My Giallo-Inspired Wedding: A Homage to Italian Thrillers

I got married a year ago this Sunday, so I thought it was only fitting to write a blog post about the design aspects of my wedding day. The look of my wedding was heavily influenced by the production design in Gialli and Italian horror cinema from the 1960s and 70s. In particular, there was a strong aesthetic influence from Dario Argento's Suspiria, as well as style cues from Mario Bava's Blood and Black Lace and Black Sabbath.

I thought I'd share the thought processes behind various elements of the big day, alongs with images showing how those ideas came together. Hopefully fans of the genre will appreciate the stylistic nods to the films we all so dearly love represented through traditional wedding fare.

So, why did I theme my wedding around Italian thrillers of the 1960s and 70s? Gialli is a major passion of mine, and I wanted to incorporate it into my wedding day on some level. However, the choice of theme went far beyond my love of old Italian thrillers. I'm deeply into design—whether it be in fashion, film, interiors, or architecture—so getting the right aesthetic feel for my wedding day was incredibly important.

To me, the gialli of yore embody a design sensibility that resonates with my tastes. It's a grandiose style that meshes modernist design with a classical Italian penchant for ornate elegance. Although cinematic offerings like The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh might have been a little too zany to incorporate into the overall look of the wedding, earlier gialli like Mario Bava's Blood and Black Lace were perfect inspirations for a day that needed to be classy yet stylised.

By choosing these films as the basis for my wedding's look, I was not only paying homage to the cinema I love but also choosing a style that resonated with my aesthetic leanings. Ultimately, a wedding isn't just for yourself, so this look allowed me to express my interests, passions, and style in a way that other people could appreciate and enjoy on a surface level without necessarily understanding the references.

I wanted people to attend my wedding and see it as something different from the usual Scottish weddings in country houses and hotels. Most of all, I hoped that people would enjoy all the effort that went into creating those unique elements—effort that seemed overwhelming when everything had to be painstakingly designed and created.

The Venue

Funnily enough, Edinburgh isn't exactly a hotbed for Italian design. Although it has its fair share of Gothic venues, I wanted something more ornate and on-theme for my big day. After tearing my hair out for about a year trying to find the perfect venue, it dawned on me that an old bar haunt of mine, The Voodoo Rooms in Edinburgh, was the ideal fit for a wedding heavily influenced by the elaborate production design of Italian thrillers.

The Voodoo Rooms is a fantastic bar and restaurant located on the upper floor of a 19th-century building tucked away behind Princes Street. The venue has wonderful original features that give it a distinctive feel, with ornate detailing such as elaborate ceilings and cornices. It feels very theatrical, with heavy use of gold throughout its rooms—perfect for a wedding inspired by the production design of 1960s Bava films. I particularly love the arched windows that run along the outside of the bar, which are uplit in red—very Argento!

Like anyone with a passion for Italian genre cinema, I deeply appreciate the beautiful lighting in Bava and Argento's work. From the day I started planning, I knew coloured lighting would be an integral element for the wedding. A bonus of The Voodoo Rooms is its great lighting deck in the ballroom, as well as twinkling lights embedded into the fabric walls. This spectacular lighting was key to achieving the Bavaesque look I was aiming for.

Most weddings have very bright lighting or daylight for the wedding breakfast, but the dark, windowless ballroom illuminated with coloured lights, twinkling wall lights, and candlelight really created a dramatic, unique look that was perfectly on theme.

The wedding meal and reception took place in the venue's ballroom, which is a fantastic space not only for the great lighting but also for its stage, ornate ceilings, draping, and amazing DJ booth (thanks to my friend Rehan Yousuf aka Deejay Yourself for DJ'ing). Very little had to be done to the space; the chairs were gold, perfectly matching the theme, and the tables were draped in black tablecloths, echoing the black draping on the walls. The black and gold look of the room worked incredibly well with the gold table centrepieces, which I detail below.

The Stationery

I knew I wasn't going to find the kind of wedding stationery I wanted online, and a cursory glance on Etsy confirmed this, so I decided to have some designed. I talked to a few people who were ridiculously expensive before putting a call out on Twitter for help. Luckily, an amazing graphic designer named Jaci answered my call. I told her the kind of thing I was looking for, and she got to work by setting up a Pinterest board where I pinned a load of images I liked from Italian genre cinema.

Jaci gave me really good advice, suggesting I pin images that had shapes and motifs I liked and wanted included in the invites, as well as potential typographies. Most of the images that made it to the final board are from Suspiria, but you'll also see Inferno, Five Dolls for an August Moon, A Lizard in a Woman's Skin, Seven Blood-Stained Orchids, The Frightened Woman, The Strange Colour of Your Body's Tears, and even Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey represented.

