Antonio & Maria Grazia: the winners of the 2014 contest “Archetipo Brides & Grooms”
Handsome, smiling and madly in love. The Archetipo Group is happy to introduce you Antonio and Maria Grazia, winners of the 2014 edition of “Archetipo Brides & Grooms” photo contest.
Hundreds were the competing photos. Tens of thousands of votes were given by web users. Ten were the finalist couples among which a commission selected one single winner. The chosen photo charmed the judges for the perfect harmony of the couple, the visual composition and the technical execution of the photo.
Antonio and Maria Grazia are the winners of the third edition of “Archetipo Brides & Grooms” contest which this year awards an Italian couple, after the winning of a Dutch one in 2012 and a Belgian one in 2013. The enchanting bride and groom, who live on the shore of Garda Lake, chose to celebrate their wedding on Manfredonia Gulf, in the region of Puglia where Antonio bought his elegant Cleofe Finati by Archetipo suit at the official retail store Via Zannotti Sposo in San Severo (Foggia, Italy).
The contest is organized by Archetipo and is open to all the grooms who choose to wear the excellence of a suit of Cleofe Finati or Unconventional Collections by Archetipo on their wedding day. The success met by the last edition was extraordinary. The contest involved and entertained the brides and groom in the competition, together with their friends and relatives. Great is the expectation for the new 2015 edition, which went online on February 1st at www.archetipo.com. The exclusive prize for the winners is a dream weekend in Venice, the city of Love, to live again a new honeymoon sponsored by the Archetipo Group.
The Archetipo Team interviewed the Italian winning couple, asking them to tell more about their love story.
– Dear Antonio and Maria Grazia, can you talk about your first kiss?
Maria Grazia: We met a few days before at a concert in memory of Lucio Battisti, Antonio played the cello in the orchestra. We remember it as if it were yesterday, against the backdrop of a warm late summer night, the moon and the sea witnessed that first kiss, with the sand between my feet and the heart throbbing with emotion. It was August 30th, 2003.
Antonio: Unforgettable… We were immersed in the world around us while we were gone. It was just me and her and the time ticked only for us, in the crowd, unaware of everything and heedless of others.
– Who did the proposal of marriage to the other? And how was it?
Maria Grazia: On the 11th and 12th of December we went to Venice for a romantic weekend, everything was wrapped in magic. It was 2010. After a wonderful day in the alleys of this young city, we arrived in the evening on the Guglie Bridge, where my husband with a beautiful declaration of love asked me to marry him, pulling out of his coat a ring that he put on my finger after taking off my glove with his magic touch.
Antonio: It’s hard to tell. I toured Venice for a whole day with the case of the ring stuck in the pocket of my coat! My first idea, which marked my mind ever since I had the idea to marry her, was a classic gondola ride… “Awesome, I cannot wait! “ I told myself . But it did not go well . When a gondolier came and asked us to enjoy some corners of Venice across the lagoon on his gondola, with the use of the left hand (in my pocket), I tried to slide out the case place in the inside pocket of the coat so I could be ready, for the valuable event. But I could not! The case was stuck in my pocket and I would never be able to pull it off “unobtrusively”! Imagine the proposal of the gondolier, an ambitious boy and a stuck ring! She said, “Honey, what’s wrong? Is it all right? What do you say? Didn’t you want to go by gondola?” We refused with the intent to return later and we continued our walk. We went to dinner and later, during the return to the hotel, I was finally able to “unleash” my ring. And so, on the Guglie Bridge I stopped her. She begins to tremble strangely (but only because it was cold!), looking into her eyes I slowly took off the gloves while speaking of our story together until then. I handed out the box (which at that time I was cursing!), telling the famous words, and, suddenly, a “yes” burst from her lips. The sweetest “yes” of my life!
– Question for him: which was the first thought you had when you saw yourself in the mirror wearing the Archetipo’s suit?
Antonio: Wow, very nice! Today not only the bride will be observed. After the wedding I’ll buy another one!
– Question for her: what was your first thought when you saw him wearing the Archetipo’s suit?
Maria Grazia: When I saw my husband with the Archetipo’s suit he seemed a prince, just like in fairy tales; I was struck by the elegance, originality, bright color, simply unique.
– Now dedicate a song to each other…
Maria Grazia: “Il giorno più bello” (The most beautiful day) by Francesco Renga:
“With you it has begun,
My most beautiful travel in the world, I made it with you
It is a smile that has risen
It seems to open every door
It seems to open them every time
That I’m with you
We were only two lost lovers
When the universe linked the dots
Sun and moon, heat and cold in one single second
When we finally started spinning
It is a feeling that seems innate as if you had always been with me
As if I had always known you
But the wonder is that I met you.”
Antonio: “E penso a te” (And I think of you) by Lucio Battisti
“I don’t know who you are with now
I don’t know what you are doing
But I know for certain what are you thinking of
The city is too big
For two like us
Who don’t hope for, but they are looking for each other”
The Archetipo Group had the pleasure to interview Ciro Conte, owner of the historical store Via Zannotti Sposo in San Severo (province of Foggia, Italy) where Antonio bought his wedding suit.
– Ciro, did the groom know already what suit he wanted, or did he rely on your experience and professionalism to make the choice?
No, entering the store Antonio did not know what he wanted yet, he trusted my advice. The groom’s family comes from a town 25 kilometers far from San Sever, so his parents knew me and they relied on the professionalism that characterizes Via Zannotti Sposo. I, as usual, asked him a few questions about his wedding, the time, the location… and then I presented a suit that played with lines and color.
– How did you make the groom fall in love with his Cleofe Finati by Archetipo suit?
I didn’t have to do much about it, it was love at first sight. What charmed the groom was the right balance of accessories, the beautiful line of the suit, the color – a bright blue – different from what you usually see around. Antonio told me he had already tried other suits in other stores, but he wanted something able to break the rules. And us at Via Zannotti Sposo we know well what “breaking the rules” means thanks to Cleofe Finati by Archetipo collections!
– Which was your first thought when you saw the groom wearing the suit?
It’s his suit! Usually, when I do believe that it is the right suit for a customer, I try to convey it to him, to give him confirmation whenever he has doubts. But with Antonio I didn’t need to do it! We had the same thought at the same time, it was that suit he was looking for.
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