Fendi heiress married handsome beau in full black tie wedding in Ibiza 

Fashion scion Paola Fendi tied the knot with her glamorous fiancé on Saturday in a wedding that proved to be one of the biggest society events of the last 18 months.

Paola wed her fiancé Aram Ahmed at a 13th-century cathedral in Ibiza before the pair celebrated with an extravagant reception at one of the White Isle’s most luxurious hotels, the Atzaró Agroturismo.

Photographs shared on Instagram by the bride and guests give the first glimpse inside the lavish ceremony, from the service to the first dance.  

Despite her family’s history, Paola opted not to wear Fendi and instead wore a dramatic Valentino gown featuring full skirt, high neck and long lace sleeves, while Aram also wore a white tux. 

Typically understated, the bride kept her beauty, hair and accessories simple, choosing a pair of diamond earrings and wearing her hair swept back and pinned with a glittering hairpiece.  

The day began with a church ceremony in a 13th century cathedral decorated with huge floral displays, trees and vines. 

In snaps shared by guests from the day, the couple could be seen standing in front of a priest and surrounded by greenery. The happy couple walked down an aisle filled with white flowers. 

Later, they travelled to one of the most famous spa hotels in Ibiza, Atzaró Agroturismo, where guests partied in the hotel’s thirteen hectares of fragrant orange groves and abundant gardens.

Celebrations were kickstarted with the entrance of the bride and groom to a raucous band, before guests dined on tables decorated with purple flowers.  

Later, they were invited to dance to the DJ set before Paola and Aram came together for snaps in front of the flower wall backdrop and cutting the cake. 

The event marked the biggest society wedding of the last 18 months after scores of aristocrats across Europe were forced to put plans for their lavish nuptials on hold due to the pandemic.   

Spain’s looser Covid-19 restrictions meant up to 300 guests could dance the afternoon away indoors. 

The bride studied at Oxford University before attending Boston University and pursuing a career in the art world.

She is currently working for Christie’s auction house in New York as a specialist in post-war and contemporary art.

She became engaged to her now husband Aram in London in 2019. 

Of her grandmother, Paola told fashion brand Kitri’s website in 2019: ‘My grandmother, who I am named after, and my mother. I come from a family of elegant, intelligent, independent, strong, confident, creative and innovative women. 

‘My grandmother is always curious, always looking at the future and very wise. She started working when she was 14 years old in the world of fashion and, alongside her sisters, they have created a beautiful legacy. Both her and my mother have influenced my style as well as my work ethic and ambition.’

The event was a far cry from the family’s humble origins nearly a century ago.

The sisters’ mother, Adele Casagrande, opened a small leather workshop in 1918 just off Rome’s bustling Piazza Venezia.

Adele Casagrande married Eduardo Fendi in 1925 and the two opened a small boutique next door and lived above the shop.

The five sisters were born between 1931 and 1940 and as children they played among the leather shreds on the shop floor and slept amid the handbags.

‘Accessories were our first toys,’ Carla Fendi once told Women’s Wear Daily.

The sisters moved to company to the chic neighbourhood around Rome’s Spanish steps in the 1960s and in later expanded into ready-to-wear, shoes, perfume, household goods and children’s wear.

The company received a big boost from the creative collaboration of Karl Lagerfeld, who helped in the design of clothes, furs, and accessories after being enlisted with Carla and sisters Paola, Anna, Franca and Alda.

Animal rights activists frequently protested against the company for its use of furs.

But speaking to the Daily Mail’s Helen Weathers in 2005, a defiant Carla insisted: ‘At Fendi, fur was never out.

‘We have never stopped using it and have always treated it as the most luxurious fabric. People say fur is back because women want the freedom to wear whatever they want.’

In her later years, Carla Fendi became a well-known patron of the arts. Deeply committed to Rome and its culture, her foundation financed the restoration of the city’s famous Trevi Fountain.

She was also a chief patron of the Two Worlds arts festival in the Umbrian city of Spoleto.

Between them, the five sisters had 11 children followed by more than 30 grandchildren.