C For Men

HIP SERVICE musicians herald the bride’s arrival at the lush Burlingame Country Club.
The bride, wearing a dress she designed in collaboration with PAOLA QUADRETTI, and groom are joined by their Jack Russell, Lola.
Reception tables set under trellises woven with lemon and magnolia branches.
Brightly colored Moroccan lanterns illuminate the after‑party.
Chandeliers glow during the evening reception.
After-party tents evoke a Moroccan casbah.
An Italian-inspired alfresco dinner.
The bride and groom listen to speeches.
Francesca hugs her father.
Fire dancers.

That’s Amore

by slh

Francesca Fay and Charles Darling set an Italian feast on the grounds of a lush Hillsborough property.

What’s a San Francisco girl to do when she’s spent years dreaming of a small Italian wedding, but realizes she wants to include a lengthy guest list of friends and family? Francesca Fay re-created a Renaissance-inspired celebration set at the Burlingame Country Club in Northern California, formerly home to bank scion William H. Crocker, for her alfresco wedding to Charles Darling. The bride, a recruiter for MuleSoft, a San Francisco-based software integration company, grew up in S.F. frequenting the Hillsborough-based club, but met her Washington, D.C.-raised husband in 2012 while living in New York. After a first date at a West Village taqueria, the pair became inseparable and soon relocated to San Francisco, where Charles, president and COO of DQ China Holdings and CEO of West Avenue Group, proposed with Lola, the couple’s Jack Russell, in tow.

Once Francesca and Charles settled on a Hillsborough wedding, rather than jetting off to Italy, they devised an outdoor Tuscan celebration with unique local modifications. “I’ve seen gardens changing with the drought, and since green is my favorite color and I’ve always loved the range of succulent hues, we decided to use them,” says Francesca. Guests dined on chicken piccata and mushroom risotto—dishes that mimicked family recipes from Francesca’s Rome-born grandmother—below trellises woven with succulents and lemon tree and magnolia branches. Francesca selected a childhood favorite for dessert: carrot cake from San Mateo’s Draeger’s Market. Similarly, at the post-party resembling a Moroccan casbah, late-night revelers snacked on It’s-It mint-chip ice-cream sandwiches. “Growing up at the country club, it’s the dessert I’d eat while sitting by the pool,” says Francesca. Thus, a lush Italian wedding became a truly Californian affair. 


VENUE Burlingame Country Club PLANNER Elizabeth Horton of Garden Gate Events FLORIST Garden Gate Events, La Follia ENTERTAINMENT Hip Service, Sacred Fire Dance, SF Booking Agency RENTALS Bright Event Rentals, Raj Tents DRESS Paola Quadretti FLORAL CROWNS Moon in Flora


PHOTOGRAPHY BY ANDREW WEEKS.
WRITTEN BY ELIZABETH VARNELL.