monika on Mar 6th 2010 Lake Orta Weddings
Flowers and balloons? Why not?
If flowers are a very important element in a wedding balloons could add a touch of fun to the event going out from the schemes.
First of all I would love to introduce you the main actor of wedding I will tell you about: Desiree and Sander a very nice couple coming from Holland.
For their Italian wedding Desiree and Sander chose Villa Bossi and magic atmospheres of Lake Orta.
Enrico Mocci from Artefoto Arona was their photographer. He took a fresh and dynamic reportage. Just have a look to Desiree and Sander’s PHOTOGALLERY to experience Enrico Mocci’s unique skills.

As for Mariana and Matteo, wedding took place in three different places. First Villa Crespi where bride and groom got ready and came back.


For their first night as married they choose Suite Regina Vittoria. Just a dreamy rooms embellished with red fabrics, furniture dated back to 1700 and a fine marble bathroom with Jacuzzi bath.

After a short walk Desiree and her friends reached Orta Main square. From here bride and father got on the traditional rowing boat to reach Villa Bossi where Orta town hall is located. Here a lovely civil ceremony took place. Continue Reading »
alessandra on Jan 17th 2010 Lake Como Weddings
On the 21st of October 2009, Sandra and John get married at Villa D’Este.
Their story is very romantic and the atmosphere that rainy day brought to their special day was magical and incredibly touching. We were all excited and the time went so fast!

The ceremony was originally organized outdoor, but because of bad weather, it was moved inside the beautiful Column Room.
While Sandra was getting ready, all of us were waiting in the room welcoming the guests and John, the groom.

He reached the altar accompanied by the music of great song La vita è bella.
The florist made an incredible job, we were all astonished…

Finally Sandra appeared, she was beautiful and radiant as John’s son who had the honor to lead her to his father.

Thanks to the great job of our lovely celebrants celebrants Diane and Giuseppe, the whole ceremony was touching and real, and the newlyweds were very happy and surprised!

After the ceremony Sandra, John and their guests had a long walk inside the Hotel to take unforgettable pictures, before coming back to the room for a delicious reception dinner. Continue Reading »
monika on Dec 19th 2009 Bridal Gowns
Among all past Autumn weddings Chiara and Stefano’s wedding was one of my favorites. Bride and Groom were very nice and they choose a wonderful location for their wedding… but most of all Chiara’s dress was simply amazing.

As floral designer I really appreciated bride’s approach towards me. Even if she gave me precise information on her color scheme, she totally trusted me giving me wide freedom on style and shapes for her floral arrangement. This gave me the opportunity to express myself without being to tight on fixed schemes. I believe that for a floral designer is could be the best way to create and express her skills.

Chiara and Stefano’s big day was arranged on Lake Maggiore. Photographers Manuele and Laurence of Studio Foto Benaglia followed the days with their pictures. The followed the group from the early hours of the day until very late at night. This great italian-french couple of photographer realized a lovely natural and spontaneous reportage service taking every single detail of the day. Have a look to the nice Photo Gallery on Chiara and Stefano’s wedding relized by Foto Benaglia.

From Veneto to Piemonte region: Chiara and Stefano reached Lake Maggiore from Treviso in Veneto region, just like at least half of their guests. Chiara was born in Arona and her heart was set here and Stefano fell in love with this lovely town too. So they opted for Lake Maggiore for their destination wedding. All guests loved this choice they did not know how beautiful could be our magic lake.

Chiara choose red for her wedding theme color. Deep red for flowers, invitations, and wedding shoes. Cherry red for a fantastic organza roses fall on her wedding dress. A very original dress for sure! Chiara designed it and she could realize it thanks to the help of Rosanna, the owner of a little atelier in Feltre on foot of Belluno Dolomites.
The shoulder cover, bustier and part of the skirt were mad of laces with plisse’ tulle. Main feature was roses fall in cherry red that started from waist point to create a little train.
Simply wonderful!

Groom opted for a tailor made suit, too. He was surely elegant and handsome.

Chaira and Stefano got married on October 10 on a wonderful warm day similar to summer time. Religious ceremony was held in Santi Martiri Church in Arona, also known as San Graziano church. Church is located in highest part of the town and has a baroque facade and Gothic nave inside. One of the most beautiful detail is the lovely staircase that from San Graziano square leads to church’s entrance.

Floral arrangement was really detailed. On side of aisle red carpet I placed a series of balloon shaped Buxus enriched with red roses and white Gerberas. I also added scattered rose petals on the floor and little bouquets on the pews.

