italy wedding

cailinrua2011

hi guys so i am looking for any advice ye might be able to give me on getting married in Italy. i have narrowed the locations down to either Sicily, Lake Como or Riva del garda on lake garda. has anyone been or gotten married in either of the above locations. if so any advise regarding hotels, planners, costs etc would be really useful as i dont know where to begin and have just decided with himself to go abroad to get married. i like the idea of doing it all myself instead of getting a planner as i love to get stuck into things. wedding would be for roughly 50 guests also. thanks in advance guys

Glowing

Have a look at Villa Cipresi on lake como - it was stunning. We decided in the end to go with Artimino in Tuscany which was amazing! But if you're looking in the lake, cipresi is the way to go

cailinrua2011

thanks will definately have a look at that:)

nikki79

Glowing wrote: »

Have a look at Villa Cipresi on lake como - it was stunning. We decided in the end to go with Artimino in Tuscany which was amazing! But if you're looking in the lake, cipresi is the way to go

I am also considering getting married in Italy so any advice is greatly appreciated also but just wondering is there a big saving by going away compare to an Irish wedding?

Glowing,
Were you glad you got married abroad? Tuscany does sound fantastic. My fiance & I are struggling to decide, but he is veering more towards Italy than Ireland!

PCPhoto

some friends of mine got married in Sicily - absolutely fantastic scenery and the family and friends who really wanted to go and those that you want to bring will be the ones to make the effort.

Glowing

Hi all - i'll try condense this as I could probably talk about it forever.

My husband and I got married last June in Artimino, Tuscany (www.artimino.com). We wanted a small-ish wedding, non-religious and wanted to make a weekend of it. We had about 65 guests and had the absolute time of our lives!

Artimino is a small hamlet village up on the top of a hill overlooking the Tuscan counrtyside - it has it's own vinyards and olive groves, and a huge Medici villa and 4* hotel on the land. It is without a doubt, stunning! Our guests stayed in these beautiful apartments, some stayed in the hotel - they're only a 5 min walk from each other. There are a few restaurants in the village and 2 swimming pools - the apartment guests could use the hotel facilities and visa versa. What is really nice about that place is that it's so quiet and out of the way that you really feel like you have the whole place to yourselves and your guests. It's so so beautiful, yet only about 30 mins on the train to the centre of Florence!

Our wedding ceremony was in the hallway of the Medici villa - at 5pm under the evening sun. It was really nice and relaxed and I think our guests enjoyed it! After some refreshments on the lawns, we had a buffet of starters in the wine cellar of the villa, it was unbelievable! Dinner was served around 7.30 up in the halls on the first floor of the villa - and the food was only gorgeous! We had asparagus risotto and roast suckling pig among other things, it was divine. We had a free bar too which was great!

From a logistic point of view I think it worked great. Most of our guests flew with AerLingus to Bologna and we organised a bus for them to get to the hotel (about 1.5 hour drive) - some guests opted to make a week's holiday and flew into Rome and got the train - supposed to be a really scenic trip. Most of the guests did a Sat -> Tues trip with the wedding on the bank holiday monday so it worked out really well.

We had Bartosz Jastal as our photographer (amazing, a whole other thread!), and Guty and Simone provided our music. We had a pre-wedding party in a small tuscan trattoria called Botegga Peruzzi (food and wine for 20 a head!) which was just beside the apartments so really couldn't have worked out any better!

If you have any questions let me know! We're off again for our anniversary and am really looking forward to seeing it again!

P.S I never really answered your question! Yes, without a doubt, getting married in Italy was the best thing we ever did. It was just so memorable and our guests are still talking about it! I have to say the planners in the Villa were fantastic too and really made the whole process so enjoyable. I'd love to do it all over again

Here's one pic - more attached

nikki79

Glowing wrote: »

Hi all - i'll try condense this as I could probably talk about it forever.

My husband and I got married last June in Artimino, Tuscany (www.artimino.com). We wanted a small-ish wedding, non-religious and wanted to make a weekend of it. We had about 65 guests and had the absolute time of our lives!

Looks fantastic. If you dont mind me asking how did you hear about this place or did you do all the research yourselves even the photographer & music side of things? The pre wedding party sides brilliant too.

I would have alot of people who would be up for a session ana havin the craic, is there many local pubs where you could get this:D?!

Thanks for this & enjoy your anniversary!

Glowing

We visited Italy in 2009 and looked at loads of venues around Lake Como and Tuscany - Artimino beat them all hands down with regard to scenery, accessibility and cost

The photographer and music we found ourselves by trawling forums and websites, I'd highly recommend both our choices - i'll upload some of the professional pics shortly so you can see the scenery at it's best!

