Linda, a civil servant from Co Longford, was celebrating a friend’s birthday in Café en Seine one night in April 2012 when she met financial analyst Andrea, who moved to Dublin from Milan in 2005.
On their first date they chatted so much that they were the last ones to leave the restaurant. Over Christmas 2013, the couple got engaged.
The previous summer they had both visited Stresa on Lake Maggiore for the first time. "Once we started to imagine our dream day we were in two minds between Ireland and Italy, " said Linda, "but Stresa was always our number one place and nowhere really came close."
On September 3rd 2015, Linda and Andrea were married in a church overlooking the lake. “All morning I’d felt calm, cool and collected getting ready but all the emotion and sheer happiness came over me the moment I stepped out of the car,” says Linda. “Walking up the aisle and seeing Andrea was like a dream sequence. He looked so beautiful.”
Before their reception in the Grand Hotel Isle Borromées, the newlyweds travelled by boat to Isola Bella for photographs. “This was a magical time for us,” they say.
Linda’s two sisters, Paula and Maeve, were bridesmaids along with Andrea’s sister, Emanuela. Andrea’s best man was childhood friend Gabrielle and the groomsmen were “the two Marcos” – the groom’s cousin and his friend.
The couple's first dance was to Van Morrison's Someone like you and they honeymooned in Mexico, Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon.
