Italian Lakes Wedding Planner

Isola Bella, Isola Madre and Isola dei Pescatori: they are Borromeo Islands.
Three precious jewels rich in charm and history now among the most know touristy destination of Italian Lakes.
Someone said that gossip of possible wedding between George Clooney and Italian showgirl Elisabetta Canalis here increased the appeal of these places making them “exclusive”.
We do not have to forget about another fairy tale wedding that took place on Borromeo Islands: John Elkann – ceo of Fiat – and princess Donna Lavinia Borromeo.

If Isola Madre and Isola Bella are known for their great palaces and gardens and could be the perfect frame for your wedding pictures, Pescatori Island could be the best location for a perfect reception on the lake shores. This thanks to its wonderful position and rich gastronomic tradition.

Pescatori Island is the only one that is not part of Borromeo Family properties.
It is a liggle village with no more than 50 inhabitants. Fishing was the main occupation in the past some members of local families are still fishers.
You can see this heritage all over here starting from the little port where you will see many fishing boats.

It is such a peaceful place so you will meet many cats and frogs especially in July. Little nice frogs jump all over the narrow roads of the islands.
In this idyllic place there is a quite corner: a little garden with a terrace on the lake. You will read a big white sign with the name Belvedere on it.

Hotel Ristorante Belvedere is located on North East part of Pescatori Island far from busy port.
It has been managed from the same family for 4 generations. In 1921 restaurant hosted Charles De Gaulle who had lunch there during his honeymoon.

Today Belvedere Restaurant can host up to 200 guests inside the charming rooms and on its two gardens on the lake. Your reception to Hotel Ristorante Belvedere can be arranged on the open air by the lake shores, in the wide garden under the porch of booming flowers or inside the charming and bright veranda. You could also choose the lovely dining room once called La Grotta (the cave) because walls were all in stones.
The venue has been just refurbished but still preserves the charm of the ancient appeal. From all corners, including the dining room you could see Isola Madre and its great botanic park.

Belvedere Restaurant mainly serves fish dishes hand made prepared combining precious ingredients of Lake Maggiore and close valleys. Cheese lovers will taste Toma of Ossola valley and natural Gorgonzola. While wine lovers could choose among great Piemonte wines such as Barolo, Dolcetto, Barbaresco or pick great local wines of Novara valley. Continue Reading »

It’s the most voluptuous place in the world that I’ve ever seen. The surrounding nature enchants with thousands of hidden seductions which give the sensation of being immersed in the rarest sensuality and refinement.
This is how Gustave Flaubert described this part of the Piedmont coast where the Lake Maggiore opens up into the Borromean Gulf, a green bay between the centers of Stresa and Pallanza, the two most brilliant gems of the Verbano.

The Grand Hotel Majestic is located in Pallanza, which faces the Island of St. Giovanni, the thirty-year summer residence of Arturo Toscanini. It is a fascinatingly beautiful Belle Epoque hotel distinguished by its incomparable architectural dignity, grand frescoed rooms and extensive lakeside English garden. Its construction became the impetus for the city’s booming tourism in 1870.

The optimal motivating attraction for nobles and the elite to choose to construct their luxurious villas in this region was primarily the agreeable situation amongst the exceptional panoramic peacefulness of the cape complete with surrounding mountains and mild climate.

From many of the hotel’s 99 rooms and 4 suites the dreamlike view of the lake’s serenity, surrounded by the mountains and the captivating beauty of the Borromean Island’s architectural and botanic artistry, can be marveled at. On the Isola Madre and the Isola Bella, just a few minutes away from the hotel by boat, the Borromeo Dynasty buit two luxurious domiciles in the 600’s surrounded by some of the most beautiful gardens of the Lake Maggiore. Of all the gardens in the world, these gardens are surpassed in the beauty only by the magnificent botanical gardens of Villa Taranto housing 20.000 plants species, 1.000 of which had never been cultivated in Italy before. The garden is within walking distance from the Grand Hotel.

Enchanted by the aquamarine panorama of the lake, as seen from the terrace of Majestic, Eleonora Duse had her tailor fashion a dress “…in the same color as the lake”. Among an array of illustrious artists who have been accommodated in the ambience of the Grand Hotel are Grazia Deledda and the composer Claude Debussy. To name a few, the boats of the Stuarts, the Queen of Romania, the monarchs of Italy, the noble families of Germany, Indian Princes and Maharaja were docked here…In short, the personalities symbolizing “bon vivre” of the 800’s have enjoyed the splendor of the hotel.

