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!

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 

Butterfly Wedding Inspirations at Country Weddings Italy

www.countryweddingsitaly.com

OK, we admit it. We have a thing about butterflies here at Country Weddings Italy. We have even chosen a butterfly to sit on the home page of our new website, which is due to go online any day now. (Yippee!!). The photo above is a sneak preview....

I have my own reasons for loving butterflies, and have even been known to shed a tear when I see one, as I find them so spiritual, but they truly are the most marvellous, gorgeous creatures. With so much ugliness in the world, they can become a magnificent theme or item at a wedding, bound to wow your guests and carry a beautiful, special meaning too: Butterflies symbolize new life, new beginnings and a transformation from old to new. This is highly symbolic of marriage; the joining of two lives to create a new one.

Butterflies are all around in the Italian countryside in Spring and Summer months, but I sometimes catch a glimpse of them in Autumn and Winter too in my garden. The various colours are amazing, and I always gaze in wonder at how audacious butterflies are; they take their time and visit all the flowers in the garden, not scared off by humans, dogs or loud noises.

We've put together a few inspiration boards to show you some of the many and original ways that butterflies can be incorporated into your wedding, and we've done a photo-shoot too, of Country Weddings Italy-created wedding decor items. More of that later this afternoon. In the meantime take a look at these photos and start dreaming of filling your wedding venue in Italy with these gorgeous items.

Clockwise from top left: tiara from Princess Jewellery, dress from Dorotheas Closet Vintage,
tiara from notonthehighstreet.com, dress from BHLDN, tiara from 3D jewellery, dress by Mariella
 Burani,full gown found on weddingpoints.co.uk, dress by Mary L Couture.

Clockwise from left to right: cakesforweddings.net, marthastewartweddings.com,
 maisiefantaisie.co.uk,  eweddingcake.com, nickygrant.com, maisiefantaisie.co.uk

Clockwise from left to right: diy.weddingbee.com, kaboodle.com, diywedcentral.com,
 bridalcraft.com,  confettiflowers.com, jan hobbins, monarchbutteflys.com, butterflyaccessories.co.uk

Clockwise from left to right: invitation from inspiredinvites.com, biscuit cutter wedding favour
 from itsawrap.weddings.co.uk,  yellow wedding invitation from zazzle.co.uk, wedding
favour biscuits from julietstallwoodbiscuitsandcakes.co.uk,  invitation from handyhippo.co.uk,
all white invitation from weddingsoon.co.uk, jewelled butterfly wedding favour from modefunction.com,
 lilac invitation from debbiejenkins.co.uk

White and Yellow Daisy Wedding Inspirations

Daisy wedding dress by Philippa Lepley,  daisy wedding band by Gerard McCabe, stationery by Debbie Jenkins,
 wedding cake by daisie fantasie, bridesmaids' dresses seen on weddingdressonline.org

It has suddenly turned rather cold here in the northern part of Latium. Lots of frost on my lawn this morning. The sun is shining however, just the right weather for a brisk walk in the open air in the countryside.
 However much I love winter weather like this, thinking forward to Spring makes me joyful. It makes me think of weddings, flowers and light,warm country air. Here is a little bit of true springtime wedding day inspiration for all you future brides who are maybe suffering from worse winter weather than we are fortunate to have here at Country Weddings Italy. This Daisy inspiration theme has just the right "rustic chic" touch that could be used at a country wedding venue.

Latium, the land of Princes, Popes, Farmers and Craftsmen

Many people reading this blog have asked me to tell them a little more about Latium, the region where Country Weddings Italy is based and will concentrate most of its wedding venues. Although I obviously speak from a personal point of view, I truly think that this part of Italy is beautiful, and the beauty of it is that it's not crawling with tourists for most of the year, apart from the capital city, of course. 

So many parts of Italy are popular with overseas tourists. Tuscany is most certainly at the forefront in everyone’s mind when they think of Italy. The region’s tourist board has certainly had some very efficient marketing experts working for them in recent years, and they have the "material" to warrant that, without a doubt. The Amalfi coast is also very popular with Brits and Americans with its unique coastal scenery, and Lake Garda and the northern lakes in general have gained popularity thanks to the likes of George Clooney buying property in the area. Italy’s most beautiful cities, Venice, Florence, Rome and Naples are also known names in everybody’s vocabulary.

