A dance-filled wedding at Tenuta Berretta
Some evenings stay in your heart. The one in the garden of Tenuta Berretta in Mirabella Imbaccari was one of them.
Conci and Gallo, an extraordinary couple and fantastic dancers, chose to share their most important day with Sarabanda’s music, and we had the privilege of accompanying this wonderful party under the Sicilian stars.
The venue: a garden suspended between sky and earth
It isn’t easy to describe the magic of Tenuta Berretta at sunset. The historic building, carefully restored, almost disappears behind the importance of the landscape around it: the Sicilian hills stretch out all around like an impressionist painting, while the gardens offer that rarity we all long for at summer parties – the cool shade of the trees, the breeze and, above all, that feeling of being suspended between sky and earth.
And then two furnished corners that caught our eye right away, as good Sicilian musicians: a period cabinet with a gramophone and some vinyl records, and a perfectly restored Sicilian cart in a bright, flashy red.
It was the perfect stage for a party that wasn’t just a wedding, but a celebration of music and of Sicily.
A trio to start
The bride and groom, who as you’ll soon see are very musical, made a choice we approve of and always recommend: adding a sax to the basic quartet (vocals, piano, bass and drums).
The sax completes the band’s sound and makes it more energetic and varied, rich in extra tones and shades, and it also gives you a refined, full sound right from the opening moment of the aperitivo, the drinks reception before dinner, or of the antipasto buffet. Here we play “Futura” by Dalla, with the beautiful soprano sax lines of Marcello Cinà and an exceptional choir joining in: the bride and groom and their guests, who showed from the very start that they were genuinely passionate about music and didn’t treat it as a mere background, however pleasant.
The music sets the party alight
But the first truly magical moment came, unexpectedly, with the swing classics. Swing isn’t a genre that easily gets Italians dancing, and yet Conci and Gallo (the affectionate nicknames all the friends there used for the newlyweds, Concetta and Giuseppe) threw themselves, with enthusiasm and the skill of professionals, into this dance, which is actually very natural and great fun. Conci starts dancing already on the verse of “Mille lire al mese”, a song full of retro romance and lightness, and “Gallo”, who was right there nearby with a glass in his hand, doesn’t need to be asked twice and joins her on the first chorus: the two take over the middle of the room and win an ovation from everyone with their dancing feats. What delightful dancers! Luckily the videographer Nino Badami didn’t miss the moment.
And everyone dancing to swing!
And, luckily again, the SD card was still only half full when the inevitable happened: with their irresistible energy, the bride and groom swept everyone into an even wilder swing dance! Here in Sicily we say “Un si pigghia cu un si rassumigghia”, meaning “if you aren’t alike, you don’t get together”; that is certainly true of a married couple, but in this case the universal truth also held for their closest friends, who turned out to be fantastic dancers, full of humor and enthusiasm just like our swing-dancing couple.
And off they went, everyone dancing to “Un bacio a mezzanotte” right up to the inevitable final dip!
The slow dances: when music becomes emotion
If swing is the fire of the party, the slow dances are its soul. Jovanotti’s “Al chiaro di luna” was their choice for the first dance, a modern, refined ballad that means a lot to them: and it shows, just look at how they know the words by heart and sang the whole song along with us.
And then Joe Cocker’s “You Are So Beautiful”: a song that needs no introduction. It’s one of those songs that everyone recognizes from the first chord and that instantly brings a touch of emotion. Conci and Gallo, surrounded by the lit-up garden of Tenuta Berretta, embodied in that moment what a wedding should always be: a declaration of beauty.
Bonus Track!
There’s one more record of that evening: our take on Gino Paoli’s “Una lunga storia d’amore”. A pity about the microphones, which were very close to a table of guests deep in conversation, but you can still feel the wonderful atmosphere of the evening: here too someone joined in on the chorus and improvised a dance. A splendid soprano sax solo. And well done to the videographer, who didn’t miss a thing!
