Getting Married in Italy...the Perfect Choice

Hi everyone. Today I thought I would provide you with some personal thoughts about why couples decide to get married in Italy. I'm very happy that they do, of course (!!) but making that choice can be so tricky, with the plethora of beautiful destinations worldwide to choose from. In spite of that number of alternatives, Italy has become a very popular choice with couples opting for a “Destination Wedding”, especially with British, Irish, American, Australian and Canadian brides and grooms.

So what is it that makes Italy so attractive, the choice as the perfect place to take your vows and hold the celebrations for your new life together? The first thing that comes to mind is that Italy is such a romantic place. Italian lifestyle itself, the Dolce Vita, is the perfect atmosphere for any type of celebration, and the scenery that you find almost anywhere can be the perfect setting. Just think of all that money saved on styling!! I often spend hours just gazing out of my living window, thinking about how beautiful this place is, and that’s after living here for 22 years, so the novelty has kind of worn off by now! Anyway, let’s say that the canvas is already there, all it needs is painting a little bit more with your favourite colours and style. 

The sun and light in Italy is also so special, and you get a chance to add a little colour to your skin before the big day, if you want to. Wonderful food, fantastic wines, friendly-natured people……I could go on and on, but I think Italy’s magic ingredient is just that…magic. Something that has no name, something that you can’t quite put your finger on, but you know it is all around you. One phrase that always immediately pops out of somebody’s mouth when I say that I live in Italy is “Oh! You lucky thing!!” And my answer is always “Yes, aren’t I”. And I mean it.

In spite of some negative aspects of living here all the time (is any country perfect?), Italy is a wonderful place, even more so if you plan to spend only a temporary period here.  The Latium countryside is rolling hills, lush vegetation and filled with archaeological and architectural wonders. To watch the video I put on the blog a little while ago, about this superb area of Italy, Latium, where Country Weddings Italy is based, click here.   We can also add the excellent food and wine, amazing locations, beautiful churches and town halls, unique venues with breathtaking views. Italians are certainly creative and stylish too. In fact, we dedicate a lot of time to our supplier searches,  so that the presentation of the food for your wedding breakfast, your table decorations, your wedding flowers and your photographs will be out of this world, even when planning a wedding on a smaller budget. Your wedding will be an event that stays on all your guests’ lips for weeks afterwards. You will have lifetime memories of your wedding in Italy to cherish forever.

Couples choosing to marry in Italy and invite their family and friends often turn the experience into a celebration that lasts for more than one day. The special occasion becomes an opportunity to meet relatives and friends that you may not have seen for some time, and spend some quality time with them, all staying in the same location. At Country Weddings Italy we organise pre and post-wedding events too, which can also be incorporated into your official wedding programme, and be included on your wedding invitations. We can sit down together and organise a whole progamme of events for you and your guests. For example, how about a pre-wedding barbecue by the pool of your hotel the night before the wedding? How about inviting all your guests to have a late brunch with you the day after your wedding, to look at some of the photos (the magic of digital photography is that it is immediately visible on screen) and talk about some of the most enjoyable moments of the day?  How about spending a day before your wedding in the kitchen with your friends, learning authentic Italian cooking while sipping a glass of full-bodied red wine (or two…).

 Or, to make the men (or the women, of course!) in the wedding party happy, how about learning to drive a Ferrari or a Lamborghini around an Italian racetrack for the day?

Daniela and I always make sure that we have excellent accommodation to offer you, if it is not already available at your wedding venue, and if we don’t have immediate thoughts on the matter, we will do the searching for you, until we find a place where you will be happy staying for your wedding holiday.  Some of the excellent hotels and country villas that we have visited and chosen to offer to our couples have offered to organise cookery classes, wine-tasting evenings, and even sightseeing tours around Rome.

Add your wedding ceremony in a frescoed wedding hall, a beautiful church or in a country garden, spectacular food and wine at your wedding reception and a mild climate almost all year round, and……well, maybe we’ve got the answer as to why Italy is a very popular choice for couples planning their wedding.

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