A Wedding That Blended Ghanaian and Italian Traditions at a Historic Farmhouse in Puglia

“I am very much a maximizer psychologically and truly wanted to explore as many options as possible when selecting a venue,” Yolande explains. “We started by visiting venues in Newport, Rhode Island; Manhattan; Connecticut; and Massachusetts and had almost settled on a venue when COVID hit. We had to hit pause on everything and put wedding planning on the back burner. We moved into our New York apartment together in May 2020 and hunkered down for the quarantine. In the back of our minds, we still wanted to celebrate our love, but it was not front and center for us at the time.”

Being travel starved in quarantine, the couple would often reminisce about their travels, especially their trips to their favorite country, Italy—one of the first travel destinations they visited as a couple. “One day while scrolling on Instagram, I discovered Puglia, a southern region in Italy, and immediately fell in love with the neutral color palette, rustic-chic aesthetic, lush green vineyards, and vast olive groves,” she says. “We had visited Rome, Florence, and the Amalfi Coast but were drawn to the novelty of Puglia, which for many of our guests who have been to Italy would be their first time visiting.” Next Yolande worked with her sister Claudette to research, evaluate, and rank wedding venues in Puglia. “Ninety-four of them!” Yolande laughs. “I kid you not. You name it, we ranked it.”

Finally, they landed on Masseria Amastuola Wine Resort—an ancient family-owned farmhouse dating back to the 15th century, with centuries-old olive groves and a prolific vineyard, now converted into a luxe boutique hotel. The property had been meticulously restored by the Montanaro family, preserving the old yet incorporating the new. The masseria produces on site its own wines, which were served exclusively at the wedding. Most ingredients for the four-course wedding dinner and pre- and post-wedding meals were also grown organically at the masseria and prepared by the chef on site. Family and friends flew into Italy from Ghana, London, Paris, Côte d’Ivoire, Canada, and the US to celebrate with the couple in early September 2022.

Yolande and Johnny worked with wedding planner Santa Vigante of Italian Boutique Weddings to orchestrate the wedding of their dreams. Neither Yolande nor Johnny spoke Italian or had time to directly liaise with vendors, so they were happy to hand over the reins. “Santa was incredibly creative and had the best ideas and attention to detail, which facilitated putting our personal touches and infusing Italian traditions into aspects of our wedding celebration,” Yolande notes. “She went above and beyond—from procuring Apulian delights like local olive oil, handmade taralli, pasta, and freshly baked handcrafted biscuits for our welcome bags to cutting and assembling 86 velvet ribbon bows for our menu and place cards—Santa did it all.”

Over the years, Yolande would write down the names of bridal designers she loved in the Notes app on her phone, which served as the starting point for her aptly named “never-ending dress hunt.” Atelier Pronovias’s Dickinson dress, a handmade embroidered tulle floral masterpiece, was the first gown she tried on, and she never got over it. “Being the maximizer that I am, I truly exhausted every option before returning to my first love, sans overskirt,” Yolande explains. “I wanted all eyes on the intricacy of the gown and did not want the distraction of the voluminous overskirt.” She paired the dress with crystal-embellished Jimmy Choo strappy sandals and a cathedral-length Vera Wang veil “to introduce a touch of drama.”

Her second look of the night was the Grazia—a minimalist gown with svelte lines and a square décolletage from Wona Bridal, a Ukrainian design house that Yolande describes as “continuing to create beauty in the world, despite the war.” She added a giant bow headpiece by Botias Accessories UK for a touch of whimsy. “At the time, I was very much into elegant long sleeves and statement shoulders,” Yolande explains. Her accessories were selected to enhance but not overshadow each look: pearls and a bit of sparkle—studs, not statement pieces. The bride’s third outfit—for the after-after-party—was a sparkly fringe number by Bronx and Banco that caught the light and glittered with every movement.

