For newlyweds Lisa Losco and Byron Fenech, their wedding day was one filled with countless happy memories. From Lisa and her sisters – singer Ira Losco and model Jacqui Losco – getting ready together in the morning at their family home in Sliema, to the couple dancing the night away surrounded by hundreds of guests at Villa Corinthia, theirs was the kind of wedding that people dream about.
But let’s backtrack a bit – to 2010, when the couple, who are now expecting their first child together, first met at work, as pilots. “We spent the summer with a particular group of colleagues and became very close over the next couple of years. According to Byron, I then bullied him into going out with me! But that isn’t quite how I remember it,” Lisa grins.
They were together for seven years, three of which were spent long distance when Lisa worked in Brussels. “We commuted every week, which was challenging of course, but also the making of us,” the bride explains. Byron planned the perfect proposal for Lisa at the end of January 2018. “He had booked a lovely restaurant on the day of the X Factor final – which my sister Ira was judging – and, although both of my sisters knew he was going to propose, it slipped Ira’s mind the night before, and she invited me to the live show,” Lisa recalls. “And I accepted! When Byron objected, I was a little annoyed and said we could eat out any night of week. I even asked him not to make a big deal out of it.”
“He quickly messaged Ira to remind her what was going on and she immediately came up with an excuse about not being able to get tickets for the show after all. So on the night, it was all very unexpected – especially as I’d never thought he wanted to get married. When the dessert arrived with a diamond ring beside it, there were quite a few tears of joy!”
Initially, Lisa says she wanted a Capri-style wedding outdoors – complete with lemons in her bouquet. “However, my mother kept reminding me that July – our chosen month – would be extremely hot. So, after some persuasion, I opted for an indoor venue so that we could make use of air-conditioning.”
Lisa and Byron ended up choosing the Sacred Heart College Chapel for their ceremony, followed by Villa Corinthia at the Corinthia Palace in Attard for their reception. “I was a student at the Sacred Heart, and have always loved the chapel and the quadrangle leading up to it,” Lisa smiles. “I would even have moved the date to guarantee we could get married there, so I guess that was the only element that my heart was completely set on.”
Asked about their choice for the reception, Lisa explains that her parents had actually had their wedding party at the Villa Corinthia, and she loved the idea of getting married in the same place they did. “It was perfect,” she says, adding that she was guided by Corinthia Palace wedding planner Johanna Ward every step of the way. “I just loved the interior and art deco style. We ended up being so inspired by the art deco elements that we used it as a feature across our invitations, booklet, and ‘thank you’ cards, with gold lettering and an art deco font.”
The couple chose to keep things classic for much of their choices, with dinner jackets for Byron and the groomsmen, and almond-flavouring for their wedding and witness cakes. “That said, we did go a little wild on other elements, like the Rickshaw-themed table that we chose to reflect our love of Asian food.”
Lisa has many favourite memories of both the run-up to the wedding and the big day. Choosing her dress from Wedding Bells in Valletta was a highlight of course, and it was actually her first purchase – long before the date was set or the venues booked. “My sister Jacqui had modelled some dresses from Wedding Bells, so when I showed her the sort of thing I was after, she forwarded the pictures to Marquita there and then, and she had quite a few dresses in that style.”
“I made an appointment and tried on six dresses. They were all beautiful, but I instantly knew the one I wanted when I put it on,” says Lisa. “But that’s also when something rather funny happened: my mum took a photo of me in my chosen dress and, in all the excitement, uploaded it to a WhatsApp chat that Byron is part of! Thankfully, he claims he never saw it, but I can’t be sure…”
Of course, getting ready with her sisters, best friend and family on the day is also a cherished memory, as was seeing Byron’s smile as she walked up the aisle. “It was a magical moment,” she recalls fondly. “Unfortunately, I was sobbing uncontrollably, so I don’t even have one good photo of me at that crucial time!”
“There were so many special little touches that all came together,” Lisa says. “The venue was beautifully lit and fabulously set up. It was also fun to see the whiskey room and gin bar come to life as the night went on, as the guests really seemed to enjoy them.” All in all, Lisa and Byron – who are now expecting their first child together – really do look back on their wedding as the most special day, and they say they loved every minute of it. “It was a great start to us hopefully spending our whole lives together,” the bride adds with a smile.
Matthew Mirabelli