The Bride Reworked Her Late Mother’s Wedding Dress for Her Emotional Wedding in Portofino
Jenna Lochiatto and Zachary Crowley first crossed paths as students at Bucknell University, but it took them moving to New York City to become best friends. After moving there in 2019, the duo did everything together—from running the West Side Highway to going on trips out to Montauk and Duxbury with their college crew. “In fact, we spent so much time together that our family and friends often questioned if we were becoming something more serious,” says Jenna, who works in travel at Google. “Although not obvious to either of us at the time, we were falling fast in love and there was no going back.” After years of what Jenna says felt like “informal dating,” Zach finally asked her to go on a real date at the William Vale rooftop in Brooklyn. “The rest was history,” says Jenna.
Three years later, in December 2022, Jenna and Zach—who is vice president of a private credit investment firm—returned to the William Vale for brunch with friends. “When we arrived, Zach took me out on the rooftop and got down on one knee! I was overwhelmed with happiness and shock, which was only compounded when I saw my family and close friends running towards us after our special moment,” shares Jenna. The surprises continued, as Zach had invited over 100 friends for an engagement party that night. “After the party, we attended a dinner with our immediate families and then met up with all of our friends at a Sofi Tukker concert. I am not sure how we all ended up there, but we stayed until 3 a.m.,” says Jenna. “Zach and I spent the night where it all began at the William Vale with a beautiful view looking out at NYC.”
As avid travelers, the couple knew they wanted to host a destination wedding. “All we wanted was for it to be one big vacation with all of our family and friends,” the bride says. The duo hired planners Matthew Robbins and Luis Otoya to help them achieve their vision. “I have always loved planning events whether it was birthday parties, family reunions, vacations, and more. It is something that I learned from my mother—she taught me the magic behind arranging flowers, setting the perfect table, and how to bring people together to create amazing memories.” Jenna s mother is the one who discovered their venue La Cervara, a 14th-century abbey outside of Portofino. “Having both studied abroad in Italy and with our families’ Italian roots, Italy was the perfect place,” she shares. “We loved the history, the beautiful grounds, gardens, views of the Mediterranean, and the fact that Portofino was a new destination for most guests.”
Tragically, Jenna’s mother was unable to make it to see her daughter tie the knot. “When we first started planning the wedding, it had never crossed my mind that my mom might not be there,” the bride says. “Six months before I got engaged, my mom was diagnosed with stage-four cancer, but she was determined to beat it. You would have never known how sick she truly was because she always kept a smile on her face.” The couple always intended to get married in the US ahead of the destination wedding, but they were advised by doctors to move the date forward so that Jenna’s mother could attend. “In less than four weeks, Matthew Robbins and his team planned an intimate wedding for us and our extended family at our local church followed by a reception in our backyard in Duxbury. It was scheduled for July 1, 2023,” says Jenna. “Sadly, my mother passed away just the day before. I didn’t know how we would go on, but everyone involved, even our planners, knew that she would want us to proceed. Offering words of encouragement, our priest told us, ‘Of course we are still having the wedding—you know she just wanted the best seat in the house.’”
For their Italian wedding, Jenna was determined to make sure her mother was there in spirit. “I didn’t know how I would get through that day without her, so made a point of weaving her into each and every detail in a way that honored and celebrated her,” she says. Her presence could be found in motifs nodding to her love of gardening in the invitations, her favorite flowers, and colors used throughout the weekend of events, as well as multiple custom fashion moments with inspiration from her wardrobe. “I heavily leaned on the support of Zach, my dad, my sister and brother, aunts, and many best friends to help fill the void. They knew they would never be able to fill her shoes but went above and beyond to try,” says Jenna. “I doubt most fathers-of-the-bride meticulously analyze color swatches to ensure the save-the-date envelope liners have the perfect orange hue, pour over wedding invitation calligraphy, or attend your bridal shower—but he was committed to giving it his all and making sure that all our dreams came true!”
With a full weekend of events planned, the couple would need to build out an extensive wedding wardrobe. So Jenna and Zach (and even Jenna’s dad) worked with stylist Liat Baruch to curate their attire. “We were in constant dialogue sharing thoughts and ideas to a point where it felt more like she was my big sister than my stylist,” says Jenna. “A key point that we wanted to emphasize was timeless elegance. I wanted to wear outfits that were not only unique but also enduring. We also used the location as our inspiration and focal point as we wanted the fashion to compliment the beautiful settings and each night’s distinctiveness.”
For the rehearsal dinner at the castle grounds above Portofino, Jenna worked with Danielle Frankel to transform her mother’s wedding dress. “I knew it would be special to wear my mom’s wedding dress, but we wanted to modernize it a bit to make it truly my own,” she says. “We chose to reimagine the silk underlay of her gown, inspired by the ethereal River scarf dress by Danielle Frankel. Their team blended the two designs, and in a final fitting, we added tulle gloves as a subtle homage to the long-sleeved overlay of my mother’s original dress.” She paired the look with earrings that Zach’s mother wore at her own wedding. “It felt very meaningful to wear a piece from both mothers’ wedding days,” says the bride. Zach paid homage to their church wedding day and donned the same tan Brunello Cucinelli suit he wore as they tied the knot a year prior.
While visiting Danielle Frankel’s studio, Jenna and her sister Katelyn spotted a different dress in a mesmerizing fabric. “We all commented on how stunning the watercolor fabric was and that it reminded us of Monet, one of my mom’s favorite artists,” she says. “Immediately, Katelyn and I knew this would be the perfect fabric for her dress and she picked another silhouette, the Camille, for them to create it in. Liat then had the idea that my bridesmaids could pick out one of the colors in my sister’s dress.” The bridesmaids each chose their own dresses in blue, brown, or yellow hues from designers including Danielle Frankel, Alejandra Alonso Rojas, Markarian, and Costarellos.
