Wedding abroad - wedding planner or not?

mrsberries

Hi all

We got engaged last week and are over the moon. Planning on tying the knot next April and have my heart set on Italy. Having a small intimate wedding of 50 guests max. Also want to keep costs down as much as possible as dont want to borrow for it. With no idea of destinations or where to start im wondering what to do. Should I visit a travel agents or go through a wedding planner or organise it myself? The planners online seem to be quite pricey, with costs up to 17k for the day itself without outfits/jewellery/flights/honeymoon...

Anyone managed to do this on a budget and any advice/suggestions welcome!! :pac:

Glowing

I'm in the same boat as yourself, planners are coming back with quotes of around 2k! Difficult to know what to do since I don't have a word of Italian on top of everything else.

I've heard from people who've had Italian weddings before that the larger hotels have planners who will arrange everything for you .... and who might also be able to organise the ceremony. Worst case, they should have contacts for you at least.

I'm doing as much planning online as possible, emailing hotels and restaurants and getting wedding packs. I'm making a shortlist of venues and going over to Italy in June to visit. I'm also going to meet with a planner to see what they have to offer, and i'll make my mind up then.

Best of luck! P.S What part of Italy are you thinking?

mrsberries

Thanks Glowing! Im so excited about it all. Have done very little research to date but a few names are catching my attention -Cinque de Terre and Positano..but very early days!

Do you have any ideas of areas you want to concentrate on or are you open to all ideas?

Glowing

For me, it's really important that our guests can get to our venue easily and cheaply - and that there's a large variety of accommodation of all price ranges!

That's why I'm looking at the Italian Lakes (less than an hour from Milan, and both aerlingus and ryanair fly there) and also Florence, as you can get there in less than an hour from both Pisa and Bologna ...

I thought about the Amalfi coast as it's supposed to be amazing, but prices are way higher down there, accommodation is pricey, and it's slightly more awkward to get there. I also like the idea of a Tuscan Villa in the countryside rather than an expensive sea-side hotel.

It all comes down to personal preferences, you can't look for venues everywhere as it's just so much work, so I've just decided to focus my efforts on 2 or 3 accessable regions, rather than finding the dream venue in Positano only to find the flights are crazy!

Good luck!! weddingsonline.ie is a great resource by the way!!

barbiegirl

We went with an area on the border of Umbria and Tuscany. Easy to get to via the trains and they can also organise a transfer bus for guests. Look at Villa Baroncino and Villa San Crispolto. Marco organises everything and the planning costs are very low as are in reality all the other costs. He's excellen t highly recommended.

tinkerbell

Glowing wrote: »

Well firstly .. you've got much better value food and wine, then there's the weather and the scenery .... plus I don't want to have a Church wedding, so getting married in Italy will allow us to get married in the open air - in a beautiful lake side garden, or in a park.

Regading the service, it will either be carried out in English or we'll have a translator. I don't think waiter/bar service will be an issue tbh .... it's never an issue when you go on holidays!

I think it's a great idea getting married abroad! I thought though that you can't conduct a wedding ceremony in Italy though just anywhere, e.g. a park, garden, etc.? I thought it had to be conducted in a town hall by the mayor and if not, then the mayor decides where is appropriate? Or maybe I've heard wrong. I also thought that the service is usually in Italian with a translator. Correct me if I'm wrong though, I could be way wrong!

Glowing

There are different rules in different regions of Italy. In the Lakes for example, you can have your ceremony in the gardens of a villa for example ... but I think in other cities, you may have to go to the town hall!

mrsberries

All sounds good Glowing. Your reasons are the same as mine for wanting to do it abroad/in Italy. Ive contacted a few wedding planners now to try and get an idea of prices, but havent ruled out not using one either.

When are you planning on doing it? We are looking at April next year. Hopefully plenty of time to organise this.

nedoo

Away every time. Did it myself in Spain and would do it again( dont tell the wife!). Ireland has no idea of service when you compare it. Now I did go 5 star there but we have nothing here that would match, our five stars are just not the same ( and I work in the industry)

Wedding organiser over a wedding planner. Great for translations, paperwork etc. If you have a wedding in mind, find the location and talk to the hotel crew, they will do the most of the work for you. Wedding planners tend to refair their buddies and have seen and heard some horror stories. Make it easy on yourself. Dont do a run down castle with no facilities, you have enough going on.

Build a good relationship with the manager, go out a few times to go over details, tastings, see another wedding out there. Costs are building but if you are bringing 50 people that distance, it needs to be right. Think of everything from your guests point of view and have them wanting for nothing. Transport everywhere during the wedding, food and drink on tap for them for the day, they have spent enough between your gift, flights and hotels.

Know the law re closing times, music etc. Very different to ours.

We did direct family and friend. 75 of the people we love and had the best time. F*&k the relis that you haven't seen in years, its your day. Will cause a bit of upset but again f*&k them!

Most of all enjoy the process. It is the biggest and best party you will ever organise. It is stressful but sure is that not great training for marrage!:D

Good luck with it and your life together. Neddo

mrsberries

nedoo wrote: »

Away every time. Did it myself in Spain and would do it again( dont tell the wife!). Ireland has no idea of service when you compare it. Now I did go 5 star there but we have nothing here that would match, our five stars are just not the same ( and I work in the industry)

Wedding organiser over a wedding planner. Great for translations, paperwork etc. If you have a wedding in mind, find the location and talk to the hotel crew, they will do the most of the work for you. Wedding planners tend to refair their buddies and have seen and heard some horror stories. Make it easy on yourself. Dont do a run down castle with no facilities, you have enough going on.

