A Luxury Italian Wedding

What does Luxury mean?

To me luxury means to indulge, to pamper, to live well, to experience and to aspire so when I think of luxury weddings, I think of elegant, beautiful, refined, unique and different. A luxury wedding is not for the faint hearted, its needs to be detailed with no stone left unturned, each and every aspect must blend beautifully with the other and fit like a silk glove. Luxury can be expensive as it has to be authentic and exclusive. This is your wedding and it has to be the best day of your life. Our luxury weddings cannot be improved as they are the ultimate. Your wedding should be different as it should truly reflect your personality, tastes and style. Whether your wedding is small and intimate or grand, elegant and traditional, modern or contemporary, it should be the best and the most beautiful. Italy has endless possibilities and here is just a taste of what you need to consider when putting together a luxury wedding.

Our Top 10 points:

1.You need to work with planners who you feel comfortable with and who can dedicate the time to you and you need to create an honest and comfortable relationship with your planner, one that you can trust but also one where you can speak honestly and directly.

2.You definitely need to be very specific and realistic regarding your budget. There is no point asking for a fireworks display with 50 heart shaped explosions or Swarovski Crystal favours placed on your reception table, or a wedding cake which explodes into a fanfare of white doves and of course the real one will be presented after the display…. If your budget is low.

3.You need to pick a suitable venue. There are some stunning locations to choose from. Just ask for our Top 10 selection for 2009. Some are more expensive than others as owners require fees and will then give you permission to hold your wedding here.

4.Once the venue has been confirmed, it is time to set the theme and design your dream wedding. Whether your theme is seasonal, nautical, Victorian, fairytale, vintage, country or other, it is important that everything flows together from the invitations to the place names, the flowers to the music. All the different items of your wedding need to come together. With luxury weddings it is your time to be outrageous and extravagant and time needs to be paid to your dream so is important to share this with your wedding coordinator so that she or he knows what you are trying to create. The colours, the dancing, the planning, the after party, the cake, the décor, the dining…

5.Try something which is local to the location for example …. If you are marrying in Venice why not have some beautiful Venetian masks waiting for your guests on the table different ones for the men and for the women. Why not splash out on luxurious wedding favours, from photo coasters with a picture of the venue and your names and wedding date, engraved cuff links to engraved money clips and personalised matches, with your initials and your wedding date.

6.Flowers are so vital to luxury weddings. They contribute so much and just enhance the space selected. Of course the flowers need to be right, the scents and perfumes need to work in the right places, the colours need to bring your reception tables to life, this is your chance to be extravagant however you need to ensure that it fits within the designated theme. Have flowers everywhere …… if you and your guests are all staying together, why not welcome your guests with floral and fruit baskets and a note of thanks, create boxes of roses petals for your guests beautifully decorated to use when you come out of the church or town hall… so many possible options.

7.Food is of vital importance, the way it is served to the way it is presented and the taste. After the ceremony, cocktails and canapés to be served – Bellini and/or Rossini or you may just want to concentrate on Italian champagne. Remember to ensure that you have enough canapés to last you for as long as 2 hours perhaps, and it is always best to provide your guests with a range of tasty tasters as I call them. Black truffles, grape tomato, brie and roast garlic, Arancini di Riso filled with Smoked Mozzarella cheese, bresaola and pecorino with truffle oil, smoked salmon avocado and basil, Mini Rosemary & Sea Salt Focaccia with Italian Salami…and when it is time for dinner, perhaps rather than providing set dishes of one starter, one pasta, one main and one dessert, why not create a series of tasters…. 5 starters, 5 pastas, 5 mains, 5 sides, a dessert buffet where guests can help themselves. It does not have to be 5 it could be less or more, this just allows your guests to truly experience what Italy is all about……..!

8.Make sure that the wine selected for your reception compliments the meal, and we always recommend that you have a min of at least 1 bottle per head plus 1 bottle of mineral water per head and of course you can add to this as the night progresses. Of course if you head for the “Taster Wedding Menu”, then we need to ensure that guests have ½ bottle of white and ½ bottle of red. However this being a luxury wedding, each table can order more wine if required. There is a good way of keeping this under control so do not worry as it does not get out of hand.

9.For your open bar in the evening, make sure that you keep to the Italian theme. Italy has so many wonderful drinks however the same drinks are requested time after time. Why not create Bar sections …. The Grappa Section and here we can offer a range of Grappas, allowing your guests the option of tasting before accepting the drink, then a little further but all within the same area, we have the Beer section… and here we would have a range of Italian beers, another section would be The Ammazza-caffè section which are liqueurs taken after coffee, drinks like Sambuca (even though I do drink it with ice instead of coffee), Limoncello, Fragolino, Grappa could also fit in here ….. a range of other options would be available.

10.The evening becomes more and more important, so here again lighting and music need to be carefully considered. Music is a core part of a luxury wedding and important considerations need to be made.

We are full of ideas which we can share with you and we have organized weddings for celebrities which have been simple and extravagant so we know what we are doing. We arrange only a few very special creations every year.  For all you couples in search of the unique … do you really need to look further?