Real Tuscan Wedding – Casole D’Elsa – Erin & Pio

Marry Me in Tuscany was delighted to be asked to be the wedding planner for Erin & Pio who got married in Casole D’Elsa a quaint hilltop Tuscan town, last September.

Erin first contacted me last February to ask if I would help her organize her September wedding and of course I was really happy to say yes…. especially as I’d met Erin’s mum and dad (Wendy & Craig) the year before at Paige & Jason’s wedding, sadly they weren’t able to come back as they’ve just had a baby girl but Linda & Ken (Paige’s mum and dad) were coming and I just knew that with the Canadian’s heading back into town we were in for another fabulous wedding.

During the planning process as is usually the way I got to know Erin quite well and was really excited when she sent me a photo of her shoes, she was certainly going for the “something blue” with a pair of these gorgeous Blue Satin Manolo Blahnik Pumps!

Aren’t they just the most gorgeous thing you’ve ever seen??  Sadly I didn’t manage to snaffle them and please don’t worry you’ll be seeing more photos of those later..

To compliment them Erin chose a beautiful bouquet of white hydrangeas and small delicate pink roses tied with a blue ribbon to match her gorgeous shoes.

Erin & Pio brought their family and friends together from Canada & Ireland for a week of celebrations, with a hen do, stag do, rehearsal dinner and lots and lots of “sampling” of delicious local Chianti wine thrown in for good measure and all in the name of research for the wedding dinner you understand, well it would be rude to come all that way and not to really! When in Chianti and all that!

They stayed at Villa Catignano just a few kilometres from Siena, a fabulous wedding venue and a great place to stay, Sofia and her family are so welcoming and will do everything to make sure that your stay with them is enjoyable and full of wonderful memories. Erin & Pio rented the impressive 17^th century villa for their friends and family, as you can imagine the rooms are very spacious and with frescoed ceilings in some of the rooms you’ll certainly feel like royalty staying there.

And so, the wedding day finally arrived it was a very sunny and incredibly hot day in September. I arrived at the Villa as Erin was getting her hair and make-up done and she looked absolutely stunning in her gorgeous “Demetrios” gown.  Andrea the photographer really enjoyed photographing her, she’s gorgeous and so photogenic, there were times during the day when I had to remind him to snap the groom too!

I have to say that Pio brushes up quite well too, in this photo he looks almost Italian, a truly gorgeous couple,  I can’t wait to see the children!

Pio set off with his guests on the coach for the 40 minute drive to Casole D’Elsa, this beautiful little hilltop town is found perched on top of the rolling Tuscan Hills over looking the Val D’Elsa valley and on warm sunny days you can see for miles. It’s just 40km from Florence and 25km from Siena, and not too far from Monteriggioni and Colle Val D’Elsa.

Erin & Pio had decided that they would prefer to get married in a quieter little town rather than Siena which is closer to the villa and wanted countryside views and not too many tourists and Casole fits the bill perfectly for that.  Italians love weddings and so you’ll always get lookers on but in Casole the locals sat on the benches outside the town hall and admired the happy couple from a far.

This impressive building below is the “Rocca” the town hall which dates back to the 14^th century and is where Erin & Pio tied the knot, not bad for a sleepy little town is it?

Erin arrived with her dad before Pio and the guests guess she was keen to get married and despite setting off at least 20 minutes after the coach we still managed to arrive before Pio and the guests…oops!  So we sent her off round the block while the guests got the lift up to the town square. And so with everyone where they should be a few more photos before heading inside we were ready to start and Erin walked in on her dad’s arm while her brother Collin played “I’ll love you to the end” by the Pogues on guitar and his girlfriend Shay sang.

The mood was set and after a very moving ceremony where even I was caught with a lump in my throat, Erin and Pio were declared united in matrimony…

Kaner the bestman signs the register.

After the ceremony they were treated to a celebratory drink courtesy of the town hall…and they got to take their local crystal flutes home with them, I hope they made the long journey back to Canada via Ireland.

And just in case you’re missing those shoes here they are again…this photo really needs a caption, what do you think Erin is saying to Pio…?

After the wedding ceremony, the guests gathered outside for some photos, I always thought that grooms needed a bit of Dutch courage before the ceremony but Pio’s hip flask certainly caused a few laughs as he showed it to Erin after the wedding ceremony.. not sure how much whisky was left..but I’m guessing not much!

And so after more photos I led the guests back down to the bus, Pio & Erin headed off with Andrea to get some more photos around Casole and then stopping off on the way back to get some photos in the beautiful Tuscan countryside.

And not forgetting those shoes.. 😉

Meanwhile back at Villa Catignano the guests tucked into the aperitivo in the lovely Italian gardens while waiting for Erin & Pio to come back.

Erin and Pio made their way through the beautiful Italian gardens to join their guests

Then it was time for a few more proseccos and photos before heading into the courtyard for dinner the beautiful white lanterns with white roses and voile candles set the atmosphere perfectly.

As Kaner the bestman announced the new Mr & Mrs Lynch..Pio and Erin came running into the courtyard, I take my hat off to Erin for even attempting this in those shoes… but I Love this photo of the two of them, it shows what a fun couple they are and I’m sure you’ll agree from the photos that they are very much in love. Thank you both for letting me be part of your beautiful Tuscan Wedding.  J x

Photo credits:

• Andrea Pitti