Now that the words Italy Covid wedding rules 2021 are on top of Google trends as research we still want to continue sharing some real love. This has always been our passion , to celebrate love and life with our couples.
And as weddings are still going on ( even if in a different way ) today I want to show you the last ceremony we had in Fall with Jo and Dave, an amazing couple from Uk.I was recommended to them by a friend who got married in Tuscany a few years ago with me in the beautiful abbey of San Galgano
Now that the words Italy Covid wedding rules 2021 are on top of Google trends as research we still want to continue sharing some real love. This has always been our passion , to celebrate love and life with our couples.
And as weddings are still going on ( even if in a different way ) today I want to show you the last ceremony we had in Fall with Jo and Dave, an amazing couple from Uk.I was recommended to them by a friend who got married in Tuscany a few years ago with me in the beautiful abbey of San Galgano
As Jo works in the tourism and hotels management and Dave is a chef they started 2 years ago to plan their destination wedding. They came to Italy just before the Corona Virus pandemic started: were lucky enough to see a florist, meet 2 caterers and other suppliers! I remember that day with happiness as even if it was in February we had time to drive around Tuscany.
It was a sunny day and do the most important parts of the planning . Then a hard period came and some of the guests had to cancel their stay but the day before they had flights booked. The PM said british citizens were allowed to fly to Italy and they finally landed in Pisa!
The first day was relaxing and a nice dinner at the venue with all the friends and family. The weather was mild enough to allow them to have a swim and enjoy a bit of the famous Tuscan sun!
The following day Jo got ready in the upper floor of their suite.In the meanwhile all guests were relaxing in the garden while Elizabeth was taking pictures of them all.
The symbolic ceremony was celebrated in the garden under a romantic wisteria roof. All people were waiting for the bride to walk down the steps when a few drops of rain started to fall!!! It was just a moment and very funny as the bride started walking a bit faster trying to arrive down the pergola for the most exciting moment without being totally wet! It was just a moment and then the sun came back again and with the amazing landscape of the Borgo it was the perfect scenery for the pictures!
I was trying to check the aperitif buffet and the beautiful flowers decoration but as it was getting closer to 1pm. We decided it was time for a 5 minutes break and I had a spritz cocktail with my assistant Rebecca and the caterer ( I think really deserved it after all this period spent planning against Corona Virus and rules and laws changing every now and then!! ;-))))
If you want to know about rules you can see that they were all seated with more than a meter distance, (unless those who were family, of course….) and were wearing face masks when indoor. The venue gave us hand sanitizer and the guests brought some more from home, just in case there was not enough here
The only negative point was all the stress we had before. They came here as we didn’t know if they were able to fly, or even to stay in Italy without having to quarantine once back home. But apart from this all the guests were so happy to be able to visit Italy and taste the food and wine that they offend during their stay!
They had a great lunch with a huge buffet of aperitivi as well as many cocktails and white wine, a first course of macaroni short pasta with pecorino cheese, figs and rocket.and an. incredible Lemon risotto with chives herb, one of my favorite dishes!! The main course was a delicious Chianina beef fillet in Wellington crust even if some guests opted for a beef fillet in Wellington crust paired with some veggies and potatoes.
After cutting the millefoglie wedding cake the bride decided it was time for a dress change and decided to go for a sequin outfit to get the party started.
I was home when Rebecca sent me some pics of the bar decoration and the guests having fun and dancing all together with the children. The day ended with an amazing landscape covered in pink and orange like the cocktails poured in the glasses.
And it was also when I realized that we did the right thing, always respecting rules to protect the health of all the people, the guests and the workers. We were able to create a day that will last in their memories forever.
Hope you like my post and if you want to see more pics about the venue here is a link to their website: weddingvenuesintuscany.info/listing-item/borgo-campanelli-2/
All the pictures in this post were taken from the super talented Elizabeth Armitage, an English girl living in Tuscany and the caterer is Class Ricevimenti . The gorgeous flowers you can see displayed were created by Bianchi Fiori, Poggibonsi.
See you on the next post about a wedding in Tuscany !!!
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!
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’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.
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!
We had the pleasure of celebrating the romantic wedding of bride Victoria & groom Spencer.
They were a lovely couple from the UK who started planning their wedding a year and a half in advance. This gave them the perfect amount of time to find a nice location in their dream venue, the Abbey of San Galgano.
There was a small family party, including their most beloved people. There was a lot of time spent on planning as the bride was very sure of what she wanted. She already knew decorations and flowers and all these things were not so easy to find here. So, I contacted several florists before sending her the final proposal. They settled on Agriflor, who did a great job with blush pink roses, candles and vintage furniture.
Their civil wedding was in the abbey of San Galgano, the famous church where we think the legend of Sword in the Stone came from. It was amazing as the place itself is really magic (due to the mystery of the legend). For her music, the bride chose a violin and cello playing ‘sweet child of mine’. For the exit music as that day Guns ‘N Roses were also playing a concert in Italy… (if I was not there I could have gone…next time).
It was a night full of laughter and fun with the groom doing his speech whilst I was devoring a piece of wild boar meat, but at the end it was a magical night with a full moon which said goodbye to me as I was driving down through the wood surrounding the farmhouse. Really a night to remember and I think for the newly married couple too ( thanks for the pictures to the great Sebastian Bonacchi, great job as always, sure you are enjoying much more taking wedding pictures in Uganda now!!)
The first time I met Claudine and Paco, I had the strong sensation like when you meet a couple of friends. They are a young successful couple. She comes from Switzerland, he is from Peru. So we had no problem in speaking both Italian and Spanish with them. That made me feel at ease from the first moment.
We had a look at 3 Villas and the last one was the perfect place for their romantic wedding. Being close to one of the most beautiful romanic churches in Tuscany. It was easy for them to decide to get married there.
