Our first International Inspiration feature, and I am just oh so excited to share it with you!
I actually have no words to describe the magic of this wedding day.
And when you scroll through these pictures and hear the love story of Paola and Enrique, you too will become absolutely besotted and like me, be looking for flights to Italy
(for as soon as the world goes back to “normal” of course)
Paola and Enrique met in Mexico and got married in Alberobello, Italy.
They said their I do’s in a quaint little church that was once a Monk’s community, had a procession in the streets after the ceremony, and sung ‘Volare’ with their guests at the reception… and also, let’s not forget the fact that the party only stopped at 6:30 AM!
This wedding will really pull at not only your heartstrings, but it will also set your wanderlust to an all-time high too!
So, without further swooning from me, let’s hand it over to Paola and Enrique.
Images by Vins Massaro
Hey guys, please introduce yourselves to the Hooray readers.
Hey! We are Paola Amoruso & Enrique Sotomayor.
Enrique and I met in Mexico City where we used to live. We both lived there for 7 years and we met after around 3 years of both living in the country.
We met in a bar, at a friend’s birthday. I was with my girlfriends and he was with his friends. We all started chatting and it was clear we liked each other from the first moment we talked.
Hooray: Can you tell us more about your proposal?
Paola: Enrique organised a trip to Lanzarote in the Canary Islands as a present for my birthday. He also organised many little surprises for our 3-day-long weekend. On one of the days, he organised a trip to La Graciosa, a deserted small island next to Lanzarote, where we rented some bikes and explored the whole island. We went through the deserted islands, full of inactive volcanos and great beaches. We finally arrived at an amazing beach with a clear blue ocean and an inactive volcano next to it. He asked me to hike with him to the top of the volcano… and as soon as we arrived up there, overlooking the whole beach and the island… he got on one knee and asked me to marry him! And as they say, “the rest is history”.
Hooray: Tell me more about where you got married.
Paola: We got married in Alberobello, which is a UNESCO site in Puglia (the heel of Italy) thanks to it’s unique Trulli houses. We got married there as I am from Bari, Puglia and I have always dreamt about getting married in the Trulli’s area
Hooray: The Church is so quaint, & looks quite old, can you tell me the history behind it?
Paola: The church of Santa Maria di Barsento is a very old little church, built in the XI century on a hill in the Valle D’Itria area of Puglia. In the Middle Ages, this church was a Monk’s community.
Hooray: Tell us about your bridesmaids and groomsmen?
P + E: We picked our 10 top friends and we gave them the special role to be with us during our preparation before going to church, while we needed to relax as much as possible and laugh! They did a great job. The best part was to actually experience the preparation with them and have that particular moment for us, forever. The worst part was: 1) to ensure we had the same number of bridesmaids/groomsmen 2) That my bridesmaids all had a different nice dress colour in order for our pictures to look great. We achieved that!
Hooray: I love that the bridesmaids are all wearing different dresses, did they each buy their own?
Paola: Yes they did. I had asked them to go for a long dress if possible and each of them should have had a different colour. They did a fantastic job! 
Hooray: What was the one non-negotiable at your wedding?
P + E: Having a whole-night-long wedding, with no time limits.
We know ourselves and we know our friends very well: we all wanted to party until the very end, without time limits. And this is exactly how our wedding was: a super fun party where we could all enjoy being together until it all wrapped up at 6.30 am!
Hooray: After your ceremony, there was an amazing procession through the streets. Please tell me more about this.
P + E: We wanted to have a special moment when we got out of the church, so we asked our band to play some swing music and take us all dancing to a big terrasse that was next to the church where we surprised our guests with some drinks and an amazing view on the valley
Hooray: Be honest, how many hours did you spend on Pinterest?
Paola: Many, many hours, looking at ideas for wedding decorations, a Photo Booth corner, wedding dress, hair etc 
Hooray: I love your dress, was this designed or store-bought?
Paola: It was from Le Spose di Gio and I bought it in their store.
Hooray: What role did your parents play in your wedding? Did they contribute financially?
Paola: My parents played a big role: my father was in someway the wedding planner as he knows many places and people in Alberobello (where the wedding happened) and he could actually suggest the church, the place where we had the party and the hotel where we all stayed for the weekend. My mother was the organizational mind: as I live abroad, she helped us by talking to all the suppliers and ensuring everything was in place for our big day.
Hooray: The one thing you would change about your wedding if you could travel back in time
Paola: I would ensure I take some pictures with family and best friends once we arrived at the Masseria. We were just too happy with the celebrations, we literally forgot to take some pics posing for my photographer. Thankfully we have some reportage-style ones that are really beautiful!
Hooray: How did you choose your photographer
Paola: It is a nice story: I was looking for a creative photographer rather than a standard wedding photographer and by googling it I found Vincenzo Massaro. We had a call and from the first chat we had, I knew he was the one! He understood what we were looking for but he was also there to reassure us that everything would be done as we expected. Vins and his team went way beyond our expectations!
Hooray: The biggest hurdle you faced planning your wedding?
Paola: Finding the right dress and the right photographer! My suggestion: start early on both things as both are key and very “personal” in some way so they take time to find the right one.
Hooray: It looks like your reception was the biggest party, tell me more about it.
P + E: Indeed! We are very lucky as we have lots of international friends as we have lived abroad for many years. Our guests were a mix of nationalities and in particular, there were lots of Spanish, Italians and Mexican friends. The mix of these cultures is amazing as we all love to party a lot We celebrated from the first moment outside of the church and also as soon as we arrived at the reception. We sang, we danced and we honoured some cool traditions from the 3 different cultures: from the cake moment which is very Italian, to the Seville flamenco dance where my husband’s family and friends from Spain danced all together, to the “Tequila train” which is typical of Mexican weddings We had it all!
Hooray: And finally, what was the best moment of your wedding day?
Paola: There are too many to choose one… If I could choose two, one would be when my sister-in-law sang for us in the church and all our friends sang in chorus with her. The second one would be when we gave the speech during dinner and a normal wedding speech became a karaoke in which my husband and I sang “Volare” for all our friends while they were singing and dancing.
Hooray: And finally, were you able to go on your honeymoon? If yes, where did you go?
P + E: Yes! We have lived abroad for many years and we both had a big dream: to do a road trip of Italy for a whole month, without any limits and going to the best places possible. And that’s what we chose for our honeymoon which was fantastic! We went from North to South of Italy for 30 days, discovering amazing places we both didn’t know, eating superb food and drinking the best wine ever!
See, I told you. Pure and utter magic!
Now don’t mind me as I hop onto google and plan my next adventure in Italy!
Paola and Enrique, thank you so much for allowing us to share your love story today.
Wishing you many more years filled with all-night parties, impromptu karaoke and tequila trains!
MAGIC MAKERS
Photographer: Vins Massaro Photographer
Bride’s dress: Le Spose di Giò
Groom’ Suit: Scalpers
Pre-Wedding Venue: Il Gabellota Resort
Wedding venue: Masseria Mangiato
Videomaker: Fabula Film
Hairdresser: Gianfranco Bari
Live Music: Lello & Olive Oil band
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