admin on May 30th 2009 Lake Orta Weddings
Are you looking for a smart lakeside restaurant for your wedding reception? Is your budget on the low side and not up to the extravagant Italian wedding organised by Tom and Katie Cruise?
Are you on the look out for a restaurant that will go a long way to finding the right solution for you, with a gift for the bride and groom, a gesture that makes all the difference?
Picture this: the hotel motor boat taking you to the Island of San Giulio for your wedding photos. And, on request and according to your budget, the hotel will arrange the room for you, with chair covers and big bows, if that is what you wish for.

If you have chosen Lake Orta, then the Approdo at Pettenasco is the right place for you with its a restaurant with a fine garden on the lake shore, well known for its excellent cuisine, and with the assistance of a native English speaker, and a large sunny banqueting room overlooking the lake.
Last week, Laura and Michele chose the Ristorante L’Approdo for their reception, while they chose the professional work and life-long experience of Raffaello Mazzoleni for their photos: We have selected just a few of the magnificent shots he took in the lovely Calle Room, beautifully dressed up for the occasion.

Raffaello Mazzoleni is an experienced photographer who has specialised in weddings and has state of the art equipment to assist him: the award-winning Olympus E3 with superb accessories such as the Olympus Zuiko 7-14 mm wide-angle lens.

The last picture shows Laura and Michele on board the motorboat made available for their use free of charge by the Hotel Ristorante L’Approdo:
a gift offered to all newly-weds so that they can immortalise their magic moment on the lake, a superb reminder of their truly perfect day on Lake Orta.
valentina on May 28th 2009 Country Wedding
As Wedding Planner I usually coordinate weddings on whole Piedmont. This is a wide region on North West of Italy that borders with France and Switzerland. It is rich of history and traditions, you will surely find here a wonderful natural setting. The ideal spot for destination weddings. On North area there are Italian Lakes such as Lake Orta and Lake Maggiore. There are then Alps and Olympic Valleys we talked about in occasion of Aleksandra and Chris’ wedding and their fabulous Winter Wedding. And last but not least there is a special country area among Monferrato, Langhe and Roero regions. This area is just perfect for country destination weddings thanks to its natural colors of every season, tiny villages and antique appeal.

Langhe hills were the exceptional scenario for the wedding I would like to talk you about: a real Country Wedding. All begun in 2007 when Patricia and Richard, from Philadelphia PA USA, decided to come over Italy to celebrate their wedding.

Both of them are of Italian heritage, Richard’s grandparents origins are from a little village of Piedmont on vineyards hills. Starting from this point Patricia and Richard re-created the same atmosphere for their special day. The planning process lasted over 1 year.
On September 24th 2008 Patricia and Richard got married, such a wonderful event!

Langhe and Roero are two close areas South of Torino city and North of Italian Riviera. This wonderful district is right between mountains and seaside. its hills are the perfect place to grow vines to product the best Italian wines such as Barolo, Nebbiolo, Barbaresco and Dolcetto.
This are is also well known for truffles and delicious food. It is right between Bra and Alba, the most famous towns of the area, that Slow Food Association was born. Its task is protecting and preserving food and wine excellences of the area. Thanks to Slow Food, Pollenzo site was restored. It was an ancient Roman settlement, then Finance Agency during 1700 for King Albert of Savoy and now home of first Enogastronomic science University, a wonderful 4 stars hotel and Bank of Wine, where best and precious Italian wins are preserved.

Patricia and Richard choose this special place to celebrate their wedding together with their family and friends that came from all over US. Ceremony was held in the lovely garden of the hotel in the heart of Langhe where there are also Romans ruins of more than 2000 years ago. Aperitif then was served under the hotel wooden porch and dinner in the brick ceiling room with lovely round ivory tables.

Every single detail, including floral arrangements and bridal bouquet enriched with scented spices was linked to country style idea. Continue Reading »
admin on May 25th 2009 Wedding Testimonials

We have the pleasure to post Delia and Edwin’s testimonal on Raffaello Mazzoleni‘s work he did for them in occasion of their wedding in Varenna, Lake Como.
Raffaello, Edwin and I really enjoyed meeting you, Monica and Claudio. We had so much fun with you guys while you were shooting our wedding pictures in Varenna, Italy. We have fun memories of Claudio.
We received our wedding pictures and video with no problems while we were in Rome, and thank you very much for putting everything together so quickly. Our pictures and video are amazing!!! Thank you very much for all of your hard work. Thank you for arriving early before the ceremony and for everything else you did for us.
All of our friends and family loved our pictures; you did an outstanding job, and we thank you and Monica so very much! Claudio did a phenomenal job with the video! One of our best friends that watched the video even cried because she said it was just so beautiful!
We can’t say THANK YOU enough for the wonderful memorable pictures and video of our special day!! Best regards,
Delia & Edwin
Dallas, Texas
monika on May 22nd 2009 Wedding Flowers
Right after Valentina and Diane, I would like to tell you something on Bevin and Steven’s symbolic wedding in Villa Gippini, too.
As floral designer my task was taking care about floral arrangements for this lovely event my colleague and friend Valentina organized.