Build a good relationship with the manager, go out a few times to go over details, tastings, see another wedding out there. Costs are building but if you are bringing 50 people that distance, it needs to be right. Think of everything from your guests point of view and have them wanting for nothing. Transport everywhere during the wedding, food and drink on tap for them for the day, they have spent enough between your gift, flights and hotels.

Know the law re closing times, music etc. Very different to ours.

We did direct family and friend. 75 of the people we love and had the best time. F*&k the relis that you haven't seen in years, its your day. Will cause a bit of upset but again f*&k them!

Most of all enjoy the process. It is the biggest and best party you will ever organise. It is stressful but sure is that not great training for marrage!:D

Good luck with it and your life together. Neddo

Thanks Needo that was helpful. My friend got married in Cyrpus a few years ago and the day was not what they expected and they were disappointed. Im keen not to let this happen to us.

Cheers mrsberries

gosnold

Mrsberries We were married in Positano almost 3 years ago. Couldn't recommend the location highly enough. The scenery & our wedding photos are stunning. However, we used T**flight and unfortunately I would not recommend them to anyone. The wedding co-ordinator & rep over there were fine but the service here was brutal. Waited forever and day for them to come back to me with information and we had to organise going to meet the priest ourselves beforehand which caused an awful lot of hassle and the waste of an entire day. We were married in a small church on the top of a cliff overlooking the sea and the ceremony was conducted by an english speaking priest. HTH:)

Biro

Best plan is to visit Italy on a holiday before hand and decide on the venue on that trip. Talk to the hotels directly and get a contact name and you'll have that part done. They'll know the local people for various contacts for anything else you'll need, and they'll be helpfull because you'll be giving them your business.
Then for any part you're stuck there's the Irish embassy in Italy or the Italian Embassy in Ireland for questions, or for any part where you're stuck for communication, hire an Italian lecturer for half an hour for a few bob from a college close to you for some phone conversations! All much cheaper than some 2 and a half grand wedding ripper-offer!! Also check the tourist offices in the region of interest for more info.

Portofino WP

Hi,
I just wanted to say that not all wedding planners have "ripper-off offers".
It much depends on who you stumble.. Unfortunately today there are many who run their company for a year and then close and try to make most money out of the business so references are very very important.

I'm sure that if you enquire the planners you like while honestly explaining your needs and requirements most of them will be able to review their fee or, in case they can't, obtain better prices and conditions from suppliers in your name. Have you tried in this way?
The best thing you could do is ask the planners to have a look at your budget and let you know if it is achievable (prices are often related to the areas as some are more expensive than others)

Cheers!
Alice

mrsberries

Portofino WP wrote: »

Hi,
I just wanted to say that not all wedding planners have "ripper-off offers".
It much depends on who you stumble.. Unfortunately today there are many who run their company for a year and then close and try to make most money out of the business so references are very very important.

I'm sure that if you enquire the planners you like while honestly explaining your needs and requirements most of them will be able to review their fee or, in case they can't, obtain better prices and conditions from suppliers in your name. Have you tried in this way?
The best thing you could do is ask the planners to have a look at your budget and let you know if it is achievable (prices are often related to the areas as some are more expensive than others)

Cheers!
Alice

Thanks! Im actually in touch with a planner through WOL and getting quotes now. However, she claims not to charge any fees - does this mean she will be getting commission from local businesses or am i being cynical?

Also, to organise a church wedding, has anyone done this themselves? How difficult is this to do without having any Italian?

Portofino WP

Hi mrsberries,
it probably means that in the best case she is getting commissions or adding mark ups or both. Why don't you ask her? You are allowed to know how you will be paying for her services..
Her price is probably a % of your budget on the services she provides you..

As for the religious wedding I think it much depends on the local priest because he would be the one you should rely on. All the priests I know don't want to handle paperwork and when I go to the Curacy I often see a lot of paperwork which is left there because nobody picks it up.
Itay is not that developed under this aspect, priests (at least the ones I know here) expect someone to personally bring the paperwork to the Curacy and back and then take it to the church, they won't deliver anything..
Another small issue is that not all priests speak English, so often this is the first problem.
You would have to call the Curacy of the area your are getting married and enquire.
Wish you all the luck!
Ciao,
Alice

mrsberries

Portofino WP wrote: »

Hi mrsberries,
it probably means that in the best case she is getting commissions or adding mark ups or both. Why don't you ask her? You are allowed to know how you will be paying for her services..
Her price is probably a % of your budget on the services she provides you..

As for the religious wedding I think it much depends on the local priest because he would be the one you should rely on. All the priests I know don't want to handle paperwork and when I go to the Curacy I often see a lot of paperwork which is left there because nobody picks it up.
Itay is not that developed under this aspect, priests (at least the ones I know here) expect someone to personally bring the paperwork to the Curacy and back and then take it to the church, they won't deliver anything..
Another small issue is that not all priests speak English, so often this is the first problem.
You would have to call the Curacy of the area your are getting married and enquire.
Wish you all the luck!
Ciao,
Alice

Thanks Alice, good to know how it works, and I guess this is how paying a WP would make good sense..

lilly82

Hi Mrsberries,

A friend of mine got married last year in Positano and had the reception in Sorrento. We all loved it and her wedding day was just perfect. She had a catholic ceremony. All was organised through an Italian girl that used to work for somebody in Ireland but she just started her own business in Dublin because a friend of mine contacted her and said she was very reasonable. I think her site is www.perfectitalianweddings.com
Best of luck