On white marble balusters I created different height arrangements, just in the middle between ancient and modern style. On a white Gerberas and Monstera leaves base I placed Passion Roses on different levels and on side of them I added some Bear Grass. Continue Reading »
wedding team on Dec 13th 2009 Lake Garda Weddings
Not every time bride and groom are coming with a full group of guests, sometimes they seem to escape the big festivities and have just a very small and intimate wedding. So it happened end of this September at lake Garda.
Kerstin and Wolfgang came from Düsseldorf and wished to get married at Bardolino. Why especially Bardolino and not any other village around Lake Garda? They had often been to this place and hat lots of wonderful memories, so they wanted to relighten all this nice thoughts from the former years of their life together.

Kerstin, the bride came up with a very special colour for her flowers, it was a dark lilac and shoes and bag in gold, so the flowers hat to fit this combination. How perfect the flowers were, so bride and bouquet were shining and the groom had his little buttonhole. Continue Reading »
valentina on Dec 8th 2009 Lake Maggiore Weddings
After Suzanne and Christopher, Loretta and Scott, Nicky and Chris we are on Lake Maggiore again to tell you about another magic wedding: Simone and Stephans’ wedding. They were such a lovely couple coming from Zurich, Switzerland.

First of all a big thank you to Andrea and Marcus a great couple of Swiss photographers that kindly put on disposal their great images of Simone and Stephan’s wedding. A vintage and really unconventional service that we found really unique. The yellow shade gives to images a sense of warm and cosy brightness.

Simone and Stephan wanted a unique and unforgettable wedding. They looked for a real elegant and Italian style event to give their day a touch of glamour. After visiting many venue they choose Lake Maggiore and little town of Pallanza.

Bride and groom opted for a religious ceremony to Sacro Monte church in Ghiffa and a wonderful reception to Villa Rusconi Clerici in Pallanza just few minutes far from the church.

For all guests Simone and Stephan wanted a week end long event.
They started with a lovely dinner on friday night in a traditional pizzeria facing the lake.
Saturday the day of the wedding they decided for a big party to Villa Rusconi sipping champagne, delicious Italian cuisine and fun dances up to early hours of Sunday.

The big day of Saturday begun early in the morning to Grand Hotel Majestic where the group stayed for all the wedding week end.
Dividing herself among make up and hair trial Simone spend some hours with her mother and maid of honor Rachel.
On late morning they all reached Ghiffa where all guests and Stephan were waiting for them.

Simone and Stephan got married in the tiny romantic 1600 church of Sacro Monte of Ghiffa.
Floral decorations were arranged by Manuela the floral designers who works in partnership with La Piccola Selva.
Roses were main flowers. Arrangement at the church included external columns, pews, balusters, and aisle to the altar totally covered with rose petals. Continue Reading »
valentina on Nov 29th 2009 Lake Maggiore Weddings
I’ve already told you some months ago about the wonderful hotels on Lake Maggiore. These are ideal venues for an elegant wedding on these magic shores.
Chris and Suzanne choose Grand Hotel Majestic for they big day.

They came here with relatives and friends from United Kingdom to celebrate a wonderful event that was studied in every single detail.

Suzanne choose a theme inspired on lilac and café au lait enriched by many little crystals.

Suzanne designed personally Bridesmaids and flower girl dresses just thinking about these details.

Flower arrangement Suzanne wanted was very detailed.
All arrangements were created by Manuela one of the floral designer who work in close collaboration with La Piccola Selva. Basing on the theme Suzanne wanted, Manuela created a rich vintage arrangement.
She used Freesias blooms and Aqua Girl roses for lilac, and Cofee Break rose for cafe au lait shades. Purple was made with wide Trachelium and classic Vendela roses and Stephanotis made the white accent.
Little fabric Stephanotis were on all wedding stationery Suzanne and Chris had on their tables: invitations, names card, table chart and trivia boxes.

Crystals were on the tables to match Kartell chairs rented for the occasion and crystal vases supporting flowers decorations.

Some other little crystal were inside the Stephanotis flowers in centerpieces and bridal bouquet, just a little compact and rounded jewel.

Suzanne matched crystals on her dress too. There were crystals on the veil, on the dress and the wonderful vintage pin she had on her waist. Bridal dress was italian by Spose di Gio. Continue Reading »
valentina on Nov 18th 2009 Lake Maggiore Weddings
After the wedding to Villa San Martino we come back to Lombardy side of Lake Maggiore. This time we are going South. Here you will find sweet hills going smoothly towards the lake. This are is very well known from nature and water sports lovers. There are also artistic and cultural places to visit such as historic residence of Villa della Porta Bozzolo with its grand Italian gardens or Rocca di Angera, great Borromeo family castle or even Santa Caterina del Sasso, a monastery on rocks peak.