I personally thank Italian Lakes Wedding wedding planner Valentina, Diego and Estella photographers and San Rocco Hotel for the stunning floral images they put on disposal.
I never met Bevin before her wedding.
All we did was dealing via email. Bevin wrote me from United States telling here wishes.
I got her back trying to advice at my best always keeping in mind her needs.
Bevin decided for a simple but elegant arrangement which was perfect for such an intimate and cosy wedding.
At the very beginning we thought that tulips were the right choice. Tulips are very seasonal in April.
At the end her big love for roses came out so we decided to go with them.
So it was all about Red Roses! Red was Bevin and Steven’s theme just like LOVE.
Red was the color of Bevin’s bouquet. I created it with Red Berlin roses. This kind of roses come with blooms. They are round shaped petals. But most of all they are deep red.

Bevin wanted a Nosegay style bouquet without any greenery where Red Berlin roses were the main character.

Red were centerpieces for the reception to Hotel San Rocco. I used Red Berlin roses too.
The shape was rounded but a littel bit wider than the bouquet. In order to obtain this effect I used acid green Alchemilla and Chamaelacium greenery. All was laid down on a base of deep green ferns.

The only different color I used was white.
I used Iceberg white roses for the four bridesmaids’ bouquets, too. I loved Bevin’s choice to create a lovely contrast between bouquets and beautiful cherry red dress.

I used it to decorate columns at Villa Gippini, too. I realized it with long festoons of Ruscus embellished Iceberg white roses and Gypsophilia. Continue Reading »
diane on May 19th 2009 Symbolic Ceremony,Wedding Ceremonies
Maybe it was because the party were mostly Irish that the sun made un- seasonal appearance, thus providing a summery feel to an early April blessing at Villa Gippini. A few female guests kicked off their heels to enjoy the soft grass and the shade of a nearby tree. The Irish groom and American bride were thrilled about the clement weather as a few days before it had been raining hard.

The beautiful villa garden adjoins a jetty by the picturesque Lake Orta. This was a lush and sophisticated setting for a beautiful blessing ceremony performed by main Celebrant Giuseppe and assisted by Co-Celebrant Diane.

The groom awaited the arrival of the blushing bride while managing to hide his nervousness admirably, aided by a little Irish humour on the part of some of the male contingent. The lake provided the perfect background for professional photos against the descending sun. The musicians performed Corale dalla cantata n.147 (Bach) for an entrance with strings, initiated by the ‘women in red’ (several stunning bridesmaids) plus a couple of small adorable Irish boys who were the all important ring bearers.

Bevin was led by her father down the aisle of red carpet adorned with petals and looked stunning. She was overcome with emotion during the vows. The couple had requested a relatively brief ceremony but were pleasantly surprised when the proceedings were concluded with an unexpected performance by the Celebrants of an antique Italian love Sonnet…. a romantic ending to a perfect memory… Continue Reading »
valentina on May 18th 2009 Lake Orta Weddings
Today we would like to tell you about a very special event Italian Lakes Wedding Team followed:Bevin and Steven Wedding to Villa Gippini in Orta San Giulio – Lake Orta.
A special event for so many reasons. One above all: symbolic ceremony was arranged just on the lake shores with evocative St. Julius island in the background.
Let’s go through ever single detail of it!

Special One: Lake Orta as you’ve never seen before!
it was a wonderful Spring sunny day. Sky was clear with small clouds. Lake water was completely transparent and mountains were green after a long winter.
This was the great scenery for Bevin and Steven’s wedding.
Just the right day to promote this lake!

Special Two: Diego and Estella photographs.
Diego and Estella are two creative and state of the art photographers!
We decided to put them as “Special Event” of the day because their shots were simply great. Let’s have a look to the PHOTO GALLERY with the most beautiful Diego and Estella pictures of Bevin and Steven’s wedding.