The bride’s hair and makeup team, Deborah Lola and Zakiyah Shani, both flew in from London for the welcome dinner and wedding day. “London has a plethora of beauty artists who cater to Black brides, understanding our complexion and how to style our unique hair,” Yolande says. “I shared a mood board of all my clothing and accessories with them and gave them creative license to derive complementary beauty looks. They completely understood the ethos of what I was going for and brought my vision to life with perfectly coiffed tresses and understated glam makeup that made me look like myself on my best day.” Johnny went with a bespoke classic double-breasted tuxedo from Cad & the Dandy, Savile Row tailors in New York, paired with handmade shoes from Belgian Shoes.

Yolande notes that a crucial element of her and Johnny’s relationship is their shared Christian faith, and so they wanted the ceremony to be “spiritual and to truly celebrate the covenant of marriage.” The string quartet, Time2Quartet, learned the sheet music to “Remembrance” by Hillsong Worship at the couple’s request, and both Yolande and Johnny walked down the aisle to it, each accompanied by their parents. “We were so blessed to have our pastor, Apostle Mrs. Lyanne Koffi from the Lord’s Garden Ministries in Ghana, officiate our wedding,” the bride says. “She flew all the way from Ghana to deliver a wonderful and entertaining sermon inclusive of witty finance references and merger puns. She blessed our union and oversaw our communion.”

The couple wrote and recited their own vows. “I was elated and emotional during our ceremony. Johnny, who hardly wears his heart on his sleeve, spoke vows that were deep, vulnerable, expressive, and moving—cue the waterworks from me,” Yolande says. “My vows were admittedly much less impressive—it was a tough act to follow—but it was me: funny, heartfelt, and a little self-deprecating. I had no doubt I had found my partner for life, and I felt deeply loved and at peace.”

After the ceremony, guests made their way to the aperitivo with the backdrop of a beautiful sunset, where hors d’oeuvres from land and sea were served along with Aperol spritzes, prosecco, and Masseria Amastuola wines. Meanwhile, the newlyweds drove to the olive groves and vineyard in a vintage car. There, they had a photo shoot with their photographers, Nastia and Maks. “With the sunlight slowly fading, Johnny and I could take a breath, soak in our emotions, and spend time with each other before returning to our guests,” Yolande says.

The wedding dinner was formal but intimate, with long rectangular tables, white natural flora, a plethora of candles, and black velvet accents. An olfactory element was incorporated, with Jo Malone candles in Pomegranate Noir. The couple curated a playlist of their favorite love songs in English and Twi (a Ghanaian language) to bring the event to life.

Friends gave poignant, witty, and funny speeches that bordered on roasts, eliciting peals of laughter. Dinner was a laid-back four-course meal, including a ricotta, stracciatella, and pistachio ravioli in creamy tomato sauce; veal with datterino-tomato confit, arugula pesto, and a potato rose; and to finish, tiramisu with pistachio sponge cake. Each course was paired with Amastuola’s distinct wines. “Everything was delicious,” Yolande says. “We were stuffed afterwards and looked forward to burning calories on the dance floor.”

Following the dinner, the bride changed into her second look, and the newlyweds made an entrance before their romantic first dance to Sabrina Claudio’s “Frozen.” “We had not practiced a set choreography but certainly improvised a handful of dips and spins,” Yolande says. “I muttered a few times, ‘Yikes—don’t drop me,’ but our guests were none the wiser.”

Ghanaian and Italian traditions were incorporated throughout the evening to surprise and delight guests. There was a firework display set to “A Sky Full of Stars” by Coldplay, a Champagne tower, live food making, and a Ghanaian DJ—DJ Kobe, who flew in from London to play a mix of hip-hop, wedding classics, and Afrobeat—as well as a classic millefoglie Italian wedding cake and a napkin waving.

The after-party went on till 2 a.m., with guests—fueled by late-night panzerotti (an Apulian favorite) and a cocktail bar—letting loose and jamming to Afrobeat. “The party was legendary!” Yolande says. The following day guests recovered poolside at the Masseria with cocktails—spritzes were a crowd pleaser—fresh oven-baked pizza, pucce sandwiches, gelato, and leftover wedding cake. DJ Kobe had the perfect poolside playlist, and everyone danced under the pristine, cerulean blue Apulian sky.