Is it possible to celebrate a wedding during Corona Virus period? Yes, it is! Let’s see which are the rules to celebrate a wedding in these 4 months that remain of the wedding season.
Referring to the last DPCM of the Prime Minister : the maximum number of guests allowed to a wedding is 15. The situation here is changing everyday and things are really getting better for weddings in Tuscany so hopefully we will be allowed to celebrate weddings with more guests in a few weeks, but as by now only elopement or small family weddings are allowed!
We are still required to keep social distances between each guests that have to be maintained also during dinner and dancing. The distance is right now 1,80mt. This doesn’t apply outside as the distance allowed is 1 meter .
We still have to wear masks inside and I understand that this is not very nice for your wedding pictures. I had a ceremony where the bride and groom had planned since so many months their special day that they didn’t wanted to cancel and had some special masks sewn especially for them that were matching their flowers decoration. A nice idea and a thing that they wore only during ceremony but never during the pictures or dinner.
Of course, all of this refers to civil and religious weddings so ceremonies that will take place inside town halls or churches. If you are planning to have a symbolic wedding don’t worry, just talk with your venue and see how they can arrange your party in the best way for dinner and party.
I’m sure everybody will try to help you and find the better solution to have a memorable day!
If you are still in doubt and are not 100% convinced that this is the best moment for you to get married in Tuscany or your guests dont’t feel comfortable travelling abroad for such a important date, well perhaps postponing is the best solution. Try to get in touch with your venue and check if they still have dates available for next year. The deposit you have paid will be on hold for your next date and you will have some more months to plan your special day without any stress.
I do have wedding planned for next July 17 and will surely post one pictures real time to show how people will handle it: they are coming from Australia especially to get married in Tuscan and instead of having a great party they suddenly decided to invite only 10 people in order to be able to celebrate anyway in this favorite town hall! And as they didn’t wanted to go through the planning process again, they decided to hire me as wedding planner and I’m sure everything will run smoothly and stress free so they can have their wedding during Corona Virus period.
Stay tuned if you want to see some more pictures, I’ll be happy to share them on Instagram soon!
Now that I have a bit more time to relax I started writing some posts about all the events I did last year. Samantha and Gia’s was surely one that I will never forget! It all began with a phone call. I was driving when Stephanie called me to ask if I wanted to help her for her sister’s wedding in Tuscany. She had already chosen a nice villa in the Chianti region. She was lucky because I know this area very well as I’ve been living there for many years. When I first visited the villa I discovered this luxury hamlet with a gorgeous Spa in some of the main Suites.
The panorama from the house is incredible as it leans all over the landscape of Panzano. The wedding day, as soon as I arrived I went to the suite of the girls where Suely was taking care of their hair and make up. The bridal party started and the photographer was there to take some pictures during the “getting ready”.
Being a wedding planner in Florida herself she carefully thought about all small details of the brides and tables. Gia and Samantha wore two white leather jackets with her name and wedding date on. This look matched with the same pair of white trainers made with lace in harmony with their dresses. It was a very emotional moment when Samantha read the letter that Gia wrote her the day before!!
The table was set up without tablecloth in the most typical country chic style. It was decorated with white ceramic dishes and ivory napkins, cristal glasses with gold rim and golden silverware. All the guests had a name tag made of transparent plexiglas that was paired with a small shot of liquor especially made for the wedding. Every women had a pashmina scarf on their chair to cover her shoulders in case they get cold. The cocktail after the ceremony was served in the terrace area while the dinner was outside in the garden of the Villa Delle Donne.
Chianti Cooking experience took care of both moments, the pizza party on the day before and the wedding dinner. All the dishes they prepared were sooo good and they had a a yummy 3 tiers wedding cake served with a nice transparent topper with the name of the brides. The sun shined during the whole day and all the guests ended up dancing under the starts with the music of Lorenzo Borneo’s dj. I am really thankful to Stephanie who invited me to this wedding and gave me the opportunity to know these two incredible families. I’m sure that Gia and Samantha will have a great future together and even more with the love of all their relatives and friends!
