full welcome evening.
Beautiful light.
Emotional speeches.
Ridiculous scenery.
And a group of people who absolutely knew how to party.
Agriturismo San Galgano remains one of those venues I'd happily get back on a plane tomorrow to film again.
If you're planning your own celebration in Tuscany or elsewhere in Italy, you can find out more about my approach as an Italy wedding videographer.
Or explore more of my destination wedding films throughout Europe.
.svg)
To request my brochure or ask any questions please don’t hesitate to get in touch
Get in touch