Adriana Bath Naslausky and Manuel Vanni, owners of bespoke fashion brand Le Diplomate, met through a mutual friend in New York City, who Manuel was roommates with at the time. Their first encounter was in the Lower East Side on a snowy weekday night. “It was too late and too cold to do anything, so a group of us went to Pravda—a landmark, downtown NYC vodka bar—and enjoyed a midnight vodka tasting until late,” Adriana remembers.
After hitting it off and being inseparable for the following five years, he proposed, and they began planning a five-day wedding celebration in Tuscany. Since Manuel was born and raised in Florence, he wanted to share his native area with friends traveling from New York, London, Paris, Copenhagen, and other Italian cities—and he also planned the entire itinerary himself.
“We decided to take over an 18th-century estate in the hills between the center of the city and Chianti, called Torre a Cona,” Adriana explains. Manuel actually used to drive past the villa—before it was a hotel—on his motorbike, and after the owners decided to embrace the hospitality and wine production businesses, he jumped on the opportunity to get married there—him and Adriana were serendipitously one of the first couples to get married on the property.
The two locked in their wedding date for June 19, 2021—a year after their intimate civil ceremony in Connecticut—but they had to move it to August 28 because of further travel restrictions between Europe and the U.S.
On the Wednesday evening before the ceremony, Adriana and Manuel hosted a white party for their fewer than 100 guests, who were also all staying at the hotel with the couple. Later on, the al-fresco, plated dinner was served on two long tables, while Casablanca was projected onto a vine-covered wall.
The next day, the group—decked out in black-tie—headed to Florence for an aperitivo at The St. Regis. There, Adriana had the pleasure of sabering a fantastic bottle of champagne, as everyone applauded. Then, the group walked to Trattoria Cammillo for a fantastic, multi-course Florentine meal, followed by drinks and dancing at Locale Firenze—formerly a part of the Medici’s palace.
On Friday, guests were shuttled to Poggio Torselli in Chianti for more wine. The private estate’s garden dates back to 1722, and its magnificence still remains to this day. After wandering amongst the lemon trees in awed silence, everyone was moved again to La Cantinetta di Rignana to taste an incredible selection of huge Florentine steaks.
Saturday’s ceremony dress-code called for white tie—and while the women looked beautiful, the men’s attire recalled the elegance of the past. The New York-born bride found her Vera Wang dress only two weekends before her wedding date. She appropriately chose The Florencia, a cowl-necked slip dress that recalled Carolyn Bessette Kennedy’s bridal look. Blanca, an incredible seamstress, perfectly fit the design to Adriana’s frame and handmade a cathedral veil in 24 hours.
Adriana got ready with her bridesmaids and hairstylist and makeup artist Barbara Corso. And to complete the ensemble, the bride picked up a pair of vintage, long white gloves from the ‘40s and Manolo Blahnik shoes.
The groom wore a bespoke, handmade white-tie tailcoat from his and Adriana’s label, a white shirt with custom buttons, and Arthur Sleep shoes.
The beautiful bride made her entrance to the romantic outdoor space in an Italian Ape Calessino, and as she stepped onto a long white carpet leading to an 18th-century facade decorated with florals by Simone Bertini, violins played a modern, romantic tune for her walk down the aisle. “When she arrived and made those few steps to reach the altar, I literally could have stood in front of her for the rest of my life just observing her,” Manuel says. “It was to be on a cloud only me and her with no one else around.”
The ceremony was completely in Italian, which was a surprise to some of the English-speaking guests—and the bride—but was such a delight to witness and only added to the romance of the day. After sharing their first kiss, the newlyweds took a moment to themselves and shot a few portraits, while guests moved to the Giardino della Voliera for the aperitivo with beef tartare made before everyone’s eyes.
For dinner, Adriana and Manuel only wanted one restaurant to cater their reception—Harry’s Bar. Their friend Roberto Focardi happens to be the general manager of the iconic eatery in Florence, and they served an incredible meal of risotto, baked taglierini, and hand-sliced chateaubriand, paired with the perfect wines.
Afterward, the newlyweds cut their millefeuille back in the garden, where the aperitivo took place, and then they took to the dance floor for their first dance to “La Vie en Rose,” performed by the couple’s friend and Italian singer Rose Villain on vocals, Des Rocks drummer William Tully on a makeshift box drum, and François Marie Tournadour on guitar.
Under the Italian night sky, the energy picked up with DJ Remo, who played an amazing and upbeat set, filled with Italian remixes, until around 2:00 a.m. The night formally ended with Harry’s Bar’s spaghetti flambé alla Sergio, paired with more champagne—if that isn’t la dolce vita, nothing is.
