Our special day is almost here and planning it has been quite an adventure. We are so happy to share our wedding day with all our friends and family. The Little Italy neighborhood has carved a special spot in our hearts. Our Italian culture means so much to us, and because of this, we knew we had to get married at Holy Rosary Church. The church itself is both historical and beautiful inside and out. Tony and I have been attending mass there for years so it seemed like the perfect fit for us.

Tony has lived in Little Italy for over 2 years and never wants to leave. We got engaged at Etna, one of our favorite restaurants! Since we both come from big Italian families we needed to find a large space to host our wedding. We visited many spots in Cleveland but, after walking into the Hilton Cleveland Downtown Hotel, which overlooks First Energy Stadium (Go Browns!) and the stunning Lake Erie, we knew we had our venue. We loved all of the cool Cleveland touches like the local artwork and the carpeting that was custom made to resemble a map of Cleveland.

While planning our wedding, we decided that we wanted to make this special event not only fun but infused with our Italian culture. Tony and I both love Dean Martin music, so our first dance will be his well-known ballad “Kiss.” And then there is the food. As everyone knows, food is a huge part of our culture and daily lives. Being from a family in the food business, you know there will be a ton of food.  I am tempted to tell our guests not to eat at least a week before our wedding! (I’m not even kidding!) There will be antipasto, cheese (of course), seafood, pasta, and Italian cookies – and that’s just a small portion of what we will be serving. For dessert, we will be serving Corbo’s cassata cake and cannoli too. It will be a meal fit for an Italian Emperor!

Although at times planning a wedding can be very stressful, we are so excited and cannot wait for the day to come. La vita è un sogno!