After discussing the text, layout, and other features, Jaci went away and designed three options that matched the brief. I don't want to share Jaci's other designs here as they're not my work to share, but one of her original designs included a beautiful recreation of Suspiria's art nouveau doorways with the invite text inside the door. Ultimately, I rejected it because the kaleidoscopic look felt a little too much for a wedding invite, though the designs were really beautiful. Sadly, they weren't soft enough for the day, so we went back to the drawing board.

At this stage, I had a clearer idea of what I wanted and decided to use Pat's apartment lobby from Suspiria and her M.C. Escher walls as the major design elements for the wedding stationery. Jaci absolutely nailed this concept, as you can see in the beautiful invites below. Alongside the wedding invites, Jaci designed RSVP cards, place cards, order of service booklets, and evening invites.

                                   

Jaci's website can be found here.

The Tables

Contrary to what you might think, I was conscious of including my husband in the wedding planning, and I thought it was important to have his personality and interests represented too. Originally, I wanted to name each table after a different giallo director, but since my husband is such a fan of cinema in general, it didn't seem fair to exclude his passions from the table planning.

Instead, we decided to name each table after a director we both liked. While I managed to include a few giallo directors, we also included several non-Italian directors. Our tables were named after: Dario Argento, Mario Bava, Fritz Lang, Martin Scorsese, Brian De Palma, Stanley Kubrick, David Lynch, Francis Ford Coppola, and Nicolas Winding Refn.

I bought nine golden baroque-style frames to display the table names. The look of the frames was important because they needed to complement the venue's setting and have that Italian film look. Golden baroque-style fixtures are typical in Italian films from the 60s and 70s, so I took inspiration from Bava's The Telephone segment in Black Sabbath and Blood and Black Lace. I looked for frames similar to the ornamental bed frame and mirror from The Telephone and the picture frames from Blood and Black Lace.

I then searched online for artistic posters that would fit each director's name. I chose fonts that matched each poster's style and inserted the director's name into the appropriate poster.

I worked with my florist on the table centerpieces. I wanted the tables to be a real focal point of the room, mirroring the cinematic theme, so we dressed the tables with various items such as gold candelabras and birdcages. The candelabras were a homage to Inferno, and the birdcages were a reference to The Bird with the Crystal Plumage.

Favours & Table Place Cards

People suggested J&B bottles as favours, but I felt this would have been too obvious and not quite fitting with the theme of the wedding. I got engaged in Canada, and Montreal holds a special place in our hearts, so we opted for maple candies as favours—something my husband thoroughly enjoyed, especially when he couldn't resist sneaking a few beforehand.

To ensure the favour boxes matched the theme, we once again turned to Suspiria for inspiration. We created a template on cardboard in the wedding colors that, when cut out and folded, formed a triangular box. The triangular favour box was designed to resemble the giant triangular light fixture in the foyer of Pat's apartment in Suspiria.

For the table place cards, we used a simplified version of the wedding stationery's design, featuring the rhombus and circle motifs from Pat's foyer. My dad, who is skilled in calligraphy, painstakingly wrote each name in gold ornate lettering that mirrored the curved gold shapes of the light fixture in the film.

Music

For the wedding breakfast, I curated a playlist featuring music from Italian soundtracks. I chose pieces with a Bossa Nova and lounge music feel, which complemented the mood of the meal and the relaxed setting perfectly.

I decided to steer clear of the more bombastic, experimental, and sinister pieces typical of the genre, opting instead for tracks that were mostly leisurely and fun. The music really enhanced the atmosphere of the meal, creating a cool and chilled ambiance. I can't tell you how very cool it felt to enjoy our meal to the sounds of The Five Dolls for an August Moon soundtrack.

You can listen to my wedding breakfast soundtrack here on Spotify featuring music from Bruno Nicolai, Stelvio Cipriani, Piero Umiliani and Riz Ortolani.

The Cake

Building on the Suspiria-themed wedding stationery, I carried a similar design theme over to the cake. I brought the invitations Jaci designed to our local cake shop, Liggys, and collaborated with their wonderful staff on the design. We opted to feature the M.C. Escher wallpaper from Suspiria on each cake tier, complemented by a circle and diamond pattern on the edges of the tiers.

To complete the look, my florist adorned the cake with flowers matching those from the centerpieces and my bouquet. For those interested, we offered three cake flavors: lemon and poppyseed, chocolate, and toffee. 

Notice the art nouveau cake serving knife, which once again mirrors the art nouveau elements in Suspiria's production design.

