This Dior Publicist Held A Fairytale Wedding At Ancient Convent In The Italian Lakes
Beatrice (née Ferrari) and Jacob Bearman’s love story is as contemporary as they come: the pair first crossed paths on an app in the depths of the first lockdown. “We weren’t even in the same place!,” Beatrice says, with a laugh. “It was around May 2020 – I was back home in northern Italy, and he was in the Cotswolds.” That summer, however, she returned to London, where she works in Dior’s press office. Seizing the opportunity to finally bring their exchange offline brought about by lifted restrictions – a move, given how fleeting this interlude proved to be in hindsight – the pair met for a date in Soho after months of virtual exchange.
Having become constants in one another’s lives amid the tides of a topsy-turvy world through their screens, meeting in the flesh was “both exciting and slightly surreal,” Beatrice continues. “I guess there was this feeling of, ‘Oh, I hope that this connection that I’m feeling already will be translated in person…’ But as soon as we met, it was clear that the connection we had built from a distance felt just as natural face to face.”
So natural was the progression from there that the couple almost forgot to make things official. “I always joke that he never asked me to be his girlfriend,” Beatrice laughs. It took about a year of dating before Jacob, who works in commercial real estate, broached the subject. “He was like, ‘Wait, are you my girlfriend?’ And I was like, ‘Well, you never asked me!’ But I think that speaks to the beauty of how everything progressed between us. It all happened very naturally.”
Four years later, though, came a moment that required a little more planning – on Jacob’s part, at least. “We decided to take a pretty spontaneous trip to New York just before Christmas,” Beatrice says. “I’d never actually been, and it felt like the perfect time to go and see it for the first time.” While an impromptu trip to see the twinkling lights of the Big Apple at the most wonderful time of the year may have conjured the sound of wedding bells for some, Beatrice professes that she remained none the wiser to Jacob’s plans. “Before we left, one of my best friends was saying that he’s obviously going to propose, to which my response was, ‘Absolutely not?!’ I didn’t even get my nails done!”
No sooner had the couple landed than Jacob made an insistent beeline for Central Park. “He was obviously really keen to take me there first thing, and was quite nervous, bless him,” Beatrice says, with a smile. Once they had reached “a quiet, private” corner of the park, he handed her “this beautiful photo album, filled with pictures from our key moments throughout the years. I was so engrossed in the pictures, crying over them, that I didn’t even clock that the last one was of the box of a ring!” When she looked up, Jacob was on one knee, holding that same box open to reveal a diamond band. “After months and years of sharing our lives together, it was incredibly special to have that moment be just the two of us, in such a beautiful and unexpected setting,” she says. “I still have the exact spot where we got engaged pinned on my map – a beautiful reminder of the place where one chapter ended and another began.”
The start of that next chapter “was actually a bit overwhelming,” Beatrice says – less the prospect of married life than the logistics of getting there. The couple had decided early on to marry in her native Italy, in the lake-peppered region around her hometown of Bergamo. Finding a venue in the Italian Lakes, however, with its bounty of truly resplendent options, posed something of a Goldilocks conundrum. With a party of around 85 guests, many travelling from the UK for the occasion, the couple wanted to ensure that their nearest and dearest “could simply relax and enjoy the special moment with us; that their time in Italy would feel special, from the wedding itself to everything surrounding it.”
After touring a number of poky castles and sprawling villas, Jacob discovered the Convento dell’Annunciata, a 15th-century convent nestled in the forested hills near Lake Garda. The couple visited at the height of spring, with its dappled woodlands and manicured gardens coming into full bloom. “From the moment we saw it, there was something about it that stayed with us,” Beatrice says. “We visited several other places while searching for the perfect location, but no matter how many we saw, we kept finding ourselves drawn back to the convent. There was something incredibly special about it.” Neither too big nor too small, too grand nor too modest, it was right.
With the help of local wedding planners Lalla Crippa and Giada Botti who “knew the area and the venue incredibly well, having worked there on several occasions”, the couple set about planning their special day in the convent’s flower-filled grounds. “We really let the setting of the convent and its beautiful grounds guide us,” Beatrice says. “That’s how we settled on burgundy, browns and warm terracottas, which really complemented the outdoor areas. We wanted everything to feel natural, and ultimately enhance its character. Every element was carefully considered to complement the architecture, the flowers and the existing surroundings, creating an atmosphere that felt elegant but effortless.”
