I love my job as a wedding planner, in September I was contacted by Maryse from Ballooning in Tuscany asking me if I would be interested in proposing balloon flights to my couples and their friends and family that come out to Tuscany for their wedding.ย  Would I ever!! Hot air ballooning has for as long as I can remember been on my bucket list so when Maryse invited me to take a flight over Tuscany I just jumped at the chance. So one day in early October I left Siena with my friend Silvia to drive down to Montisi where the balloon launch site is.ย  As we all gathered excitedly in the field waiting for the ballooning in Tuscany team to unload the basket and the envelope we were all giddy like school kids going on a school trip.

With expert precision they inflated the hot air balloon first with cold air and then put the burners on to heat the envelope up and as it started to fill the basket flipped upright..brilliant!ย  October is the end of the season as the weather can be a little temperamental and as there was a big black cloud lurking our captain Chris did some final weather checks to see if we would be able to go up, as a great believer in the sun dances and positive thoughts for the weather we all blew the clouds away and we were able to climb into the basket there were 16 of us on this flight so there were 4 of us in each compartment of the balloon with Chris in the middle flying the balloon and with a blast of gas we finally took off. The balloon lifted so gently off the ground and gained height a group of walkers had stopped to watch so we bid them farewell and headed off on our adventure.

Ballooning really does give you a birds eye view of the countryside and as we floated over Montisi you could almost touch the roof tops.. we saw wild life wild boar running through the woods, deer and rabbits and with the changing colour of the trees we got to see autumn from a very different angle.

I always imagined that it would be windy up there but Chris explained that you only feel the wind when you are changing direction and it’s true there was a calmness in the balloon that was so peaceful just you and the wind taking you on an adventure where you hardly feel like your moving. It was exhilarating!

After drifting over the countryside and spotting wild boar and deer and almost peeping into people’s homes we made it over the Siena-Bettole Road and came down to the smoothest landing – I think I can safely say now that the landing was the thing that had worried me the most, images of the basket tipping, and various other things had gone through my head with the possible scenarios of what I would do if that happened… with their expert team I think I can safely say that we were all in very safe hands and that I have an imaginative mind… ๐Ÿ˜‰ I guess I wouldn’t be good at my job if I didn’t do the what ifs?? ๐Ÿ˜‰

We drove back to the launch site and were greeted with a lovely breakfast buffet of cold cuts, cheese and of course a well deserved glass or two of bubbly to celebrate our unique experience of ballooning in Tuscany.

I really can’t think of a better way to finish off or start your wedding celebrations in Tuscany than taking a balloon flight with your new husband/wife or of course you could hire out the whole balloon and take the wedding party up there and if you wanted somewhere totally unique for a small symbolic wedding, why not take a wedding celebrant with you and exchange your wedding vows in the clouds with glorious views as far as the eye can see.

Thank you so much Maryse for fulfilling one of my dreams and for such a wonderful morning floating above Tuscany.

JX

 

Just a few photos of our fabulous balloon trip with Ballooning in Tuscany.. to whet your appetite..