This Jewellery-Designer Bride Created All Her Personal Seems for Her Tuscan Fort Wedding

Christian DiCroce knew he was going to marry jewellery designer Rene Barnes by their third date. The actual property dealer requested Rene to satisfy for the primary time at Bar 167 on October 6, 2022. “I have this mental image I’ll never forget of him walking down the street to meet me for our first date,” says Rene. “I remember thinking how handsome he was as he walked toward me wearing a blue shirt and jeans.” Neither of them needed the night time to finish. The pair continued on to Bin 152 and ended the date with a nightcap on the Blind Tiger. “At the end of the evening, he kissed me, and then asked me what I was doing the following night,” remembers Rene. “It was the best first date I had ever had. I remember going home so excited to see him again.” Adds Christian, “I knew she was everything I had been waiting for.”

Their relationship grew over the following few years, and on May 8, 2025, Christian lastly popped the query. “I wanted it to be in Charleston, where we first met,” he explains. Originally, he deliberate to suggest in Washington Square Park close to their house, however a day-of textual content from the photographer he employed, Anne Rhett, knowledgeable him a marriage was going down within the park and provided an alternate location. “It ended up being even better than the original plan,” says Christian. “If you know Rene, you know she loves places with an old soul. Chalmers Street, with its original 1850s European ship ballast stones and beautiful historic homes, felt like the perfect place to ask her to spend the rest of her life with me.” He acquired down on one knee as they walked alongside the road on the best way to dinner. “I had waited so long for that moment, and it was everything I had imagined,” says Rene. “Afterward, we celebrated at our favorite wine bar before heading home to feed our dog, Booka. When we walked inside, all of our friends and family were there waiting to surprise me. I immediately started crying. It was the perfect ending to one of the happiest days of my life.”

The pair determined to tie the knot precisely one 12 months afterward May 8, 2026, at Castello di Celsa in Italy. Says the bride, “The first time we drove through the gates, I just looked at him, and we both knew this was where we wanted to get married.” Adds the groom, “It just felt like us.” The couple introduced an intimate group of family and friends to witness them alternate vows. “We wanted the weekend to feel like an experience rather than just a wedding, so we planned a few days for everyone to slow down and celebrate together,” says Rene.

The couple describes their marriage ceremony planning expertise as fairly relaxed. “Christian is probably one of the most peaceful people you’ll ever meet, and he brings that same sense of calm to everything he does. I had a very clear vision for the wedding from the beginning, and he never made me second-guess it,” shares the bride. “Instead, he became my sounding board. Some of my favorite memories are just the two of us sitting with a glass of wine at the end of the day, talking through ideas.” The couple additionally introduced on planner Fabiana Vernetti to craft all of the shifting elements of the weekend and companion of their imaginative and prescient. “She had such a calm, positive energy that choosing her felt natural,” Rene says. Working on paper items with Nicole Ferguson of Every Little Something was additionally a standout a part of the planning expertise for the couple. “I shared just a few thoughts about what we envisioned, and she somehow translated them into something even more beautiful than I could have imagined,” says Rene. “She has such a special gift, and I’m so grateful she was part of bringing our wedding to life.”