Salone d'EstatePalazzo Chigi, Ariccia, Rome

A bridal editorial shot on 13 April 2026 inside Palazzo Chigi in Ariccia, the seventeenth century Baroque residence of the Chigi family, now a museum, half an hour south of Rome. We worked in one room, the Salone d'Estate, the summer salon, and let it lead.

The Salone d'Estate is painted from the floor to the vault: exotic birds, herons and peacocks, trellised vines and open landscapes, above a terrazzo floor and between tall arched windows, with stone urns standing against the light. A room like this is not a backdrop. The project was built around it rather than placed inside it, and every decision was measured against the walls.

The table follows that rule. Bronze silk was draped over it and allowed to pool onto the terrazzo, so the cloth reads as part of the floor rather than as linen laid on top. Scalloped white plates, pale blue napkins, fine glassware and gilded candleholders with ivory tapers were kept close to the colours already in the frescoes. The florals were gathered rather than arranged: wild herbs, white and pale blue blooms and dark trailing flowers, left loose enough to look as if they had been brought in from the garden that morning. The stationery was handwritten, and the jewellery was antique.

The bride moves through two looks. The first is a strapless tea length dress, photographed at the windows and among the stone urns. The second is a lace corset gown with a long veil edged in appliqué flowers, worn against the frescoed balustrade and at the table, with a length of blue silk carried through the room as the one strong colour. A flat lay of handwritten letters, a scalloped plate and antique pieces sits between the two.

Planning, concept and design were Zahra Studio. Motif Floral made the flowers, Linda Lynn did hair and makeup, and Victoria Joy Photography shot the series. The editorial was later published by Magnolia Rouge as Old World Romance Inside a Seventeenth Century Italian Palazzo.

For couples drawn to Rome but not to the city centre, the palazzi of the hills just south of it offer frescoed rooms, cooler air and a single building to hold the whole day.

Planning a wedding in Rome