Brides: @samanthalmarion + @giacastellino
Planner + Stylist: @bystephaniemarion
Day of Coordination: @marrymeintuscany
Venue: Villa Delle Donne + Villa Le Scuderie @luxuryretreats
Floral Design: @lillaflorals
Catering: @chianti_cooking
Photographer: @kyaranatale
Videographer: @matteofotografia
Entertainment: #lorenzoborneo
Dresses: @inesdisanto via @chicparisien + @wtoowaters via @baciobaciobridal
HMUA: @suely_hair_makeup
Stationary + Details: @brandspired
To all of these reading this blog, surely you were looking for some advice on how to plan your wedding in Tuscany day since months. But now…well, let’ s say that we are all postponing our plans….. only for a few months! Here in Italy we’ve been hitten in a hard way by this virus so what I really want to do now that I have some time to spend at home is reading and thinking about how to organize ( if possible) nicer events than these I’ve planned last year and how to continue doing it in the future.
As I got plenty of time to browse all my favorite websites like SMP, Rock my wedding, my own Pinterest board to get some inspiration I already know it will be not so difficult. Give me one more month and I’ll be as busy as always planning visits to new venues for my couples and new magical weddings! I was just looking for some pictures to show on IG and I found these of a lovely day about last July.
When I got the first contact from K&L was exactly the opposite of today : they wrote me 2 years before their wedding date as they got my contact from a venue owner that was not able to help their big group. I was in the middle of a hot wedding season and I felt so bad and I couldn’t go with them to visit venues….. I started thinking on how to help this young couple when my assistant Rebecca called me to offer support and drive them around Tuscany. After 2 days visiting venue they found the one who touched their hearts and decided to sign a contract with both, the venue and me. It was a long distance planning even if they came back twice to Tuscany to select suppliers and do food tastings. There were many different moments during the three days they stayed at Le Filigare.
Everything started the first day with a Tea Ceremony: having the groom asian origins their parents wanted to follow the tradition with a typical tea ceremony. During this rite the couple offers some presents to the parents that in this way allow them to get married and wish good luck for their new life as a married couple.
On the wedding day, after breakfast it all started with hotel preparation of bride and groom party in two different apartments. The sun was really hot so, as the ceremony was held on the top of a hill, they decided to postpone it. They had the blessing at 5pm. Just after the ceremony drinks and some canapés where served by the pool. In the meanwhile Britpops were singing some songs for us. As the sun was no more scorching we decided it was time to move to the upper part of the farmhouse. A nicely decorated green and white table was waiting for welcoming us.
The newlyweds carefully selected each dish of their wedding dinner. To be honest when I sat down and had the first bite of tagliolini with black truffle I couldn’t think to anything else than this delicious pasta!
A great beef fillet was following and when the wedding cake arrived it was spectacular. A show cooking for traditional Italian millefoglie decorated with figs and olive leaves , to die for! I’m sure all guests loved it as there were just a few pieces left that were brought upstairs were the party started.
Britpops began the show as well as Alberto and his mate were serving nonstop drinks. Look at the nice cutie 500 Fiat they received as present from the open bar company ! It was a magical night and I didn’t want to leave but another hard day of planning was waiting so I had to stay goodbye to this magical place wishing to get back very soon!
To all of you still thinking about a nice wedding in Tuscany: have a look at these pictures: they really share the feeling of relax and amusement they had in these days and hop they convince all of you there reading to drop me a few lines despite the hard moment we’re in!
Venue: Le Filigare
Pictures:Ar J Photo
Flowers: Agriflor
Celebrant: Sofia from Tuscan Pledges
Catering service: Le Cirque
I was having a coffee in a bar with a friend. A&A called me to help planning their amazing wedding in Siena. They announce to me: Hey, we’re in Siena, will you be available to meet us tomorrow and discuss about our plans? Why not… I thought. December is quite a relaxing month for us wedding planners so let’s meet this young couple. They already found a great villa to host all their closer guests and the caterer. It was well organized as they had a specific idea of the dishes they wanted for their wedding dinner.
The bridal party and closer family stayed in the suites of the villa. In the meanwhile all the friends were getting ready in the other apartments. Close to the wedding hour, when we had already half of the table prepared for dinner something unexpected happened! It started raining and we had to run taking off all brass chandeliers from the table not to break them!!
The villa had a big ballroom that we could have used for the dinner but we waited a bit. At the end we decided to delay the ceremony for an hour, to give time to waiters to rearrange for the dinner. The villa has two lovely gardens and lots of green woods and areas all around. In fact we decided to move the ceremony to the garden on the back part of the villa. It was a touching ceremony where the mom of the bride made a reading who touched the hearth of all the guests.
After the wedding ceremony people moved to the gate entrance for some group pictures and the aperitif finally started. Waiters served Spritz ( italian cocktail made with white wine and Aperol liquor) and bubbles to keep guests entertained until the dinner time.