Guestbook

I found an incredible seller from France on Etsy who creates wedding guestbooks using antique French books. I chose a cover that resonated well with the wedding theme, evoking the essence of Suspiria with its red and gold Art Nouveau style. It also pays homage to the famous little red book in Blood and Black Lace. Additionally, I appreciated that the intersecting gold lines on the cover resemble the pattern from the Three Mothers' Varelli book in Argento's Inferno.

Both being Scottish, I felt it was appropriate to have a cover that incorporates our country's national flower, the thistle, into its design.

Flowers

Once again, the flowers were inspired by Mario Bava's Blood and Black Lace. One of the most striking aspects of the film is its opening credits sequence, featuring actors posed with colourful blooms bathed in jewel lighting (refer to the picture below for reference). While multicolored blooms looked stunning in this scene, they would have been overwhelming for a wedding with a colour scheme of coral red and dove grey, especially against dresses.

Instead, collaborating with my amazing florist, The Enchanted Florist, we opted for red, white, and magenta flowers in various shades. I aimed to replicate the full bloom look of the Blood and Black Lace scene, so my florist selected seasonal flowers resembling hydrangeas and roses from the film. I also showed my florist examples of flowers featured in gialli such as those from Short Night of Glass Dolls, The Red Queen Kills Seven Times, and Death Walks on High Heels. Together, we chose flowers that mimicked these shapes, resulting in various pictures that showcase unique floral shapes enhancing the theatrical vibe of the day.

I can't praise the team at The Enchanted Florist highly enough. Many florists I considered were traditional wedding florists offering arrangements straight out of wedding magazines and Pinterest boards, which obviously there's a huge demand for. What sets The Enchanted Florist apart is their enthusiasm for creating theatrical displays that are different and unique to each couple. Before my wedding, they even crafted a Tim Burton-themed wedding for another couple, demonstrating their creativity and dedication to making each event truly special.

Bridesmaids Dresses

As evidenced in my blog, I've always adored the 1970s style fashions showcased in Italian genre films, and I aimed to reflect this in my bridesmaids' dresses. I didn't want to dress my bridesmaids in anything too extravagant, so finding dresses that matched the theme and were comfortable for the girls was quite a challenge.

Once again drawing inspiration from Suspiria, I sought dresses similar to those worn by the ballet school students in the scene set in the room with the blue iris. These dresses were typically maxi-length with fluttered sleeves and v-necks. I searched for dresses in coral and dove grey/blue, the wedding's colours, and settled on coral dresses from ASOS that we made minor alterations to. These dresses resemble the style of the lilac number Sara wears in the mentioned scene.

For my sister, the maid of honour, I chose a dove grey/blue dress with embellishments on the bodice that echoed the ornate detailing seen in these films. As for shoes, I opted for classic gold T-bar heels, reminiscent of those worn by Suzy Banyon in Suspiria.

Pat's dress second to right

Films

Originally, I had planned to continuously project a piece I edited together featuring scenes from some of our favourite films. However, this proved challenging and time ran out, leaving me with an incomplete film. Instead, I opted to play a couple of full films and trailers that inspired the wedding's theme, adding a touch of Italian film magic to the wedding reception.

The main challenge was dealing with the violence, so I undertook the joyous task of editing out the violent content from Blood & Black Lace, Suspiria, and Inferno the day before the wedding. This wasn't too difficult, but I overlooked the violence and nudity in the trailers. Hence, there was a slightly amusing moment (pictured below) where my guests unexpectedly saw nudity in Forbidden Photos of a Lady Above Suspicion.

The trailers I included were for: Forbidden Photos of a Lady Above Suspicion, Le orme, Etoile, Red Rings of Fear, Short Night of Glass Dolls, The Heroin Busters, The Sweet Body of Deborah, Colt 38 Special Squad, Rome Armed to the Teeth, and Suspicious Death of a Minor.

Photography

I'd like to extend my heartfelt thanks to Edinburgh photographer Loraine Ross for capturing all the wonderful photos featured in this post. Loraine did an incredible job of photographing all the film elements and perfectly captured the mood of the day along with each individual detail. All images are copyright to Loraine Ross.

A big thank you also goes out to all my wonderful wedding vendors. I understand that our theme wasn't the easiest, especially for a wedding, but everyone involved embraced the concept wholeheartedly and delivered fantastic results. I was truly overwhelmed when I entered the venue and saw how everything had seamlessly come together. I feel immensely proud to have hosted a wedding that embodied the vibe of Italian genre cinema while maintaining a classy and wedding-appropriate atmosphere.

I'd also like to say a huge thank you to all of my family and friends who attended. Despite the challenges leading up to the day, the wedding was a resounding success, and the love and support shown by everyone meant the world to me. I hope you all enjoyed the wedding's aesthetic and gained a deeper understanding of the inspiration behind it!