A Wedding near Bologna | Magda & Luca

A wedding near Bologna, close to home

Magda and Luca’s wedding near Bologna brought us back to a country we love. Italy has been part of our wedding photography for many years, with celebrations in different regions and very different settings. Meeting Magda, known to her friends as Żmija, and Luca became another memorable chapter in that story. This report from our archive was first shared in 2023.

For their wedding near Bologna, Magda and Luca stayed close to home. The celebration took place not far from where they live. We did not have enough time to explore Bologna properly, but its mix of history, culture and food left us wanting to return. The city was more than a backdrop: it was part of the couple’s everyday life.

We began the weekend with a visit to the market. Magda seemed to know every stallholder, stopping to talk, laugh and exchange greetings. We photographed two traders who had worked there for decades, recreating an old portrait hanging on the shop wall. They were wedding guests too. That encounter says a great deal about the connections surrounding this celebration.

We also filmed during our walk around Bologna. You can see glimpses of the city in the opening of our film about photographing with the Fujifilm GFX system. It is a small record of the atmosphere we encountered before the wedding itself.

Photographing weddings in Italy

Our Italian wedding stories include a ceremony at Villa del Balbianello on Lake Como and Julia and Manuel’s celebration near Verona. Those archive pages are currently in Polish. Each celebration has its own pace and personality, and Italy remains one of our favourite places to photograph people coming together.

Every wedding has unexpected moments. At this wedding near Bologna, those moments grew out of the couple’s openness and the people around them. We could respond to what was happening instead of asking anyone to repeat a gesture or manufacture a reaction.

Some weddings invite a quieter, more editorial approach; others are full of food, dancing and conversation. The region and setting matter, but the people give a celebration its character. Our job is to notice that character and bring it into the photographs.

For us, the pleasure of an Italian wedding is often in having time to enjoy it. A conversation with a friend, a shared meal, a laugh during the ceremony: these are part of the story, rather than pauses between the supposedly important photographs. Magda and Luca gave us plenty of those moments.

Magda and Luca’s wedding near Bologna

The day began quietly. Michał spent several hours with Luca in Bologna, visiting the barber and tailor and enjoying an unhurried start. Magda’s preparations were relaxed too. Nothing in those early hours quite prepared us for the energy that followed.

From the ceremony onwards, there was more happening than we could have planned. Expressions, gestures of support and small exchanges carried meanings that the couple and their friends would recognise immediately. Later came the dance floor and costumes during dinner recalling Luca’s younger years. Magda’s energy runs through the photographs. Together, these details make the story personal.

Our approach has remained consistent: the people come first. You can read more about it through Vanessa and Piotr’s wedding story in Germany, currently on our Polish site. The photographs should bring back your relationships and experiences, as well as the appearance of the day.

We have kept the bouquet-throwing sequence in the gallery. Seeing the moments together shows how an event develops and how different reactions happen at the same time. Like preparations taking place in separate locations, it also gives a practical example of what two photographers can contribute to one wedding story.

For photographers interested in the equipment, we used Fujifilm GFX100S and X-Pro3 cameras, with a few frames made on a Nikon D850 and a 35mm f/2 AF-D lens. The approach stayed simple. At the reception we also used flash, often directly. Many photographs are black and white: their composition draws on the documentary photography we love, while the energy of the people guided how we worked.

This wedding near Bologna was about laughter, embraces and tears of happiness as much as its Italian setting. The photographs below bring those encounters together into a complete story.

Explore the full gallery of Magda and Luca’s wedding below.

Planning a wedding in Italy in 2027 or beyond? We are based in Warsaw and photograph celebrations across Europe. Explore our documentary wedding photography, then tell us your date, location and plans. We will reply in English with availability and coverage options.

For more international celebrations, see Jo and T-A’s Corinthia London wedding and Jakub and Lyndon’s wedding at Platinum Palace. Our YouTube channel also shares films about our photography.