While bride and groom were talking pictures with Carmela and Sissi I tried to rearrange the decoration with Agriflor girls that were always there to grant the best service possible even with that horrible weather!
So the choice was on Delizia Ricevimenti where I met the lovely Giulia. She helped me throughout the planning and the choice of food and drinks.
The villa has a romantic Italian garden with fountains where we decided to have a small “smoking corner”. It was made with umbrellas and white rattan sofas. All items for decoration and dancing area were rented from Toscana Noleggio.
When dinner time came Bride and Groom made their first speech as a married couple. They stayed under a pergola of wisteria perfectly decorated with fresh flowers. The delicious dishes served where a mix of caribbean and italian cuisine, with a touch of spicy in all of them. Guests tasted ravioli, chicken and a chocolate dessert to die for! The wedding cake was covered with white cream and flowers. Obviously it matched the style of all decorations.
It was only a few seconds after they cut the cake that the party starts. The Dj coming from outside already started playing music!
As soon as he called the Bride and groom everybody started dancing under the fairy lights that were set up by Central house in the swimming pool area.
It was a long night full of music and laughs. Despite the weather that hadn’t been exactly a summer one we had a lot of fun with them and Im sure A&A will remember their amazing wedding in Siena forever!
I’m really proud to start the new year showing pictures of this wedding shooting. We did it last summer with the lovely Yulia from YULIYA M. PHOTOGRAPHY
What a fabulous photographer and friend ! Yulia is so passionate about what she does, and it shows. She is based in the USA and began the year with photoshoots through Europe. She is widely travelled and a very successful business woman. She favors the journalistic approach in her photography. She uses natural light and her love for her craft shines through in her photos.
The soft pastels, pinks and elegant tones lended themselves perfectly to our stately surroundings. The abundance of natural light added to the magic of the day and produced the most incredible images. The styling is elegant, simple and classic. The stunning gardens provide endless photographic opportunities with the landscape of Siena as backdrop.
Siena is very famous for weddings for many reasons. It is closely situated to Florence, Pisa and Rome, making it easy for travel. It is one of the most striking medieval cities in Italy. In add the cobbled streets are mostly only for pedestrians so it lends itself perfectly to exploring on foot.
The palazzo we had the first pictures in, is the perfect place to use for a cocktail or reception if you want to get married in the city town hall in Piazza del Campo. They offer an inner garden as well as a courtyard and a cover hall to use in case a plan B. They can host up to 100 people. Here are some more pictures of this wedding venue.
We also had the pleasure of using their villa close to Siena that has the most amazing view of the surrounding countryside.
We wanted to create a table decoration different from all these we normally see. We tried to use fruit as well as gold cutlery and blue tones for tablecloths and napkins. I really love the style of this table decoration: what do you think?
The villa green areas are perfect for a blessing as well as an alfresco dinner. Their Italian gardens are immense and as you can see from the photos there are many stunning spots for wedding photos.
This wedding shooting couldn’t have been possible without the effort of my favorite suppliers: Agriflor fiori for the bride’s bouquet and decoration and Atelier Andreia Cruz for the wedding gowns.
And as always I have to say thanks to the lovely Sofia for welcoming us into her home and giving us the opportunity of shooting around.
Dear Brides, I don’t think there’s another wedding that can be called more destination wedding in Tuscany then this one! Andrea and Camilo arrived this last September after having the experience of hurricane Irma visiting their homes…. To be honest , here in Europe we’re not that used to this kind of event and I can’t even imagine which problems this can cause to your ordinary life….Anyway, Camilo, Andrea and their families made it safely to Tuscany where they booked a wonderful Villa surrounded by nature and plenty of animals like horses and ducks .
After several Skype calls and a couple of email to explain which documents were required to get married in the church their papers were finally ready to obtain the Nulla Osta of the Priest who met us the day before in a lovely church of the village. Religious wedding are more and more requested by couple wishing too get married in Italy and this is not always easy to accomplish as priest may be a bit reluctant to marry a foreign couple .
But looking at the tears of guests and empathy of the guests you really understands that this wedding in Tuscany in the church was really important for them.ùEven of September can be a bit risky as for the weather, that day sun was shining bright to their happiness and they all came safely to the church and back to the Villa with the magic vintage school bus!! I loves it and was sad not to be able to hop on as I had to be at the church before to check music and last details!!!!
