We had the opportunity work with Mari & Valentina (Destination Wedding Planners) to collaborate on the campaign for the launch of their company\u00a0Dragonfly Events Cefal\u00f9<\/a>. \u00a0Originally they started off in accommodations, offering B&B and holiday apartment rentals<\/a> in the city center and surrounding area. Over the years they realized their true calling was in Wedding Planning. Dragonfly Events is a family run business, Mari and Valentina are sister-in-laws and although they’re a compact team, they’re very flexible, super attentive and pay attention to every detail. \u00a0Although they work collaboratively as wedding planners, Valentina’s \u00a0specialty is in cake design.<\/p>\n My perspective for writing this post was from what it was like to work with them on the staged and themed (Dirty Dancing) engagement photo shoot, in addition to being city guide on things to see and do in Cefal\u00f9. \u00a0Weeks leading up to our departure flight from Rome to Palermo, Mari & Valentina asked for my measurements as they wanted to provide clothing for the various scenes from the film, but more importantly, to recreate the famous pink dress used in the final dance sequence. I really loved that idea! \u00a0They took care of everything: our flights, transfers, accommodations, clothing, hair, you name it, they took care of it all! So if you decide to have your wedding or elopement, you’ll be in good hands.<\/p>\n So before we knew it, we were off to Cefal\u00f9! They arranged for us to stay at one of their apartments located right in the heart of the city center of Cefal\u00f9. \u00a0After checking into our apartment, Mari & Valentina dropped off all the clothes for the four-day shoot for a fitting appointment. \u00a0Once they decided on which scenes we were going to shoot for the day, we headed down to Silvana’s hair salon<\/a>. \u00a0Ladies, if you’re ever in Cefal\u00f9, you need to see Silvana! She’s phenomenal with hair, I had volume\u00a0that lasted all day long; the curls lasted, the partial up-do, just everything she did to my hair over those days was perfection. \u00a0Also, being blonde at the time, she managed to keep my hair looking healthy and smooth. Honestly, can’t say enough nice things about her.<\/p>\n Ristorante La Brace<\/a><\/p>\n We ate at La Brace twice for dinner out of the three nights, both the fish and meat dishes are fantastic.<\/p>\n Le Chat Noir<\/a><\/p>\n We had seafood at Chat Noir, it was great but found the portions to be quite small.<\/p>\n Il Vecchio e Il Mare<\/a><\/p>\n We ate here after taking a stroll by the beach, the place seemed nice enough, but the food wasn’t great it was alright.<\/p>\n You’ve basically got all your essential food groups covered in this bad-boy and nothing beats eating the foods where they originated<\/a>. \u00a0Arancine comes in all sorts of varieties<\/a> (my favorite being ragu<\/a>), but I definitely don’t discriminate. \u00a0Arancine is similar to their relatives the Suppl\u00ec<\/a> (they’re also a type of rice ball, much smaller and have a different shape than Arancini.)<\/p>\n It’s a spleen sandwich<\/a> and is a very popular street food snack for people on the go. \u00a0Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get this while I was in Cefal\u00f9, but I really like innards and organs. \u00a0This would be right up my alley.<\/p>\n Italians love their sweets and the cannoli along with tiramisu and gelato tops the list regardless of the season.\u00a0I’ve only ever had cannoli’s here in Italy, not sure how they par back home in Toronto but something tells me it was worth the wait. \u00a0Cannolis\u00a0have fried shells which are then stuffed with ricotta cheese and topped in all sorts of ways (see photo below). They can come in small and large sizes and the best is when they stuff the shell right in front of you, it’s the freshest and the shell isn’t soggy.<\/p>\n Let’s start off by saying I’m not really a fan of the cassata and I don’t like mixing liqueurs with desserts (I like them separately) and I don’t like candied fruits. \u00a0Curious what the inside looks like? The center is filled with ricotta cheese, then a layer of sponge cake to form its shape, followed by the green icing and topped with the candied fruit.<\/p>\n Photo by Sicilias<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n Kalura Beach (also known as Spiaggia Caldura) was a 20-or-so minute scooter ride from the city center. \u00a0It’s a small to medium size beach and also has a private area open to guests staying at Hotel Kalura<\/a>. In case you were wondering what it looks like, it’s featured in the vlog above (watch it in HD).<\/p>\n The cinematic features of beach in the old town of Cefal\u00f9 make the perfect romantic backdrop to engagement photos.<\/p>\n Photography Nunzio Turdo<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n![\"Nunzio](\"http:\/\/www.heyitsclarice.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/467109_romantic-movie-inspired-engagement-in.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Nunzio](\"http:\/\/www.heyitsclarice.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/467052_wedding-submission-from-mari-onorato.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.heyitsclarice.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/467114_romantic-movie-inspired-engagement-in-683x1024.jpg\")
<\/p>\nResturants we ate at<\/h5>\n
Sicilian Foods you’ll want to try<\/h5>\n
Arancine<\/h5>\n
![\"ragu,sicilian,](\"http:\/\/www.heyitsclarice.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/ragu_compressed.jpg\")
<\/p>\nPane con la milza<\/h5>\n
![\"pane](\"http:\/\/www.heyitsclarice.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/paneconmilza_compressed.jpg\")
<\/p>\nCannoli<\/h5>\n
![\"cannoli,](\"http:\/\/www.heyitsclarice.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/cannoli_compressed.jpg\")
<\/p>\nCassata<\/h5>\n
![\"cassata,sicilian,](\"http:\/\/www.heyitsclarice.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/sicilias-cassata-1236x824_compressed-1024x682.jpg\" "\\"https:\/\/www.sicilias.it\/storia-della-cassata-siciliana-la-regina-delle-torte\/\\"")
<\/a>Beaches to visit<\/h5>\n
![\"Dragonfly](\"http:\/\/www.heyitsclarice.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/467084_romantic-movie-inspired-engagement-in.jpg\")
![\"Nunzio](\"http:\/\/www.heyitsclarice.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/467081_romantic-movie-inspired-engagement-in.jpg\")