PHOTOS BY BRAD RIGGIO PHOTOGRAPHY

Most wedding gifts for couples come off a registry. Newlyweds Julia Moran and Adam Feldmann received something they did not register for: a vacation of a lifetime.

Julia and Adam held their ceremony and reception at Bella Sera Event Villa & Catering in Canonsburg on Dec. 9, 2022. The couple’s big day, unknown to them when they chose their date, was the 1,000th wedding celebrated at the location.

Owner Jason Capps opened his business in 1999 as Greco’s Gourmet Catering in the South Hills but expanded and opened Bella Sera at the current site in 2006.

As a commemoration gift, he decided to give away a 10-day vacation to the 1,000th wedding couple at his villa in Tuscany, Italy. The gift was also sponsored by a touring company Capps owns, Jason’s Journeys, which operates in Italy and Croatia.

“This is a small token of our gratitude, but it’s more than that,” Capps says. “It’s really acknowledging the 999 brides and grooms and the next 999. This just happens to have a number that fell on that day.”

Julia and Adam, who live in Whitehall, met through mutual friends when Julia attended Gannon University and Adam attended Mercyhurst University. They dated for six years prior to their engagement.

After Adam proposed to Julia in February 2022, the couple knew they did not want to have a long engagement. Julia, who works as a nurse practitioner, says some of her patients recommended Bella Sera. When Julia and Adam toured the venue, Capps told them there was a chance they could be the recipient of his upcoming giveaway.

“Adam and I thought, ‘There’s no way it’s going to be us,’” says Julia. “Never did we expect that it was going to be us.”

PHOTO COURTESY BELLA SERA

Bella Sera announced in March 2022 that Adam and Julia would be receiving the getaway — their wedding set for Dec. 9, 2022, would officially be the 1000th wedding at the venue. On the day of their celebration, the couple’s family and friends had a memorable time.

“It was literally a dream come true,” Julia says. “We would not have changed a single thing.”

The couple took a honeymoon to Jamaica shortly after the wedding and hope to use their Italian getaway prize in 2024.