Even of September can be a bit risky as for the weather, that day sun was shining bright to their happiness and they all came safely to the church and back to the Villa with the magic vintage school bus!! I loves it and was sad not to be able to hop on as I had to be at the church before to check music and last details!!!!
Despite the hard times they’ve just had at home it was a day full of joy and happiness spent together with family and friends and ending with good food and wine provided by the villa owners. If you wish to see more pics just have a look at the website of the talented photographer who captured the day: Beatrice Moricci. Thanks for the great pictures and hope to see you again in the next destination wedding in Tuscany!
Credits: Flower by Agriflor Fiori
Make up and Hair from Wedding allover, Mauro Vitali.
As you surely know I love Fall weddings: mild temperatures, bright colors and above all avoiding the scorching hot Summer sun. This last September I
had the pleasure to be the wedding planner of the most lovely and nice couple I’ve had this year: Francesca and Tom. I met Francesca and his passionate mom last April. They first came to select their favorite venue from the bunch I had selected for them. It was love at first sight with a nice Fattoria (farmhouse) in the middle of Tuscany between the Chianti and Arezzo regions. The great landscape, the good food and the nice accommodation made it easy for them to choose that spot for the wedding.
The planning was quite easy as the bride already knew what she wanted. She dreamed to a relaxed country wedding with lots of pastel flowers and a great party with family and friends. So step by step we booked all the suppliers to help organize and build the Big Day. Once we met back at the Fattoria in September for the last trial and I saw Peter, the husband. He shared that he had an announcement to make. Francesca was pregnant and they were very happy to discover it before coming to Tuscany! With tears in eyes I decided to buy a present for this couple and it was a real challenge. Choose between all these lovely baby things in the shop was not easy! Anyway, time was running fast and I had to drive up and downhill to get to the Fattoria to be on time for the bride preparation. Francesca was very relaxed and we went together with some of her bridesmaids in the living room to get ready .
Hair and make up artists were waiting for us. Unexpectedly Francesca’s Dad came in with a bottle of Prosecco to calm down the nerves
The photographer was there to start taking picture of the getting ready. In the meanwhile the florist also came to set up the ceremony and deliver bouquets and corsages for women. In a moment the whole party was ready to go down the aisle! The music started playing and the Major officiant could celebrate the rite with a nice poem read especially for the newlyweds.
After the ceremony, all the people moved to the upper garden to take some family pictures and were delighted by a grande aperitivo served in the garden. A couple of hours after a little bit of rain started so we had to move inside for the last pictures and the dinner.
Tables were ready inside the main Sala della Macina (the old mill) and the wedding breakfast started with a speech by the father of the bride. What he
said brought tears to everyone in the room; remembering Francesca’s childhood. The best part of course was when the groom Peter announced that they would soon be parents! An explosion of applause and rounds of congrats to the bride and groom. A beautiful evening ensued, with the most spectacular moments including the cutting of the cake and dancing until the first hours of the morning. A perfect, unforgettable night and wedding!
Thanks to all my wonderful suppliers:
Photos by Federico Pannacci
Flowers by La Gardenia
Hair and Make up Weddingallover
When you imagine your wedding you don’t surely think about getting married in fall or exactly on Halloween day. But this is what I’m going to talk about today: a couple or even more reasons to get married during autumn season.
First of all, I LOVE fall! I’m of course blessed to live in a nice romantic country were colors change a lot in a short period. Leaves go from green to brown to yellow and reddish in the blink of an eye. They leave us time for nice pictures that are only waiting to be sticked on your wedding album.
It will be surely easier for you to find availability at the end of the season. I’m having problems now in finding venues for next summer. Some places have already started selling their 2019 availability so good for you to know: low season and good/best price!
Of course the problem of a rainy day is to be consider but think that most of the venues have always a plan B included. If not, a marquee or a romantic gazebo will be perfect to host your guest for dinner and dancing.
Getting married in fall is great not just for colors but also for decorations! Think about orange/brownish shades, sunset light, pumpkins, wood berries and pine cones. They can give you plenty of inspiration to create your own palette for the reception and also for the dinner table. In fact you can use these natural elements and mix them with white or lightly colored candles and why not, fruit and small vegetables to obtain natural effect.
If you want to entertain also your smallest guests what’s better than using “halloween themed” candies and lollypop to create a table only for them . You can also use lollypops as table names and it’s easy to create them by yourself as it’s explained in this pin ( I know I always talk about Pinterest but if you follow my blog you surely know I can’t live without ;-).
