Italian Lakes Wedding Planner

Balbianello Villa – Official Rental Fees 2012

Many of you write us to ask further information on Villa del Balbianello rental.
For this reason we would love to give you more information on our blog that we hope could be useful.
As mentioned Villa del Balbianello is a very exclusive and unique venue, for this reason rental fee is related to the luxury and exclusivity of the location itself.

Dear Couples,
Many of you write us asking further information about Villa del Balbianello rental. For this reason we would love to give you more information on our blog that we hope could be useful.

Italian Lakes Wedding Team now is happy to provide you the official rates of Balbianello Villa.
We tried to be the most exhaustive we could but please feel free to contact us if you find something not clear or if you may need additional details.

Balbianello is one of the most beautiful and unspoiled Villas of the area reachable by boat thus giving your guests the opportunity of living a “different” experience.
FAI (Fondo Ambiente Italiano – Italian Environment Fund) preserves the most important Italian monumental Villas and gardens and it manages Villa del Balbianello too. It has agreed us the permission to use the Villa for our events.

We hope you will appreciate the uniqueness of this amazing setting and stunning view as much as we do!
The breath-taking ceremony can be celebrated outdoor overlooking the lake. At Villa del Balbianello can be performed civil legally blessing ceremonies from Monday to Saturday (never on Sunday) Villa del Balbianello offers the opportunity of using the venue for:

• Only the ceremony (max 2 hours staying).
• Ceremony + aperitif / cocktail (max 3 hours staying).
• Ceremony + complete reception (max 6 hours staying) with option of extending the time till 2am at an extra fee charge.

Depending on the guests number, ceremony can be celebrated on the Terrace (small groups) or under the Loggia (bigger groups).
For groups smaller than 50 guests, the ceremony can be celebrated also while the Villa is still open to tourists (this option is cheaper than having the Villa in exclusive). This means in the afternoon, earlier than 6pm.
For groups of 50 persons and over, ceremonies are only allowed when the Villa is closed to public visitors (this has a higher cost) and therefore with the Villa in exclusive. Continue Reading »

Today we’ve officially opened the wedding season on Villa Bossi in Orta. We show you here the very first images of the event a real scoop!
Siobhan and Stuart were the first couple to get married in Orta. The both come from Scotland as you can also see from groom’s special suit!

A wonderful day in Orta with a mild temperature, almost like summer, pretty unusual for this period considering that Spring has just arrived!
This was the perfect frame for Siobhan and Stuart’s wedding!
As tradition wants Siobhan arrived to Villa Bossi by a rowing boat with her father. The civil ceremony had also a special touch with a wonderful blessing conducted by our celebrants Diane and Giuseppe.
After a pretty walk in the medieval village of Orta bride and groom had a wonderful aperitif in the gardens of Villa Gippini part of San Rocco Hotel, where Siobhan and Stuart also had a delicious dinner with all their guests.

We would like to thank Independent Pictures photographers who gave us in few hours the first wonderful shots of this sweet event.

Today I’d like to go back a little in time to talk about Melanie and David’s special day, which was our last wedding of the spring season.
Melanie and David are a delightful couple hailing respectively from England and the United States. For their Italian wedding they chose the fantastic setting of Villa Rusconi Clerici by the shores of Lago Maggiore.
Their wedding was the last Spring event but the first to welcome the summer! Melanie and David opted for a wedding based on sunflowers and lemons, which are typically warm and sunny mediterranean themes.

This was perfectly highlighted by glorious sunshine which thankfully arrived after a few days of bad weather. Their wedding was characterised by a limpid blue lake, a light breeze that chased away the clouds and bright green of the landscape all around. An exceptional contrast of colour made the various yellow hues used in the arrangement designed by Monika and myself, stand out even more.

The event was organized by Valentina, Italian Lakes Wedding’s experienced wedding planner, who has become a true expert in weddings taking place at Villa Rusconi Clerici.

I planned this event in collaboration with my lovely and valued colleague, Stefania who is based in the Southern Lakeside regions of Italy, (including Lake Bracciano) but who occasionally assists us here in the Northern Lakes.
It was such a pleasure to have assisted Melanie, who was one of the most co-operative brides of this year. As a couple our bride and groom ‘to be’ complemented one another perfectly. Melanie was an incredibly stylish American Bride and David, a very handsome British Groom. They had enjoyed their first vacation together in our country and so had their hearts set on Italy as the destination for their special day. We had to plan certain details at relatively short notice but Melanie was precise and punctual, which made working with her a sheer delight!
Valentina – wedding planner

I was inspired by Melanie’s creative ideas and pleased to offer suggestions based on my vast experience of organizing weddings in the area. It was fulfilling to collaborate with the Bride and help make her dream of a stunning and sophisticated wedding at Lake Maggiore come true.
Melanie and David expressed a desire for a romantic blessing ceremony, (tastefully and thoughtfully conducted by Celebrants, Giuseppe and Diane) and their vision of an elegant and chic countryside event was realised at Villa Rusconi Clerici, one of the most romantic locations in the area.

