People who have never been to Bracciano tend to imagine a castle out in the countryside. Then you drive into the town, turn a corner, and there it is: round towers of dark stone rising above the rooftops, and behind them the lake. A Castello Odescalchi wedding is less than an hour from the center of Rome, and that's a big part of why couples choose it. You get a real castle and your guests still sleep in the city.

We've worked at the castle more than once (Beatrice & Evan's wedding was here too). Roxana & Kyle's is the one that ended up on the cover of ELLE, so it felt like the right moment to write about the place properly.

The castle was the last chapter of a three-day weekend designed by the planner and floral designer Jolanta Mila. It began with dinner for eighty guests at Taverna Capranica, a few steps from the Pantheon, and continued with a Capri-themed party at La Lanterna, the glass and steel structure by Fuksas above the rooftops of Rome. You can read the whole story in ELLE Italia.

The short version of a long history

The castle was built in the fifteenth century by the Orsini family and passed to the Odescalchi at the end of the seventeenth. They still own it, and you can feel it. This isn't a hotel dressed up as a castle: it's a house, with family portraits, armour and frescoed rooms that are still looked after. In 2006 it became famous around the world for a certain Hollywood wedding. For us it's simply one of the most photogenic places within reach of Rome.

A ceremony among the flowers

Roxana & Kyle married outdoors with a Persian ceremony, a tribute to Roxana's roots, on the garden terrace below the walls: a mirrored aisle that reflected the sky, gold chairs and soft pastel flowers: lilac alliums, peach and blush roses, hydrangeas. At the edge of the terrace a violinist in a golden crown played inside a carved white frame, with the lake behind her. It's the kind of idea that sounds odd on paper and looks extraordinary in a photograph.

The ceremony garden catches the late afternoon sun beautifully. If you're planning one here, a ceremony about an hour and a half before sunset gives warm light on faces and a lake that glows behind the guests.

When Kyle dipped Roxana for their first kiss as a married couple, the guests on both sides of the aisle were already on their feet. That photograph is the cover of their story on our site.

The courtyard at night

After sunset the party moved into the main courtyard. The walls were washed with projected flowers and swirls of red, long tables ran between the arches, and a quartet of musicians in scarlet gowns played among the guests. ELLE chose this moment for its cover.

Projections are harder to photograph than they look. The color of the light changes every few seconds, and skin goes from pink to blue and back again. We don't fight it. We wait for the warmer frames for portraits and use the colder ones for the architecture.

And then the party

A first dance under the lights, then a dance floor that didn't empty until very late. Some of my favorite frames from the night are in black and white: the groom in the middle of his friends, and a guest who had claimed a white sofa as his own and wasn't giving it back.

Planning a wedding at Castello Odescalchi

• The castle is in the middle of Bracciano. Organize shuttles from Rome and allow about an hour each way, more on a Saturday evening.
• Use at least two spaces: the gardens for the ceremony, the courtyard or the halls for the evening. Moving guests keeps the night alive, and it gives you very different photographs.
• If you're planning projections, candles or special lighting, share the plan with your photographer and videographer early.
• Drone images are possible, but as anywhere in Italy they need permissions.

See the full story of Roxana & Kyle at Castello Odescalchi. If Bracciano is on your list, tell us about your date.