On our first night there, there is a huge terrace that is shared by 3 of the apartments with stunning views, we made sure to reserve those particular apartments and had a party there with supermarket bought meat/cheese/crusty bread and 4 euro bottles of wine! There was a hilarious local style bar that we all went to afterwards and drank until the wee hours - it is the oddest little place but great for a get together! The second night then was the more formal party in the Trattoria so it we were kept eating and drinking from the minute we arrived!!!

nikki79

Really does sound amazing & sounds exactly like what my fiance would love to do & me too but I would just be worried about all the organising that goes with it e.g guests, making sure they had good time as they would probably make it they holiday!
Might just have to make a trip over there to check it out, the pic's even sound fab without seeing them!

Thanks again

Glowing

nikki79 wrote: »

Really does sound amazing & sounds exactly like what my fiance would love to do & me too but I would just be worried about all the organising that goes with it e.g guests, making sure they had good time as they would probably make it they holiday!
Might just have to make a trip over there to check it out, the pic's even sound fab without seeing them!

Thanks again

Yeah I will be honest and say there was a lot of planning, but mainly cos I'm a control freak! The planners at the villa are really really great and do take a lot of the pressure off. The main difficulties were transfers and planning stuff for the guests during the day - but to be honest, most ppl were happy to go off and do their own thing (but with just a little help). Planning everything before hand also meant I could relax while I was there! It's perfectly achievable and def worth the effort!

cailinrua2011

glowing thanks so much for sharing. i will defiantely have a closer look at tuscany now. it looks like you had an amazing time. do you think overall that u saved by going to italy for your wedding?

Glowing

It's hard to say if we saved or not but we certainly got a hell of a lot more value for money than some of the venues we looked at here, and we had fewer guests than we would have had here - u can pretty much eliminate the neighbours, work colleagues and the afters crowd!

One think you do need to consider is that it will cost your guests more when u look at flights and accom but we tried to organise apartment shares, free transfers, free bars etc where possible to save money - we kinda felt it was the least we could do. I hope they all thought it was worth it!

cailinrua2011

ya thats preety much along the same lines as ive been thinking. if i have wedding in ireland we re talkin over 250 at least wheras abroad it wont be over 60. definately trying to get cheapest options for guests i hate putting pressure on people to spend that kind of money but in the end i suppose the people i care about most and who care about us most will go. you said u travelled around italy looking at places. what did you make of the lake district?

Glowing

There is no doubt that Lake Como and Lake Orta are spectacular, but in such a different way to Tuscany! We were seriously considering Villa Cipressi, as it was so beautiful, all these cypress trees and on this aqua blue lake with the snow capped mountains in the distance - but a few things about it didn't suit. Music had to end early and accom options for the guests were not all that great. Still, it has a lot going for it.

We also saw some other options - actually the most amazing venue for a civil ceremony was on Lake Orta - I think it was Villa Bossi on the lake, and the bride would arrive by row boat http://www.italianlakeswedding.com/blog/lake-orta-weddings/civil-wedding-ceremony-in-orta-san-giulio-lake-orta/ - that would be fabulous, but we just thought Orta was a little too isolated for all our guests and couldn't really find the right reception option for us.

One of our pre-requisites was that there was a choice of transport options for everyone - and the Lakes didn't really fulfill this. If the flights were too expensive to Milan, then it would have made things very difficult. At least with Tuscany, you can fly into Bologna or Pisa, or take the (very scenic) train from Rome which only takes 1.5 hours. It was much more flexible. It's very difficult to find somewhere that meets all your needs though, and you need to make sure that you actually visit the venue before booking, these places are usually SO much different in real life than on the internet! A lot of the places we saw we turned down straight away as they were just too remote!!

In the end though, we really preferred the rustic feel of Tuscany, it was how I'd always imagined Italy would look like - the lakes were stunning but the touristy vibe wasn't so nice, and it didn't have the same charm for me as the vinyards and countryside. This is purely personal though, I think you could do much worse than Lake Como! Tuscany in general was a fair bit cheaper for us and our guests, and there were more travel options and things to do in the vicinity for everyone - so I've no doubt we picked the right venue for us.

Sorry for waffling on a bit there

Villa Bossi - Lake Orta


Villa Cipressi - Lake Como


Vill Cipressi at night (WOW)


Villa Parravicini - Lake Como


Castillo Il Palagio - Fiesole, Florence



Castillo di Vincigliata - we had a tasting meal here which was fabulous and good value too, but it was just too remote as well!




We saw this place too - Lake Como, Regina Teolinda - stunning but very expensive and very exclusive! http://www.relaisreginateodolinda.it/

cailinrua2011

wow thanks so much for all the info this is great dont think ive gotten as much info from anyone else since i started gathering. you seem to be very knowledgable about italy so i definately trust your judgement glowing:)

robinph

cailinrua2011 wrote: »

ya thats preety much along the same lines as ive been thinking. if i have wedding in ireland we re talkin over 250 at least wheras abroad it wont be over 60. definately trying to get cheapest options for guests i hate putting pressure on people to spend that kind of money but in the end i suppose the people i care about most and who care about us most will go. you said u travelled around italy looking at places. what did you make of the lake district?