As I wrote before I love this finishing soft touch that autumn light gives to pictures. Be sure to have an early wedding so you can enjoy sunlight before the dinner and take advantage of what beautiful natures offers around you.
It is one of the two central things the wedding in terms of decoration. Of course feel free to do something classic but why not incorporate some elements of the decoration in your flowers? So go with reddish, brownish flowers like dahlias, roses, and also orange, green and rusty green. Using some branches together with berries will give your bouquets this messed touch that got the look right now!
What’s better than the dessert? A friend of mine says that “desserts word is stressed spelled backwards” so choose your favourite taste, can be creamy, chocolate or fruity and go with your fantasy to decorate it . While just icing sugar or fruits or berries or pumpkin shape, your cake will be the perfect finishing touch to a memorable day!
This ceremony took place in a country villa near Siena. The lovely couple come from Sweden and they contacted me a year and a half before the wedding date, so we had plenty of time to plan everything in the best detail! As you surely know if you’ve read my post on legal requirements the civil wedding for a couple like them is quite daunting so they opted for a symbolic wedding celebrated open air.
Their whole family came over for the wedding, so it was a big affair with lots of children and friends – they outnumbered the family! Anna Karin wanted a mystic feel to her ceremony but with an elegant and sophisticated feel to. So they decided to have the tables decorated with long garlands of greenery and roses. It was beautiful and very elegant, despite the weather we have had this summer – even before the ceremony it was raining a bit. We are always prepared with a Plan B though and so we covered the tables and at luckily in the end they could have their ceremony under the Tuscan sun and then had their white family dinner surrounded by their many friends and touching speeches in the courtyard of the Villa.
As you surely know guests who have speeches sometimes take a bit more of the time they are given to congratulate with the newlyweds. Well, their speeches exceeded expectations so instead of 11pm, the party started at 1pm, when the open bar was going to end. As wedding cake they opted for a great millefoglie of puff pastry filled with cream. It was decorated with fresh fruit and done in front of the guests. This is one of my favorites cakes as it’s perfect for a summer event and instead of just one , sometimes I like to try 2 pieces, just to be sure it’s very very good!!
We had the dancing area in one of the 2 rooms prepared for the plan B and all the guests enjoyed the great cocktails prepared by Nicola and his staff. The night was magic anyway and all the friends of the couple had a good time and I’m sure they will remember this night forever.
Tuscany has plenty of magic villas like this to offer to foreign couples. Are you looking for some new venue that can host your guests and family for a wedding in Chianti? Just have a look at our website for new wedding venues and you can find the venue that fits your needs: https://weddingvenuesintuscany.info . If you don’t just write us an email and we’ll be glad to send you some more info.
Thanks to all the wonderful suppliers of the day like :
Snowflake photos for the great pictures
Ursula Spicchiaioli for hair and make up
Class ricevimenti for caterers
Central house for lights and music
First time I read an email from Kathy it was one year and a half before her wedding day. After a couple Skype calls she introduced me to her lovely mum. That wonderful woman was the one who came first to Tuscany to select the right venue. She was really a big help and took care of every detail of the wedding in Tuscany. She did it as Katy decided to fly to the Emirates to start her new career in a big company.
After a couple of visits to different farmhouses with Kathy’s parent she came back to me with a decision. Villa Elena was the right place for their wedding in Tuscany. And so a long year and a half of planning started, with options for both a symbolic ceremony at the Villa and a civil one in the amazing townhall of Siena . Time flew by very quick and the big day approached fast so last details were decided directly at the bride arrival in Siena. Kathy had a busy working trip before getting to Tuscany. Due to I didn’t want to stress her with some many details.I needed just a short meeting in the afternoon to finalize a couple of things.The following day was the big day. The sun was shining around the Chianti hills. Everything looked perfect for the blessing in the garden. I took care of the flowers and decorations with the help of Kathy’s mum. When the bride came with her bridesmaids everything was ready for their moment.
As the Villa host a very famous restaurant the dinner was prepared by the house chef and It was served by the pool.
As the sun went down it was time to cut the cake. The bride asked for an ice cream cart and she enjoyed her favorites gelato.In the meanwhile guests take some pictures.
I love every wedding I organize but this was really special. I spent many many years of my life living just in front of Casa Elena so still keep good memories of these hills. It reminds me their colors and their perfumes… Chianti Classico, such a nice place to have your perfect wedding!!
A huge thanks goes to Federico Pannacci www.fedepan.net for the hard work and great job he did with my couple… It’s always a pleasure to work with you guy!
