This Cultural Celebration in Sicily Had the Most Vibrant Color Palette

They didn't know it, but in June 2017—before they had even met—Anissa Felix and Federico Ulfo made the same vow. “Sick of the endless swiping on apps, we both said, ‘This will be our last date before taking a break from dating,’” Anissa remembers. And they kept that promise—sort of: Their meetup at Surf Bar in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, was technically their last first date. “That first date was a hit. Two weeks later, while swept up in the infatuation phase, Federico spontaneously invited me to Sicily,” Anissa shares. There, she met his entire family and “they welcomed me with open arms.” Five years later, the couple would return to Sicily—this time to say “I do.”

“Our vision was to showcase the joining of two families and two beautiful and surprisingly similar cultures,” Anissa shares. “My family is from Trinidad and Tobago in the Caribbean, where the culture is filled with the colors and sounds of Carnival. Trinidad is known as the land of the rainbow people; we’re a mix of African and Indian, and we wanted to showcase that in the design as well. We wanted color, fun, and something that was distinctly ours.” The pair started with a vibrant palette of indigo, fuchsia, and marigold—“these are just the happiest colors to us,” Anissa says—and bridged the language barrier by hosting a bilingual event, from the vows to the reception music. 

Their approach to planning was to “let the artists be the artists,” Anissa says. “We chose the vendors that most closely fit our aesthetic, gave them a general idea of what we wanted, and let them at it.” That devotion to art began with their venue choice. "Parco Museo Jalari in Messina, Sicily, is an art park and outdoor museum created in 1973 by artists and brothers Salvatore and Mariano Pietrini,” Anissa describes. “Their vision was to recreate the structures of the ancient Sicilian druids; we loved it because it was a little bit kooky and Gaudi-esque, but also ancient-feeling.” From there, “I allowed my designers to have full creative control, and it’s very obvious that they had fun with it.”

Read on to see all the colorful, cultural details of their July 15, 2022, big day, photographed by Sergio Sorrentino.

The bride wore a heavily beaded fringe wedding dress by Watters. “I only tried on five dresses; this was the fourth one,” Anissa remembers. “I thought it was really funky and different, and I love an embellishment moment. We did a slick ponytail with added extensions because we wanted to keep it fun. The entire look gave Sophia Loren, dolce vita vibes.”

“We had a large wedding party, so we wanted everyone to feel comfortable in what they were wearing,” Anissa says. “Each of my ladies chose a color from the palette and then picked something that made them feel beautiful. I’m not the kind of bride that wants perfection; I want everyone to be themselves. It all turned out lovely."

“Very little was needed in the way of décor for the ceremony, because the panorama of the mountains, the sea, and the building itself did much of the work for us,” Anissa says. Simple columns of colored baby’s breath evoked the rainbow theme in a chic, sophisticated way.

The groom looked sharp in a navy blue suit from an Italian brand and a fresh day-of haircut from his friend, neighbor, and wedding guest Donovan Edwards of Brooklyn salon Becoming Beauty.

Anissa made her way to the ceremony site in a vintage white Volkswagen Beetle with both of her parents, who escorted her down the aisle to the tune of Pachelbel’s "Canon in D."

The pair decided on a secular, rather than religious, ceremony. “Federico’s godfather, a psychologist and classical theatre director, guided us in a reading of Plato’s Symposium,” Anissa describes. “In pre-martial sessions, we got to debate the meaning of true love in the way that Plato and disciples would have. And for our ceremony, he read a summary and related a story to our guests who sat in chairs that were set in the way of an old Greek amphitheater. It fit so beautifully with the surroundings and felt almost as if the guests were watching an ancient Greek play.” 

“Our day-of coordinator and the owner of the venue took such wonderful care of us; this was their first ‘American’ wedding so they were very excited,” Anissa says. “All the Italians kept coming up to us, telling us how excited they were to be in an ‘American wedding’ like in the movies.” 

“Our floral and décor designer, Luana Aloi, really ran with the brief,” Anissa says. “I asked her to go big and have fun, and she did! She used a mix of dried and fresh flowers that were either painted or dyed: baby’s breath, pampas grass, anthurium, hare’s tail grass, rose, and dried palms. Tying in my Caribbean culture, I asked her to pull inspiration from the plumes of the Carnival costumes and to play with height and levels, and she truly went all out. The décor was the showstopper of the wedding.”

The couple followed Sicilian tradition for the menu, with an sunset appertivi, appetizer buffet, and three-course meal. There was fresh grilled swordfish, a gelato bar, and heaps of handmade pasta. “We skipped the liquor and stuck with wine and Prosecco,” Anissa says. “All the bottles came from local wineries on the side of Mt. Etna volcano.”

“Planning from abroad and in another language, for me at least, was very stressful,” Anissa shares. "I learned to put a lot of trust in others; it was an exercise in releasing control. My mother-in-law picked out our cake and it was absolutely gorgeous and delicious.” The three-tier Chantilly confection was topped with fresh fruit.

The newlyweds hit the dance floor for their first dance to Snoh Alegra’s “Find Someone Like You"—and then the Caribbean music began. “Both sides of the family, Italian and Trinidadian, had a wonderful time,” Anissa recalls. “Everyone was dancing, even if they didn’t know what the lyrics were.”

The newlyweds wrapped up their Sicilian wedding with a honeymoon in the Aeolian islands of Salina and Panarea—“our happy place,” the bride says.