At every beach wedding there is a moment when the formality of the day quietly dissolves. Shoes come off, jackets come off, and what is left is people, sand and music.
For Enrico and Elena that moment arrived at Al Velico di Maganuco, on a stretch of Sicilian coast that turned their reception into something closer to a summer party than a formal dinner.
The couple travelled from Padua to marry in Sicily. Earlier that afternoon they had said their vows at the Duomo di San Giorgio in Modica, one of the most celebrated Baroque churches in Italy, with Padre Michele officiating and Lina Pluchino filling the nave with live music.
But it was the second half of the day they had really been picturing: a hundred guests, bare feet in the sand, and the sea as a living backdrop rather than a postcard.
At Al Velico the tables were set directly on the beach as the light began to soften into gold. A beach chalet creates an atmosphere no inland villa can quite match — the sea underneath the conversation, salt in the air, and the feeling that the party has nowhere else to be. Dinner unfolded slowly, the toasts carried over the sound of small waves, and as the sky turned from gold to blue to black, the real celebration began.
Casabianca kept the music going long into the night, and before long Enrico and Elena, with most of their guests, were dancing barefoot on the sand. A screen set up for the evening gave the later hours an open-air cinema feel, while guests drifted between the dance floor, the water’s edge and tables lit only by candles and string lights. No fireworks and no fixed script: just a hundred people who had flown and driven in from across Italy to spend the night together on a beach in Sicily.
Two videographers and two photographers, among them Angelo Alborino, covered the ceremony and the party. Yet it is the hours on the beach that carry the film’s real energy: the unposed laughter, the dancing, and the late-night interviews in which Enrico and Elena, barefoot and still in their wedding clothes, talked about the day in their own words.
That kind of footage cannot be planned. You can only wait for it, on a beach, as the night goes on.
From Padua to the heart of Sicily, this is their story: a wedding that began beneath a Baroque façade and ended, as the best Sicilian weddings often do, with everyone dancing on the sand.
Watch the full wedding film below.
The Details
- Couple
- Enrico & Elena, from Padua
- Ceremony
- Duomo di San Giorgio, Modica
- Officiant
- Padre Michele
- Ceremony music
- Lina Pluchino
- Reception
- Al Velico di Maganuco, Modica
- Music
- Casabianca
- Photography
- Angelo Alborino
- Wedding film
- Film Vision, wedding videographer in Sicily
FAQ
What is Al Velico di Maganuco?
Al Velico is a beachfront venue at Maganuco, on the coast near Modica and Pozzallo in south-eastern Sicily, used for beach-style wedding receptions with dinner served directly on the sand.
Can you host a wedding reception on the beach in Sicily?
Yes. Several venues on the coast near Modica and Pozzallo, Al Velico di Maganuco among them, are set up for beachfront receptions, so a traditional church ceremony inland can be followed by a relaxed evening party by the sea.
Is Maganuco a good location for a beach wedding party in Sicily?
Maganuco sits on Sicily’s south-eastern coast, close to Modica, Scicli and Pozzallo, which makes it easy to pair a Baroque church ceremony with a beachfront reception on the same day. Read more in our guide to weddings in Modica.
Film Your Beach Wedding in Sicily with Film Vision
If you are dreaming of a reception on the sand somewhere along Sicily’s coast, we would love to hear your story.
Get in touch