Marry Me in Tuscany was delighted to be the wedding planner for Martin & Dawn’s relaxed fun wedding which they held at Villa Cini near Bucine which is located about 20 minutes south of Siena. Their brief was “somewhere really chilled out where everyone could stay and they could self cater their wedding as they and their friends loved cooking ;-)”.

The villa was the perfect location for them and their family and friends who would spend a week together relaxing and having various events between the various villas and the wedding mid week. Villa Cini has lots of spaces which work brilliantly for a wedding, the garden in front of the villa is perfect for a symbolic wedding ceremony and the pool area lends itself very well for the aperitivo or BBQ pool party and in front of villa Casanova which is located behind Villa Cini is just perfect for the wedding dinner and after dinner dancing. There is also Villa Vanneschi which completes the villas which form part of the property, which is located across the road and also has it’s own private swimming pool  and could be another great venue for a dinner during the weeks stay to mix things up a bit.

I must admit that I was a little nervous when Martin and Dawn said that they and their friends would self cater, I know from past experience when friends and family think it’s a marvellous idea while your planning the wedding in the winter but once out in the summer sun in Tuscany with lots of places to visit, wine to drink, food to eat and a good time to be had lazing beside the pool with a chilled white wine quite often the bride and groom are left disillusioned and very stressed about the work involved that they have been left to do….happy to say that this wasn’t the case – Dawn & Martin clearly knew everyone really well and their guests happily mucked in, making and hanging paper pom poms for the trees, countless dishes or delicious home cooked food, plates of cold cuts and cheeses for the wedding buffet which we laid out in the main dining area of Villa Casanova, painting signs with the order of the day, directions for where things would be taking place and the betting board for the first dance song, hanging fairy lights and bunting for the dance area and generally having a great time while they did it.

We brought in hired, tables, chairs, plates, cutlery and glasses from a local catering firm which meant that after the wedding no one had to don the rubber gloves as it all goes back dirty major result which means everyone could let their hair down and have a really good time and that’s exactly what they did.

And to finish the dinner off Martin and Dawn donned their aprons and straw hats and set up their “Gelato” Station which was a great success. Being in the music business Martin sent me a huge list of equipment to hire for the party after the wedding and persuaded his friends “Human Live” to come out and join the festivities and play a little set for them and then the DJs in the party kicked it up a notch and if there wasn’t enough food, pizza was served late into the night.  A great time was had by all.

Thank you Martin & Dawn for asking me to be part of your special day, your wedding is one of the weddings that still make me smile and was a truly lovely event, made even more special by Martin’s dad being able to join them to help celebrate, something which at times we all thought wasn’t going to be possible.

JX