Castles and Country Weddings....Italy

Well, what a month March has been! We've gone from the freak snow of February to the amazing sunny days of March. Just perfect for wanting to laze around in the garden and not do any work, but no rest for the wicked, and my feet literally haven't touched the ground, so what does that say about me??

 I know I haven’t been around a lot on the blog, but we are currently visiting some “wow factor” venues that we could possibly suggest to our Country Weddings Italy couples. More of those in the near future (and then I’m off to bed as we have another visit arranged for tomorrow morning!) but in the meantime, and I know I’ve told you about this before, Latium (or Lazio as it is known here in Italy), the Italian Region home to Rome, to name its most famous city, is full of the most amazing architecture from all periods. Most of the castles, however, date back to the Medieval Age.

I thought I might tempt you with a few photographs of some of these magnificent buildings. Some of the castles are still lived in by their aristocratic owners, but many are now also open to the public, to visit or, here it comes, to hire as wedding venues! Can you imagine feeling like a true-blood Italian aristocrat or princess in your own castle for a day??

Some of the castles have been transformed into hotels, at several levels from B&B to 5-star hotel. Some of them are museums on a day-to-day basis, but can be hired for weddings anyway (they close the museum for the day, don't worry, no uninvited guests!) At least two are now  municipal wedding halls, which means you can use them as your legal civil wedding venue there, maybe with the mayor marrying you in the castle museum or up on the terrace overlooking the surrounding countryside.  One castle is famous for both its beautiful rose gardens and the wonderful waterfalls nearby. Perfect as a backdrop for photos….

There are castles big and small, some hotels to stay in for a week, or locations just for your special day, some municipal wedding halls or museums. Some are by the sea, some by a lake and others in the countryside surrounded by exquisite medieval villages or green fields. Just perfect, in any of these cases for a Country Wedding in Italy! 

If you’d like to know more about using a Latium castle as your wedding venue, or also as your holiday location for you and your wedding guests, please let us know and we can send you more information. In the meanwhile, take a look at the pictures to see the plethora of castles on offer!

Mimosa Yellow Wedding Inspirations

Image credit: www.itsajaimething.com 

This time of year, things tend to get a little “yellow” here in Italy. Spring is already in the air,  the sunshine is already a regular feature each morning and the first trees to flower at this time of year are the Mimosa trees, or the Silver Wattle trees as they are known in some parts of the world. This tall tree blossoms with its feathery yellow, ball-shaped flowers, which give off a strong perfume and are beautiful to look at against the clear blue skies of early morning. I don’t think I had ever seen a Mimosa tree before coming to Italy, so they still strike me as being extremely beautiful. The fact that I can’t actually hold a flowering twig or branch of the tree without sneezing is beside the point! (the blossoms give off a powdery residue at times, which plays hell with my allergies!)

Mimosa yellow shoes by Brian Atwook, Mimosa table centre arrangement by Liane McCombs Weddings & Events, Mimosa garland on www.myfrenchcountryhome.blogspot.com, nail polish "Mimosa" by Chanel, bracelet by IsitForMe on Etsy, Mimosa invitation by Delphine Press,
 Yellow candy by Esla Events

So why tell you about these trees today? Because March 8^th is International Women’s Day, and here in Italy, and the Mimosa is the symbol of this special day. In Italy, many matters, mediatic and non are concentrated on celebrating the event each year, for all the right and wrong reasons, in my humble opinion. I think it is an excellent opportunity for the media and campaigning groups to talk about the oppression of women, equality, domestic violence against women and female poverty etc, but do  not think that we actually need a special day to believe that we have a right to a night out with our female friends! Isn’t that something we can do every day of the year if we so wish, and have the time ?

Ok, I’m off my soapbox. The trees that have coloured my daily drive down the country lanes to school and back in the last few days have given me the idea for this wedding inspiration board. Bright yellow looks so wonderful with crisp white as colours for your wedding styling, and is mellowed if matched with ivory. Take a look for yourselves, and Happy International Women’s Day to one and all from Country Weddings Italy!