Special Three: Villa Gippini, the most exclusive venue on Lake Orta.
Villa Gippini is an ancient villa date back to 1500 located just on the lake shores.
It was built in the medieval center of Orta San Giulio.
Nowadays Hotel San Rocco is the owner of the villa and it rarely allows its utilization for special events, like Bevin and Steven’s wedding.
Villa Gippini is a private venue which not open to public. It created a very intimate atmosphere for the wedding.

Special Four: Bevin’s bridesmaids.
They were all in a elegant but sexy cherry red dress.
The four bridesmaids were all so friendly and smiling. They were able to add a touch of glamour and real fun to the ceremony that sometimes could seem even too serious. Continue Reading »
admin on May 14th 2009 Wedding Planning
The time of traditional weddings, those with long sitting hours and hours seems to arrive to its end. This is also because nowadays the wedding is not only about the couple, but becomes more and more an event, where the bride and groom wants to create a real entertaining day for all the guests.

Obviously, this depends on also about the area and locations you would like to have for your wedding, but in general we can say that the italian lakes are just perfect to a more dynamic wedding, as the lakes offer so much different opportunities, even mixed together. Who told you, that you have to chose your venue and that’s it? It is so difficult to choose amongst all those beautiful sceneries, villas with breathtaking terraces, tiny little bays with a fairytale romantic feeling, splendid castles with a rich history….Now you don’t have to choose just one of the locations, why not to mix them together? In this way you can enjoy the full the different availabilities of the lake, and also allow your guests to live different experiences without making the wedding day too heavy.

Your dream is to have your ceremony open-air in the garden? Take one of the many proposals, and rent the venue only for the ceremony . Or you can take the venue for the ceremony, then leave for some programs and come back later on, to enjoy at the same place the dinner….without staying there the whole day.

So why not to take a lovely boat trip all around the lake? In this way you can admire the most beautiful spots of the different corners, while your guests are having fun with some champagne in hand , or creating bubbles like kids. Continue Reading »
admin on May 12th 2009 Photography
Today we have the pleasure to present you a new interesting photographer who entered in the Italian Lakes Wedding Team just 2 weeks ago: Simone Mottura and his Photographic Studio Blanco Y Negro, in Torino, Piemonte. The photographer is member of different important Italian and international photographic associations, such as the prestigious WPJA, Wedding Photojournalist Association.
To give you an idea about his work, please take a look to the PHOTO GALLERY of Blanco Y Negro published by Italian Lakes Wedding.

The Italian taste for photographic art and the continuous research of details are the facts that make different the studio Blanco Y Negro. Thanks to a particular sensibility to the reportage, the photographic style of Blanco Y Negro is something more than the classical wedding photography: is also fashion and style, is emotion captured improvised at the moment, and that of classic pose without time.

Through an extreme care of details, all the characteristics of the subjects, the scenery and lightning are emphasized. The images takes form in a unique and unmistakable style.

The wedding vision of Blanco Y Negro is composed of different parts: classic where the essential pictures tell you the story of a ceremony, using the traditional poses and framing, and reportage for all the other moments, steeling images and constructing the spontaneity through the natural flow of the events and through the curious and funny sceneries. Sensations, seconds, details to build an elegant and refined square.

A warm welcome to Simone Mottura and his Photographic Studio Blanco Y Negro from the whole team of Italian Lakes Wedding, with all the best wishes to their great job.
admin on May 6th 2009 Photography
After Bianca and Mills’ Wedding, Italian Lakes Wedding Team got back to Varenna for another special event. This time main characters were Delia and Edwin. They came from Dallas, Texas and they choose Lake Como for their wedding.

First of all we need to thank Raffaello Mazzoleni photographer who put on disposal reportage of the event in just 3 days! (record time!). We are showing here a first preview of the images we like most.
In order to give a look at the entire PHOTO GALLERY please visit Raffaello’s web site www.artefoto-omegna.it

Last year Bianca and Mills chose San Martino’s church in Perledo above Varenna for their religious ceremony. Dalia and Edwin have opted for parish church of San Giorgio right in Varenna’s hystorical center.
The big church was established in 1313. It has three naves, the external one is embellished with a wonderful fresco showing life of St. Christopher.

Varenna is one of the most unique villages on Lake Como East coast.
Little roads leads to the lake shore, they are simply beautiful. Here everything was kept as it was, it is the perfect setting for romantic and old fashioned style wedding pictures.

Delia is a deliciuos Latin girl. She comes from Texas close to Mexico border. Obviously Raffaello loved taking picture of her. Here you can find the one we prefer!

Right after ceremony and wedding photographs on Varenna shores, newly weds and their guests moved to Hotel Imperiale in Moltarsio on Como’s bench of the lake. Continue Reading »