The weekend started with a buffet party the night before in the courtyard of the Villa. All the guests helped themselves to the generous food and we had a suckling pig prepared just for us. People from every part of the world would have enjoyed. In fact our Porchetta is world famous!!
The next morning, we went to the beauty centre for a manicure with the bride.There I got a fine on my car as I didn’t pay attention that the streets were going to be cleaned the same morning… We had a rushed trip back to the Villa for hair and makeup, getting the bride dressed and everyone ready. Then, we finally proceeded onto the church.
The couple chose rustic, elegant decorations for the church to match the gorgeous setting and let the beauty of the venue shine through. It was a touching ceremony with violin and trumpet music from “The Italian wedding band”. Once back at the Villa, guests enjoyed an aperitif with Class Ricevimenti. They served them a scrumptious aperitif in the villas’ garden.
They took advantage of the fun photo booth with props and the reception dinner started. The table was one long setting, with stunning décor from Agriflor. The most amazing single hung lightbulbs provided from Wedding Music and Lights looked incredible once it got darker. Several courses were served, which is typical of Tuscan food, and a delicious millefoglie cake to cut for dessert.
Before we knew it, it was time for the first dance. Just after, an epic battle with a Star Wars theme entertained all the guests. Open bar was organized by the professional Nicola of Eventin Exclusive Bar who created a wonderful piece of furniture just for these guys. It was really worth the effort! I love love love this style!
The night was truly full of fun as the couple danced until 3am with all their guests, enjoying the cool Tuscan night. Of course this could have never happened without my great assistants, Claudia and Letizia who helped me during the whole day. Another thanks to the wonderful job of Claudia and Luca of Rossini Photography, two of the most professional people I always love to work with. A huge thanks to them all for a perfect days that this couple will always remember!
Last summer I was honored to celebrate a family wedding. It was one of the funniest I’ve ever had with one of the photographers I love to work the most: Domenico Costabile. Megan and Dillon chose to get married in Tuscany, in a beautiful Villa in Valdambra. This place was special because Megan’s family has rented since she was a young girl.
Their family and closest friends decided to join them. This happy event was a celebration that lasted 3 days, full of food and happiness!
Megan’s mom visited Tuscany in early December. She met the caterer and viewed the church where the couple would be married. The family was delighted with the quantity of food prepared for them, so much so that they couldn’t finish even half of the meat! The Villa they choose is close to one of the most beautiful romanic churches of the area. Don Pierluigi recommended us and anEnglish speaking priest. He helped Megan and Dillan in preparing their order of service giving hints for the readings too.
Time flew and before they knew it they were in Italy to start preparing their documents. After a few days spent in and out of offices to take care of the legalities,Megan and Dillon were ready to be married. Finally their special day arrived. The couple rented a house in Valdambra for all the guests to stay. The ceremony was held in August in a stunning church with beautiful floral arrangements of olive tree and white roses.
Once they came back to the Villa all the guests were having some yummy appetizers. It was a typical Tuscan al fresco aperitif. Wedding aperitif and dinner were served from Cappelli Catering. They arranged fried bites, typical conducts and cheese, canapés and a mozzarella corner to die for! Then the married couple wanted to have 2 first courses: ravioli filled with spinach and ricotta cheese with sage and butter plus some pics noodles with meat sauce.
Their day was full of sunshine, good food, happiness, friends and family.They had an incredible time in Italy and their wedding day ended with a disco until late into the evening.
I’m sure their families will never forget this nice day in Tuscany and sure you’ll enjoy seeing their pics down below.
If you like the style and want to see more just click here!
Have you just started planning your wedding in Tuscany, perhaps in Florence. You have no idea of where to start?? I’m sure this post will give you a lot of hints of what to do next.
Doesn’t matter where you come from, if you are british, you come from the Us, New Zealand or Siena. Simply ask a friend who got married there and when you start talking about document required… They’ll all show the same face :”WHAAAT? Are you really going to do it all by yourself? No kidding, ..it will be a nightmare!!”
This is what most of the people are told when facing with italian bureaucracy. Speaking with some colleagues we always tell us our stories in the different town halls,with civil officer. While some of them are extremely helpful and try to make your couple feel relaxed even if they have no passport to show, most of them are not at all:
1) don’t speak a single word of English and refuse to understand anything that doesn’t sound italian.
2) have no idea of what office hours are and can go for a coffee even 5 minutes before the ceremony begins ( happened to me next May…)
3) can switch office, close the door to work without anybody else disturbing them and decide that all the papers you’ve prepared for the most important day of your life can wait until before the wedding day to be processed (if you don’t believe it have a look at this review)
So with the lovely picture of this Christmas tree in the main square of Fiesole. Think a lot before starting doing all the legal side by your own and above all start inquire for a good wedding planner!! Whan I received Alexandra’s email I thought, oh my God, the town hall will never accept a winter wedding on December 23rd but this exactly what they did!
They arrived just a few days before in order to be able to get the documets at the American Embassy by the Lungarno. Once we had our precious declaration we headed straight onward to the town hall with my car. I was driving like a crazy to get there before 12am when the office close. I was really lucky because the girls working there were fantastic. More important than this they are used to deal with couple arriving late due to the times of offices !!!
Anyway, on the following day they got married inside the Council room as the chilly temperatures didn’t allowed us to stay outside . As they choose this lovely city the Deputy gave them tickets to visit the Roman Theatre. It is just a few steps far from the town hall. They got there with a couple of friends to take some pictures before heeding back to Via Tornabuoni where they had a lunch booked.
The talented photographer, Sebastian Bonacchi was there to help them capturing this special moment. If you like to see more pictures just scroll down. I’m sure you will love his style! If you are thinking about getting married in Florence, Fiesole cold be the right choice for you!
