The Bride Wore Oscar de La Renta to Her Wedding at a Neo-Gothic Mansion in Italy
Travel and lifestyle writer Nneya Richards was temporarily living in London for “work and fun” during the fall of 2017 when she first met Michele Scaglione, an entrepreneur who heads up development at his family’s eponymous knitwear company. “He went to the same business school in Milan as friends of mine, and we were at the same party,” Nneya remembers. “We didn’t speak at the party, but then our paths crossed via Hinge, and after a few dates, we began seeing each other.” Nneya traveled back to New York soon after, but Michele insisted she eventually return to London. “And he likes to say I convinced him to move back to Italy,” Nneya adds. “[But,] I won t take full responsibility for that.”
Michele eventually proposed in Taormina, Sicily on June 25, 2021—a day after Nneya’s birthday. “We usually travel for my birthday, and he had planned to propose in a hot air balloon in Cappadocia,” she says. “I didn t know this, of course, and at the last minute, I announced that I wanted to go to Calabria for my birthday because I was working on a story on the best places to visit in Italy for Grazia, and Calabria is definitely more off-the-beaten-path.”
Michele, ever the romantic, apparently scrambled to book a flight to Calabria, but found a silver lining when they were forced to go through Catania, Sicily, which is very close to Taormina—the beautiful and romantic hillside Italian town where the second season of The White Lotus was recently filmed.
“On our first morning, we were exploring the Teatro Antico, and Michele was wearing cargo shorts so that he could carry the ring—which I thought was strange, but I didn t want him to feel uncomfortable with his fashion choices, so I let it go,” Nneya admits. “He kept wanting us to a higher, more secluded overlook in this ancient Greek amphitheater. He said, ‘Go over there. I ll shoot you,’ and when I turned around, he was on one knee with the ring. It was kind of windy so between crying and being thrilled, I became very Gollum—‘My ring! my ring!’—and trying to make sure it was on before it blew into the Ionian.”
The wedding was set for August 29, 2022, at Cascina Lago Scuro in Cremona. “The planning really began once we found the venue,” Nneya says. “Which we didn’t really start looking for until the winter of 2021.” While browsing Instagram in February of 2022, Nneya came across Cascina Lago Scuro and immediately emailed them.
“A few people had sent us suggestions near where we are based in Bergamo, but they just weren’t very us,” she says. “I didn’t want to feel like I was in an event space. Michele and I loved the vibe at Cascina Lago Scuro. It’s a kind of boho-chic, work-in-progress, neo-Gothic mansion. There are towers and turrets and frescos inside, but it’s not perfect. When we first went to visit, we met Luca and Federica, the husband and wife team, that run this multigenerational family farm dating back to the 1600s, and we knew we’d found the place. They offered us a coffee while we waited, the best bread I’ve had in my life, and Erykah Badu was playing in the background. It was a vibe. They had a strong ‘we’ve got this’ approach, so we sent them photos of our inspiration.”
Because Cascina Lago Scuro is a functioning farm, the menu was all farm-to-table. During cocktail hour, there were mountains of delicious cheeses and meats. “We didn’t specifically ‘decide’ what would be served at the aperitivo besides the wines and drinks,” Nneya says. “We were just able to trust them about the food and ambiance.”
Michele, meanwhile, served as the de facto event planner. “He spreadsheets everything!” Nneya jokes. “We didn’t use an actual wedding planner—from designing the invites to creating the bonbonniere [Italian wedding favors], it was all us.”
While the groom handled all of the logistics for the wedding, the bride was in charge of the creative elements that made the weekend truly spectacular. “Rehearsal dinners aren’t common at Italian weddings, but we knew we definitely had to have one and Michele had been to enough American weddings to call them ‘the meet and greet,’” Nneya explains. “We also wanted to do biking in the hills, a visit to a historical building in Bergamo, and we really loved it when we attended Donizetti Opera, so we organized a tour for us there.”
Nneya’s mom loves a project, so she did the bonbonnieres, ordering all the sacks and tags for this Italian almond party favor tradition. “The day of the wedding, she, my godmother Paulette Lang, and my friend’s husband Will Cart took over a corner of the dressing room floor and attached them to honey jars from the farm,” Nneya says. “My maid of honor Sophie Elgort and bridesmaid Kelly King went to work steaming my dress, so it definitely was a bride’s workshop!”