Just over a year after discovering the venue, Beatrice and Jacob’s big day came to blossom amid its blooms. Rain the previous day meant moving the ceremony from the forest glade they had originally chosen, but otherwise, proceedings unfolded with fairytale ease. That can’t quite be said, however, of Beatrice’s pursuit of the perfect dress. “It was a bit of a journey,” Beatrice adds – though this was perhaps to be a given, given her professional fashion pedigree.
Keen to involve her mother and close friends in Italy, Beatrice began her search there. “At the beginning, it was difficult to know exactly what I was looking for, as there were so many different styles that I loved. And at that stage, the overall mood and feel of the wedding hadn’t quite taken shape yet. However, as things progressed, I realised that the predominant styles available weren’t really aligned with what I was looking for,” she explains, noting her preference for a minimalist, vertical line and a faintly corseted structure. “There were some truly beautiful dresses in Italy, but most that I found were quite heavily decorated or embellished.”
After extensive efforts, and feeling a little forlorn for the lack of fruition, it was on an evening’s scroll that she happened upon The One. “I came across a photograph online of a dress by The Own Studio, and immediately fell in love with it,” she says. A visit to the brand’s London studio with two of her bridesmaids confirmed her instincts. Slipping into the sleek, A-line dress, “I just had such a strong emotional connection that didn’t compare to any other I tried. It just felt so right.”
With the dress settled on, the rest of Beatrice’s look naturally assembled. For the shoes, she “wanted to do something a little different and bring in the colours we had chosen for the wedding”, opting for an “elegant yet slightly unexpected pair” of chocolate satin Amina Muaddi pumps. For the jewellery, meanwhile, the bride leant into simplicity and meaning, choosing to wear her mother’s delicate leaf-shaped gold earrings, and a pearl bracelet with a cameo-bearing pearl bracelet that belonged to her late grandmother. “Since she sadly couldn’t be there to celebrate with us, wearing something that had been hers made me feel as though she was there with me in some small way,” Beatrice says.
There was a personal touch to Beatrice’s beauty look, too. “One of my closest friends, Sabrine Salem, did my makeup on the morning of the wedding,” she says. “She knows me so well and understood from the beginning that I wanted something simple and natural, and knew exactly how to make me feel like myself, while ensuring I still felt incredible. She was also one of my bridesmaids, so having her there with me during those precious moments before the ceremony was incredibly special.” For the hair, Beatrice worked with Thomas Nastro, who fashioned a sophisticated yet simple chignon, with the objective of ensuring the bride’s comfort throughout the day.
Jacob, for his part, “had a very clear idea of what he wanted from the start,” Beatrice says, “which made his choices feel rather effortless”. He chose a double-breasted suit in black worsted wool, paired with a burgundy striped silk jacquard tie.
Now dressed for the altar, Beatrice took to the aisle in the convent’s gardens, accompanied by her father and uncle. “The experience felt almost unreal,” she says. “Walking towards Jacob and seeing him waiting for me, with all the people we love gathered there to celebrate with us, was an incredibly emotional moment. After so much time planning and imagining what the day would feel like, suddenly being there, surrounded by everyone who mattered most to us, was quite overwhelming in the most wonderful way.”
With vows exchanged, it was then onto a fittingly Italian aperitivo soundtracked by Bombetta Swing in the convent’s courtyard, transformed with plush couches, sofas and Riviera-style umbrellas – all chosen to complement the warm burgundy and brown tones of the wedding’s palette, of course. “It was the perfect setting to enjoy a long Italian afternoon aperitivo with our guests,” Beatrice says. “The late-summer light, beautiful flowers and relaxed atmosphere made it feel incredibly special, and it was lovely to have time to celebrate the moment all together.”
Dinner was served at tables named after places that had shaped the couple’s relationship, from Central Park and the Cotswolds to Kashmir. Afterwards, the newlyweds cut their cake – a gigantic summer berry tart – and took their first dance to Sam Cooke’s “Nothing Can Change This Love”, before their guests joined them on the dancefloor. “We wanted the evening to feel joyful, relaxed and full of energy, and that is exactly how it unfolded,” Beatrice says, still beaming. “We danced, laughed and had so much fun with everyone – it really was the perfect ending to the day, carrying this beautiful celebration well into the night!”
Looking back, Beatrice admits to “a strange feeling knowing that so much anticipation has now come to an end, after a year and a half of thinking about the day, making decisions and looking forward to it”. Any wistfulness comes from “knowing that we won’t experience that exact day again”, she says. “More than anything, though, we feel incredibly grateful. It was everything we had hoped for: beautiful, emotional, joyful and filled with the people we love most.”
