A Countryside Castle resort for your Wedding Celebrations close to the City of Rome

As promised, after our many tours around the region in the last month or so, here is another great wedding venue near Rome made available for Country Weddings Italy. Daniela dug this one out of her hat just a few weeks ago. The funny thing is that it is so close to our respective homes, it is almost as if it were hiding from us, right under our noses. Anyway, now that Daniela has been clever enough to find it, we are eager to show it to you.

The venue is a luxury hotel resort located in a real castle in the countryside immediately outside the city of Rome. The “Castello” was built between the 10th and 13th centuries by the noble Cancellieri family, descendants of the extremely important Orsini family, on the ruins of an ancient Roman villa. Through the centuries it has seen the rise and fall of the many noble families that owned it before it was converted into luxury holiday accommodation in 2002.

The castle is set in luxuriant parkland, and exudes a relaxing atmosphere, while being just a stone’s throw from the lively city. You would never think that you are just 20 minutes from sightseeing and shopping galore!

 In keeping with this ambience, the castle also offers a large outdoor swimming pool where clients can relax, swim and sunbathe and a wellness centre offering personalised beauty treatments for regenerating the body and the mind.

The Hotel has 23 double rooms, making it rather intimate, but at the same time large enough to hold a medium-sized wedding party. Each of the rooms is individually furnished in true keeping with the castle’s style. There are suites, luxury rooms and standard rooms to choose from, for all needs, and varying budgets.

The hotel’s “Locanda” (restaurant) has been splendidly restored in true medieval style. It features a fine stone fireplace dominating one end of the room. The restaurant can be hired for exclusive use for weddings and events and there are also another two functions rooms for bigger or smaller wedding parties. The decor is charming and can be embellished to give a more formal look or a more romantic, country chic look.

Food at the castle is magnificent. The cuisine ranges from regional dishes to others with a strong central Italian influence, but always and only using top quality ingredients and fresh seasonal produce. We can vouch for this. It’s a job perk, you know!

One amazing feature of the hotel is that it also has a private chapel where Catholic weddings can be held.  The chapel is intimate and rich in decor, making it extremely simple to decorate for ceremonies. Weddings can also be held outside in the Cloisters, giving a magical touch to a religious ceremony.

On a more ludical note, the hotel is also close to several golf courses for any golf enthusiasts out there and only about 25 minutes away from a car race track where it is possible to try out your hand racing a Ferrari or a Lamborghini around the track. We can organise these activities for you and many more too.

The resort is 25 miles from the airport, and only 8 miles from Rome city centre, although one would never know that the Eternal City is so close. The castle stands in green parkland and noise is a forgotten problem when staying here. Relaxing by the swimming pool, walking in the grounds, relaxed meals on the terrace, all away from the hustle and bustle, truly makes for a great place to spend a few days with your partner and guests, with the added bonus of being able to organise sightseeing in the city.

All this is available for weddings, and other events that we can organise, and the whole estate and hotel just oozes class. We find many hotel and resort prices to be very reasonable in this part of Italy (apart from the city centre) and again, this location is not overly  expensive if compared to some British and French hotels of the same standard. Last but not least, the staff at the castle are extremely friendly and efficient. Combined with Country Weddings Italy, a great team!

Relais de Charme - A Hillside Wedding Venue with a Sea View

Hi All!

I’m in love, and that’s official. I’m sure you will be too after you’ve read this post!

Where have I been? Away scouring the corners of Lazio (and a little corner of Umbria too, I confess) for some GORGEOUS wedding venues to offer here at Country Weddings Italy. Take a seat. Here is the first…..

This place is  truly a little corner of Paradise. Set on a hillside facing west down on to the magnificent northern Lazio coastline, the colours of the natural surroundings are truly a sight not to be missed. The sunsets are also apparently magical. A photographer's dream!

The resort has been created from a group of old agricultural buildings, which the owner, Signor Gianfranco, bought some years ago and lovingly renovated and recreated to his own personal tastes. Signor Gianfranco has a background in the architectural and theatrical scenery creation sectors, and his expert touch is reflected in the extremely original interior décor. He's known to be a wonderful cook too, and he has even offered to spend time with our guests teaching them the basics of Italian pasta-making.

The resort has an indoor and an outdoor swimming pool, spa, Jacuzzi and Hammam area. This really is a place for a super holiday, with friends, rejuvenating mind and soul, and tastebuds (!), as the food is amazing.

Outdoors, the resort’s grounds are filled as far as the eye can see with Mediterranean vegetation, olive groves, woodland and vegetable gardens, the produce from which is used in the resort’s daily cuisine.

The resort has  private indoor function rooms for receptions, or when the weather permits (a large part of the year here!) it is possible to host wedding receptions and parties outside on the terrace. If you prefer a more natural touch, tables can be placed in the olive grove, reserved for your exclusive use, by the pool, all lit by candles and lanterns once the sun goes down.

The hotel has a total of 20 rooms, making the atmosphere discreet and refined. It is off the beaten tourist track and the owner strives to maintain the exclusivity of both the place and its style. Civil wedding ceremonies are possible just a few miles away, in a castle museum (officially a municipality wedding hall) right by the sea. Great for photos!

The word here is originality. Original architecture and design, original wines, original and genuine local foods. Combined with a breathtaking view, this very private, secluded resort is the perfect location for a group to relax, have fun. The perfect Italian wedding venue. For celebrating with Country Weddings Italy, of course!

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!

Country Weddings Italy Location Focus: Formello, Veio Regional Parkand the Via Francigena

I admit it: I think I live in a gorgeous place! Daniela and Nicola, a.k.a. Country Weddings Italy, both moved to this area a few years ago, and we both truly appreciate its beauty, with the additional advantage of its proximity to the bright lights of the Eternal City, while being able to joy the peace, beauty and harmony of the wonderful northern Latium landscapes.

These thoughts were some of the first that brought us to think about setting up our business here. Wedding planning and styling is surely helped when the surrounding landscape is already something fantastic to work with. Wedding venues here are spectacular, but often overlooked by overseas couples, who maybe do not know what beauty lies outside the much publicized Tuscany, Rome city centre itself or the much-talked-about Amalfi Coast. All spectacular, rest assured, but why not come off that beaten track a little and try something different? Here’s a little history, info and photos about the village we live in and the surrounding area.

Formello village centre is still a medieval masterpiece, a walled settlement, with a grand stone gateway entrance and breathtaking little lanes and squares that cascade gently down the hillside , one after the other. The village square is dominated by Palazzo Chigi, a former aristocratic country home of the Chigi princes, now the village’s library, museum and town hall offices, and a splendid civil wedding venue!

Formello lies inside the Veio Regional Park, 15,000 hectares of natural parkland which also contain several medieval towns and villages. Formello looks onto a part of the Park, the Sorbo Valley with its parkland open to all who want to wander awhile through nature. The area is magnificent and would make a lovely setting for wedding photographs.

Formello is also the last stopping place before reaching Rome - the final destination on the Via Francigena, a pilgrim route from Canterbury to Rome, officially established in 990 A.D by the Archbishop of Canterbury of the era, Sigeric, who travelled this very route to visit the Pope to receive his Archbishop’s cape. 

All this to help you get an idea of the area where you could be planning your Italian wedding this very minute!  Gorgeous countryside, beautiful villages full of historical interest, just a short 20-minute drive from Rome. The photos speak for themselves, but we can provide you with any information you may need about wedding venues and accommodation in the area. Visit our website www.countryweddingsitaly.com to read about what we can do for you, and contact us at info@countryweddingsitaly.com. . We would love to hear from you! 

Nicola