Latium (known as Lazio in Italian) is, in fact, the Italian region that is home to one of those names: Rome, the Eternal City, Italy’s capital, which gets its fair share of publicity worldwide and which everyone dreams of visiting at least once in their lifetime. It really is worth a visit and that could easily be incorporated into your stay here, as the city is never more than an hour's journey from wherever you stay in the region.  However, apart from Rome, we are somewhat spoilt for choice in this area of Ancient Roman, Etruscan and Renaissance history. There are architectural wonders to look at wherever you go.  There are Roman ruins, Etruscan tombs, medieval castles, spectacular countryside, rugged coastlines with its long, wide beaches, mountains for skiing, thermal spa towns and lakes for lazing by. A perfect, mini paradise!

We have already shown you a few venues and locations for celebrating your wedding in Latium in this blog. In coming weeks I will most definitely showcase some more. I could go on for hours and hours about the majestic beauty of the medieval town of Viterbo, Montefiascone, the village that produces the excellent Est! Est! Est! wine by the side of Lake Bolsena, the the Monti Sabini hills in the northeast corner of the region, with its olive groves that produces the most divine olive oil and superb country farmhouse hotels ...... but I often think that the power of words is sometimes just simply overcome by the power of pictures, and so I thought I would show you this short video of just some of the highlights of the Latium area. Feast your eyes on this!

For the Love of Flowers.....

Walking into Rosella Antonelli’s floral design workshop on a cold, wet late autumn day here in the Roman countryside was better than taking a hot bath with a glass of Prosecco and my favourite book!! Talk about a child walking into Santa's Wonderland - I was immediately struck by the harmony of the colours, although they varied so greatly, and the style of the non-floral items that she uses to complete each styling project,  many of which reflect my love of the vintage, shabby chic, romantic look so accurately. We sat down to talk surrounded by flowers, crystal candle shades, silver candlesticks, glass bowls with floating candles and flowers, cushions and drapes. I was in heaven!

Rosella is a floral designer who works with love and passion to produce her creations. She has worked for several years in the wedding and events sector, designing and making her floral creations and providing all the finishing touches to bring the style of each event together. Flowers, foliage, candles, crystal, silver candelabras, voile, muslin, silk and fine linen are all components used to create the right atmosphere wherever she is asked to work, indoors or outside, from grand villas to country farmhouses.

Colour is very much  a part of Rosella’s wedding creations (just to provide an opposite point of view from the one I told you I was given last week, where white reigned supreme!), but one piece of advice Rosella gives to brides is to choose a bridal bouquet that is suited to the bride’s height and colouring.  Don’t drown yourself with a bouquet that is too big for you or drain your colouring with colours that are too strong for you to take. It is also a good idea to choose a bouquet that is comfortable to hold, as you will need to hold it throughout the day, or at least until you toss it to your single female guests (if you can bear to part with it!).

Rosella will be working with us to create floral decorations at future Country Weddings Italy weddings. Daniela and I immediately felt at home talking to her, and we soon realised we were all talking the same “language” in terms of work ethics and philosophy  and love of quality service. Another warm, talented person to add to our growing team! All the flowers in this post are Rosella’s creations - you could have them at your Italian wedding too!

Rustic Chic Lakeside Wedding Venue at Country Weddings Italy

Today we’d like to show you one of the locations that we visited recently and have decided to include in our range of Country Weddings Italy wedding venues. This 346-acre estate evokes a truly rustic chic atmosphere: it is a fully working farm that stands on the shores of a small lake just 30 minutes north of Rome. The farm owners have developed a restaurant renowned for the quality of its food and a farm shop selling all their own produce. The restaurant uses the farm produce in its kitchens; it even grows its own wheat to make the pasta!

The venue also offers accommodation for guests, in both double rooms, or beautiful self-catering apartments, created from the farm’s refurbished hay barn and stalls.  Anybody attending a wedding can make this a real holiday opportunity, staying around to enjoy the lakeside beach and bar, sailing boats, swimming, horse-riding and even cookery lessons.

Weddings here take on a bucolic style. The wedding reception decor and floral designs reflect the natural country setting, using local wild flowers and colours in keeping with or complementary to the environment. Couples can even choose to seat their guests on hay bales during a symbolic ceremony down by the beach, and after the excellent food served at the wedding reception, it is possible to hold an after-dinner beach party to continue celebrations until the early hours of the morning!

Daniela and I love this place, and the friendly family team that run all the estate activities. This is also a restaurant where I can already vouch for the quality of the food, I’ve already enjoyed Sunday lunch here with the family, eating and enjoying an excellent glass of local wine, and lazing by the water’s edge.

If you require further information about organising your wedding at this venue in Italy, please get in touch with us at: countryweddingsitaly@gmail.com