Have a friend getting married somewhere in Italy next year. I'm sure it will work out cheaper for the couple getting married abroad, mostly as you then invite less people. But don't forget that the cost for those you invite will be significantly more, both in terms of cash and time. I actually have two "foreign" weddings next year to get to, bestman at one and groomsman at another, so they are going to cost a few quid.

cailinrua2011

yes and i am very conscious of presenting a bill to my guests. i want to have a fantastic day abroad with fabulous weather and a beautiful venue but i have to be realistic about flight and accomodation expenses for my guests also.

Glowing

This is why it's important to have as many diffferent accomodation and travel options as possible - helps keep the costs way down and allows the guest to choose how long to go for and how much to spend!

cailinrua2011

yes your right can anybody else recommend any good locations, hotels, churches, music, flowers etc for italy or even any other destinations as i am at this stage open to any suggestions.

cailinrua2011

no other suggestions or info?:(

cailinrua2011

there must be people on here with suggestions

zemphis

I got married in Orvieto, in February just gone and had a fantastic time. It's a small hill town in Umbria, on the train line between Rome and Florence so very easy to get to. We did use a wedding planner as I didn't fancy trying to do it myself.

We had the service in a beautiful little 11th century church, San Giovenale, and then had the reception in a local restaurant, which was set into caves. The food was absolutely amazing and all the staff were wonderful There was 30 people at it all together and we had organised a dinner in a pizzeria for the night before and a lunch the day after.

Everyone seemed to have a great time. There's lots to do around the town and loads of little restaurants and cafes. It was also fairly easy to get too. AerLingus fly to one airport in Rome and Ryanair fly to the other. Then it's only a matter of getting into Rome's main train station and it's only about an hour from there on the train.

cailinrua2011

i just looked at your church zemphis it looks beautiful, is the scenery nice, excuse my lack of geography now but is it anywhee near the coast also?

barbiegirl

I got married in Cortona renting Villa Baroncino on Lake Trasimeno for the week in 2008. www.villabaroncino.com It was fantastic.

Ryanair fly to Piza and Rome, there was a huge variety of accomodation, with my aunt, her husband and 6 kids staying in chalets in a holiday village at the lake for €1200 two weeks.
It was on the train line, we provided buses to and from one flight out and back, otherwise people were free to make their own arrangements. The buses on the day picked people up from the hotels, we paid taxi's home. On the day the most anyone had to fork out for was an ice cream or cold drink before or after the ceremony :-)
Plenty to do in the area, so much so we went back last year, staying in Cortona for part of our hols.

cailinrua2011

thanks, i havent heard of that lake before i will definatley check it out especially with such good flight options

pandabear2011

hi all just wondering if anybody else had any ideas or suggestions for a wedding at lake como. also thinking about having my wedding here. of the people who had written here did ye go ahead with lake como. just starting planning and any help or tips or recommendations would be great:)

Keedowah

We got married last year in Siena in Tuscany - had a civil ceremony in the town hall which was beautiful.

We sent out "save the date" cards about a year in advance and then put up a little website with lots of information about getting to the venue, public transport, car hire etc. By giving people lots of time they can plan their holiday around it and most guests spent a week or two in Italy.

pandabear2011

that sounds like a good idea, ya i will have to do an info leaflet or something i think to send out with my invitations not gonna send them til after x mas until i have actually booked and finalised everything, that is if all the planning works out .

pandabear2011

is there anybody else who either got married or is planning to get married at lake como

MrPicante

Thanks for the info.

Does anyone have indicative costs or whether there might be a real price saving by having a wedding in Italy rather than Ireland? Anything around prices would be greatly appreciated.

Tks,

loveandc

For a wedding in Italy that includes some 40 guests, consider an overall budget of minimum 7,000 - 8,000eur ( including a venue rental, catering, music, flowers, paperwork,...)

prettygurrly

that's really inexpensive! i priced one using website and being middle of the road still cost nearly 20K..can't for the life of me remember the website but it was one of the planners in Italy.
would love to get married in Italy and if it's only 8 grand would probably be able to rent apartments to put everyone in!

loveandc

well, I can't tell you if 20K would be expensive or not... everything would depend on your number of guests really.... I can send you some more information on private email if you wish!

prettygurrly

thanks Loveandc...to be honest it was just browsing really. so if i ever get presented with the ring then i'll let you know! would like to get married in sorrento...popular place with a good variety of accomodation and it's beautiful. thanks tho....

FrancoThetanko

loveandc wrote: »

well, I can't tell you if 20K would be expensive or not... everything would depend on your number of guests really.... I can send you some more information on private email if you wish!

Hi Just wondering if you went ahead with the wedding in Italy? just wondering how you found the experience and any lessons learned or words of wisdom you would give?

thanks