Some weddings bring two families together. This one brought two cultures together, and the result was one of the most layered, genuinely joyful days I’ve filmed.
Alessandro, Italian, and Umasha known to everyone as Umi Sri Lankan, got married at the church of San Cristoforo sul Naviglio, right along Milan’s Navigli, before heading to Officine del Volo for a reception that mixed Italian tradition with Sri Lankan ceremony in a way I’d never quite filmed before.
Getting from the church to the reception became a moment of its own: a private tram, just for Ale, Umi and their closest friends, picked them up at Porta Genova and wound its way through the center of Milan down Via Torino, past Piazza Duomo before dropping them right at Officine del Volo. We’d have loved to get the drone up for that stretch through the city center, but flying in central Milan is close to impossible to get cleared, so this one stayed grounded and honestly, the tram itself gave us more than enough to work with.
Arriving at the venue, the couple was welcomed by traditional Sri Lankan dancers and musicians, who played and danced them all the way inside, leading into an oil lamp lighting ceremony. Later that night, the real showstopper: a group of young dancers from a Sri Lankan dance school performed several traditional numbers in full costume a piece of the evening Umi’s father had clearly put his heart (and no small effort) into making happen, and it showed in just how much it meant to the room.
It’s the kind of wedding that reminds you how much a couple’s background can shape a day, when they let it rather than defaulting to one tradition over the other. Everything from the music to the food told both of their stories at once.
Photography was handled by Valentina Tamborra, a Milan-based photographer and journalist whose reportage background gave the day a documentary edge. On second camera with me was Daniele Mileto, known as Keydioma.
Vendor Credits
- Ceremony — San Cristoforo sul Naviglio, Milan
- Reception — Officine del Volo, Milan
- Photography — Valentina Tamborra
- Videography — Alex Sofo Wedding Films
- 2nd Camera — Daniele Mileto “Keydioma”