Right in this green area you will find a lovely venue for your wedding on the lake: Hotel Conca Azzurra in Ranco close to Varese.
A wonderful view, a wonderful garden with many flowers and delicious cuisine will welcome you.
These are the main features of Hotel Conca Azzurra, a pretty venue for your wedding if you are thinking of getting married on Lake Maggiore.

Let’ s see together all the pearls of the hotel.
The great view on the lake: from here you could see the center of the Lake and great chain of Mt. Zeda. You could enjoy this perfect panorama in every month of the year from Restaurant La Veranda. During summer season it opens completely becoming a open air terrace for romantic dinners under the stars.

La Veranda restaurant offer a high level cuisine with local and traditional dishes of the Lake Maggiore and surrounding countryside. It has a very good service and wide cellar with selected wines for every request.

You could sip your aperitif or arrange an informal buffet reception in the wide garden with lovely view on the lake. You will be surrounded by palms and flowers and you will taste delicious lake fish and Piedmont wines. Continue Reading »
valentina on Oct 30th 2009 Lake Orta Weddings
Last but not least part 5 of our Summer Season Weddings on Lake Orta.
Today I will tell you about one of my favorite weddings of this year: Gillian and Louis’ special day.

Gillian and Louis chose as theme color pink and apple green but what made the event special were multicolored kilts of guests.

She is Scottish and he is Italo-Scottish and they both chose Orta San Giulio for Louis’ family Piemonte heritage.

Sweet and lovely Gillian look like a pretty princess when she walked on aisle of Villa Bossi Garden.

Her father was by her side wearing a kilt, but he wasn’t alone!
All guests had it on to bring a corner of Scotland in Orta.

As all the other weddings that I mentioned in Summer Season Wedding in Orta session, Gillian and Louis had a great sunny day. It was the perfect weather for an outdoor civil ceremony in the town hall of Orta San Giulio.

Floral arrangements were created by Paola one of the florist designers of La Piccola Selva.
She created fresh and natural bunches of flowers for the decoration of the gate and the columns of Villa Bossi.
Bridal and bridesmaid bouquet had the same style Gillian wanted. A perfect match between baby rose, apple green and white.

After the ceremony Gillian and Louis walked along ancient pedestrian roads of the village.

A wedding in Orta is not complete without a tour on the lake to discover the landscapes and beautiful St. Julius Island.
Here you can find amazing spots for unforgettable wedding pictures. Continue Reading »
monika on Jul 13th 2009 Wedding Flowers
As we promised, Alessandro Ambrosetti photographer put on disposal full Sandra and Mirko’s wedding PHOTO GALLERY, the wedding where I worked as floral designer. In today’s post I’m pleased to show you some of the photos I just love.

I start with this wonderful shot taken inside Castello di Miasino, the venue bride and groom choose for their reception. A perfect combination of elements: bright chandelier and the big coat of arms on the wall behind loving bride and groom. This is for sure a first prize photograph! Very good Alessandro Ambrosetti!

Sandra and Mirko are a young italian-german couple who choose Lake Orta as their wedding destination. Religious ceremony was held in Orta San Giulio village inside the lovely church of Maria Assunta. Bride opted for a classical floral arrangement choosing just a main flower: big Lilyum Longiflorum with simple Aspidistra leaves and Gypsophila.

Following bride’s wishes, I created for Sandra’s bouquet: a round and compact shape using Avalanche roses without any other greenery except for Gypsophila on the basis. Just a trendy style, what brides are looking for, now. Thanks to beautiful day, after the ceremony Sandra and Mirko took a walk in tiny Orta village roads and lakeshore, the perfect frame for magic wedding pictures.

Orange was the main color for the reception to Castello di Miasino. A solar and happy color, one of the most requested for summer 2009. I created glass cubes centerpieces with floating roses and gel crystals, adding some spread orange rose petals on the tables. Continue Reading »
monika on Jun 15th 2009 Wedding Flowers
Flower designers like myself consider that flower arranging in a location can be one of the most creative moments of a wedding reception. The table centre is an essential element which often distinguishes the style of the event, as do the floral decorations for the aperitif or buffet.

Clearly, quite apart from the flowers and finger food, the ambiance is of major importance too. Your wedding reception on Lake Orta deserves the Ristorante Hotel L’Approdo at Pettenasco which offers a stunning gazebo on the lake shore, with a view over the Bagnera Gulf and the Orta promontory, with Villa Crespi’s evocative minaret standing out on the horizon.

Maria and Simone are a Hispano-Italian couple who chose the Hotel L’Approdo for their wedding reception. They decided on two large floral arrangements placed on a tall tapering glass base for the aperitif table. I wanted the most natural, free style possible on this occasion, with dominating shades of pink and white.
The finishing touch was given by the pink Gypsophila and the Godetia, a gorgeous summer flower which is not all that well known but is extremely versatile. Continue Reading »