Michael Penhollow first met Gina Morra when the Boston Bruins were in the finals for the 2019 Stanley Cup in St. Louis. Michael was a video production manager for the team and Gina was in event communications for the NHL. The pair were seated next to each other at a dinner, instantly clicked, and decided to exchange numbers. A few months later, the two officially began a long-distance relationship between Boston and New York.
By August 2022, the two not only were living in the same city, but decided to spend the rest of their lives together—and the proposal took place while the couple were on vacation in Dubrovnik, Croatia. “It was a hot summer day, with rare rain expected in the forecast,” says Michael. “As the clouds approached on our walk back from Old Dubrovnik, I muttered, ‘Of all the days, for it to rain… Of all the days!’ Gina laughed and was like, ‘Since when do you care if it rains or not?’ Little did she know I needed to set up a photoshoot overlooking the city of Dubrovnik, propose, and have a nice romantic dinner at the panorama restaurant at the top of the mountain overlooking the city.” Luckily, the forecast was going to clear in the evening and Michael set up a tripod of the view at their Airbnb. He shares, “It was then we got about 1000 photos of us together on the self timer, as I proposed and Gina said yes!”
Gina and Michael decided to have a longer engagement, ultimately choosing a wedding date of July 31, 2024. “We took our time planning our wedding, which allowed us to truly understand what we wanted for our special day,” Gina says. Her sister was also getting married in July 2023, so it provided her parents—including Condé Nast vice president of global content business operations, Christine DiPresso Morra—some breathing room between each celebration. As avid travelers with Italian roots, Gina and Michael decided Tuscany would be the perfect location for their celebrations. The venue Terre Di Nano would be exclusively theirs for the weekend and allowed select guests to stay on the property for the destination wedding.
Organizing a wedding abroad has its challenges, but Gina took on the task along with their planner Guya Venturoli and Ilaria de Pieri, who helped coordinate with the venue. “It came with its stresses, but in the end it was truly worth every moment of the planning stages,” says Gina. “Michael definitely kept me grounded during those high-stress moments! Also, Pinterest was my best friend during the planning process.” She adds, “I have over 500-plus pins of wedding items.” While the bride took the lead on ideating the wedding, Michael worked on curating their 34-day honeymoon around Europe that would follow.