Paola from La Piccola Selva helped us to achieve the required atmosphere by designing beautiful arrangements of country style flowers with a touch of elegance, a consistent trademark of La Piccola Selva.

We selected only the most professional catering service, whose culinary skills contributed to the overall success of the event held exclusively at the Villa. The Bride and Groom were treated to a sumptuous aperitif with their wedding guests in the grounds, followed by an enchanting dinner by the majestic lake. This was an intimate wedding and certainly one of the most romantic of the season!
Valentina – wedding planner

When Valentina introduced me to Melanie, I soon realised that our bride had precise ideas concerning the theme of her wedding. She wanted a flower arrangement with a typical mediterranean flavour, cheerful and sunny, based on yellow tones. The choice was soon made to include the complementary characteristics of lemons and sunflowers.
Continue Reading »

Today we would love to tell you about Lisa and Darren’s wedding. It was surely one of the best event on Lake Maggiore this year. Lisa and Darren visited the Lake last year with our planner Valentina and they fell in love with Villa Rusconi at first sight!
They thought it could be the perfect place for their Italian wedding on the Lake and from the very first moment they had some great ideas to make it even more perfect.

When I first met Lisa and Darren I was touched by their enthusiasm. They such a nice and solar couple. When I showed them Villa Rusconi Lisa’s eyes sparkled and I knew that that was the right the right place for them!
Then almost a year wonderful year of planning followed. And I have to admit we developed a very special relationship that ended to consider each other like good and old friends!
Valentina

We wanted our wedding to be relaxed but an experience our guests would never forget and I think we achieved this 110 percent!  Our friends are still raving about it now!
The setting of course is stunning and couldn’t fail to impress.
Lisa

Lisa decided to getting ready with her friends to closer Grand Hotel Majestic.
Continue Reading »

There are many couples who decide for a very intimate wedding.
If you are looking for a romantic wedding for two you could consider many ideas such cities of art like Rome – as Stefania mentioned in her past post – some exotic beaches or isolated villages.
However if you love lakes but want to keep it private, romantic and unique Lake Orta could be the perfect choice!

Orta is a pretty little village. It is completely pedestrian, medieval, facing quiet lake and it is tiny St. Julius Island.

Best option is a romanic civil ceremony to Villa Bossi. We suggest to opt for a wedd day when narrow roads of Orta village are less crowded and more intimate.
You will discover real Italy here. You can choose to get ready in one of the lovely hotels in Orta overlooking the lake.

Bride could arrive alone with a rowing boat while groom is waiting for her to Villa Bossi. Just like Suzanne and Russell did.

They stayed to Villa Crespi to get ready. Then they had a romantic ceremony to Villa Bossi and after a romantic boat tour on the lake, they landed to the restaurant on St. Julius Island for a cosy dinner for the two of them. Continue Reading »

Here I am again to talk about Villa Rusconi Clerici, this time I will describe the gorgeous symbolic ceremony of Nicky & Chris. As flower designer, I have had the great pleasure and honour of handling the decoration of this special event, which took place in September in Verbania Pallanza on the shores of Lake Maggiore.

I would like to start by thanking the photographer Carlo Conti, who has kindly provided these fabulous images of the day. After many years of experience as a fashion, still life and architecture photographer, Carlo Conti has founded RPS Studio – Reportage Per gli Sposi – choosing to continue his career as a specialist wedding photographer. His style is characterised by a great ability to capture the most natural and spontaneous moments of any event in order to compose a fresh, modern and lively album…the pictures of Nicky and Chris’ big day are a very good example of his creativity.

Nicky & Chris are both born and bread in London. Nicky is pursuing a successful career in human resource, while Chris owns a recruitment agency focusing on the sports sector.
Being two very busy young professionals, they did not have a lot of free time to dedicate to the organisation of their wedding and decided to rely on the expertise and professionalism of Chic Weddings, a leading wedding design agency that works with the team of Italian Lakes Wedding.

Nicky and Chris were dreaming of a wedding by the water, informal and elegant at the same time. An event that matched their personality, not too flashy but very fun. After evaluating various options, they opted for Villa Rusconi Clerici for its wonderful position right on the shores of Lake Maggiore.

The colour theme chosen by Nicky & Chris focused on ivory and lilac, with a hint of purple. This successful combination is very much on trend recently and is often requested by my clients.

The ceremony at Villa Rusconi Clerici started with the arrival of the bride, Nicky, by speedboat. She was accompanied by her father and her lovely bridesmaids. The location benefits from a private jetty which offers the possibility of organising an extremely scenic entry as well as lake tours for the guests during the cocktail reception.

Nicky chose a sleek and modern bouquet, in perfect harmony with her dress: to design it I mixed mini white Calla Lilies, purple Lysianthus and Rose Tibet, enhancing the long shape of the bouquet with a few leaves of Beucarnea. Continue Reading »

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 »

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 »

Villa D’Este… it’s impossible to utter the name without a wistful sigh.
Apart from being stupendous and undeniably the epitome of Italian sophistication, this villa is world famous. It has literally witnessed history, being well known as one of Mussolini’s preferred locations in which to receive important guests.

So it was with great excitement and anticipation that I met Janet and Ian, who were staying at the Villa before and after their ceremony. To be there in the evening was an experience reminiscent of a Hollywood film from the 1950′s. A jazz pianist and singer serenaded snappily dressed clientele sipping cocktails in the beautiful grounds while gazing dreamily out towards a lake illuminated by fireworks. A newly married couple waltzed romantically around a large interior ballroom beneath the gaze of a thousand crystal eyes of an antique chandelier… It was the stuff that dreams are made of and the ceremony was still to come!

The day of the blessing boasted perfect weather conditions with glorious sunshine and heat relieved by a fresh breeze. The blessing took place in the latter part of the afternoon, always a good time for photographs. The floral arrangement was simply stunning with lemons and sunflowers as the dominant theme. The most amazing mosaics I had ever seen decorated the entrance to expertly manicured gardens, much loved by Sir Winston Churchill during his many holidays spent at the villa during his career as English PM. He spent many hours on the veranda engaged in his passion for painting. He would have loved the scene that day.

As the guests arrived to take their seats I wondered about the many historic public figures and famous celebrities that had also been spellbound by this enchanting and majestic villa. It was a very surreal moment… ‘The Flower Duet’ from Lakme initiated the proceedings, which was a fitting accompaniment to such a creative floral arrangement. Janet began to make her way towards me accompanied by her father. Her hairstyle was captivating and creative, reflecting the bride’s personality and was the subject of much discussion amongst the guests. The groom was without doubt one of the most relaxed I have ever seen! However he was clearly moved and I found myself also overcome with emotion during the mutual swearing of their vows. The bride had told me that they had chosen the villa because they had fallen in love with one another here during an early trip taken together, thus proving that Villa D’Este casts a powerful spell… Continue Reading »

It is our great pleasure to welcome and introduce Diane Wheeler as a new author to our blog. She is an English Literature graduate and ex-teacher who has lived in Italy for many years.

Diane is a co celebrant and works with us, arranging blessings and symbolic ceremonies liaising with Italian Lakes Wedding. She has a gentle manner, a good sense of humour and is very passionate about her work. She demonstrates great skill in collaborating with the bride and groom, constructing their dream ceremony in close dialogue with them. She has considerable experience of scripting and performing blessing ceremonies in Italy.
Diane takes great care to ensure that every couple feels supported and guided every step of the way. She also complements the ceremony with expert recitation of some of the most beautiful poetry and moving readings of the English language. Continue Reading »

Waiting for the beginning of a new season of beautiful weddings on Lake Orta I would like to tell you about some wedding that I followed last year that I did not mention before. This is not because they wasn’t interesting, on the contrary they were absolutely great and unique!
Simply for some reasons I did not have the occasion but I will do it now!
2008 was a busy year for me rich in satisfactions starting from Janet and Ian’s floral arrangements at Villa d’Este on Lake Como. I remember also the arrangements with beautiful peonies and lemons at Villa Muggia in Stresa for Victoria and Danny’s wedding and more Autumn theme I create for Rossella and Giorgio’s wedding: bridal bouquet and centrepieces at Palazzo Penotti Ubertini in Orta.
But let’s go to “the ones I forgot” of 2008.

I’m pleased to tell you about Elena and Peter’s wedding last September. Elena and Peter are an exceptional couple. She is Russian and he is American a wonderful and happy couple. I think that also photographer Enrico Mocci loved work with them since they were so nice, friendly and beautiful! You can see Elena and Peter’s photogallery: you will see stunning pictures!

The entire wedding took place at one single venue: Hotel Villa Crespi in Orta San Giulio.
It was a typical Russian ceremony so the best place should be obviously Villa Crespi!
Valentina some time ago mentioned in one of her articles about the possibility for an ethnic wedding to Mooresque style Villa Crespi, this is the one!

Ceremony was organized in the garden of the villa during a wonderful sunny day.
Traditionally Russian orthodox ceremony is long and rich of signs and details.

The exchange of the rings, that has to be done 3 times meaning the Saint Trinity and the Crown for bridegroom. Again bridegroom will drink three times from the same holy glass and they will go around the ceremony table, the celebrant will lead them for their path for 3 times just like they are having their first steps as bride and groom.
At the end of the ceremony, there celebrant will take off the crown and he will bless them and all guests good wishes.

Elena and Peter’s color scheme was white and orange. I used it for the bouquet, arrangements in the garden and centerpieces. Elena took orange for her hairdo with nice little orange roses. Peter used a little orange rose too but for his buttonhole and he wore a wonderful orange tie. They matched perfectly my arrangements.
Centerpieces were simple and essential because of the beauty of rooms of Villa Crespi, but Elena wanted from me a special attention for her bouquet. I created it with long ivy willows and Dendrobium orchids. A the top of them there were wonderful Orange Dream roses.

Once again to have a look at the bouquet and floral arrangements that I made for this unforgettable wedding just visit Elena and Peter’s PHOTO GALLERY realized by Enrico Mocci from Arona.
Continue Reading »