After some decades of decline, the Grand Hotel Majestic underwent a long restoration period and was returned the dignity of its past. Its rejuvenation brings the true value of its classical style to life and gives the impression of being immersed in an atmosphere of times gone by, all the while offering its guests adequate services with attention focused on today’s comforts. Continue Reading »

If you want to celebrate your wedding on one of the most beautiful town on Lake Maggiore, Stresa is the right place for sure.
But we would like to suggest something more just close by it!
This could be a special venue for a legal civil ceremony which will be unique!

It has been some months that Stresa mayor gave his availability to conduct civil legal ceremonies on wonderful Isola dei Pescatori of Borromean Islands directly. We have already mentioned this lovely archipelagos in some of our previous articles we posted, telling you about wonderful Botanic garden to Isola Madre and extraordinary Borromean Palace to Isola Bella. Isola dei Pescatori (fishermen’s Island) is the third one of this group.

The small harbor of the island is well protected from wind, preserving a few left fishermen boats made exclusively of wood. The main street of the island is very picturesque, short, narrow and full up with shops, small cafes, restaurants and beautiful stone houses.

Must be very interesting living here, where everything looks so friendly and easygoing. Some terraces are decorated with fishing nets or equipment telling us who is living in. Houses, decorated with lots of greenery, are congested making a kind of wall, which protect the inner street from cold northern winds.
Ancient Church of San Vittore is definitely worth a visit whilst you are there.

Italian Lakes Wedding Team will be pleased to help you arranging a wonderful event on this spot of Lake Maggiore. Groom and guests could reach islands with a ferry boat leaving from Stresa or Baveno or other lovely town on lakeshore. Right after will come the bride on a decorated boat for her own. Everybody will wait for her on Island pier.

After a romantic and rich ceremony, bride and groom will enjoy a touristy trip on the lake to take their wedding pictures directly on the boat or the wonderful islands and corners of Borromean archipelagos. Guests could enjoy a bot trip too, admiring and knowing better this lovely lake. They will also have a nice aperitif directly on the boat. Continue Reading »

On September 4, 2004 Isola Madre on the Borromeans Islands has been the perfect scenario for the wedding of the decade: John Elkann, Fiat heir, married Donna Lavinia Borromeo of Princes of Angera at the Cappella Bianca on the Isola Madre.
John Elkann is the chiselled 28-year-old grandson of the late Gianni Agnelli. Following the death of his uncle Umberto, Elkann was promoted to the vice-chairmanship of Fiat, becoming the head of Italy’s grandest family in the process.
Princess Lavinia Borromeo is the last descendant of the Borromeo family: this noble family was the owner of the islands for centuries. Borromeo family is one of the premier Italian families that became rich through trade and banking.
Lavinia Borromeo and John Elkann made up a beautiful couple: she was 26, he was 28. They had a beautiful wedding: the ceremony and wedding took place at the Cappella Bianca, at Isola Madre in Lake Maggiore, which is property of the bride’s family. Father Biagio Pizzi and Don Giuseppe Volpati presided over the ceremony. The church was adorned with white and yellow flowers. From the seven hundred guests invited to the reception, only the relatives and close friends of the couple were able to enter the small church.
The bride wore a Valentino’s gown and she complemented it with a splendid lace veil that is running in the Borromeo family for many years. Valentino was also in charge of the dresses worn by the bridesmaids, Beatrice and Matilde (sisters of the bride), as well as by Isabella Borromeo, who acted as witness. Continue Reading »

Isola Madre is the largest of the Borromeo islands and the most characteristic one, with its atmosphere of silence, meditation and enchantment. Flaubert, in 1845, wrote that ‘Isola Madre is the most sensual place that I have ever seen in the world’.

The Borromeo Islands are a group of three small islands and two islets in the Italian part of Lake Maggiore, located in the western arm of the lake, between Verbania and Baveno to the north and Stresa to the south. Stresa is Lake’s Maggiore’s main resort since 19th century, with many luxury hotels, villas and easy access to the Borromeo Islands.

In 1501 Lancillotto Borromeo, one of the five children of Giovanni III Borromeo and Cleofe Pio di Carpi, introduced the cultivation of citrus fruit to the island, the plants being brought from Liguria. It is known for certain that olives were cultivated here; the produce may have been employed for sacred purposes. In 1501 Lancillotto began the construction of the family residence on the island, which in the 1580s was extended in the renaissance style by Renato I Borromeo. The Palazzo Borromeo was built on the remains of the early church, cemetery and perhaps castle of San Vittore. In 1978 the 16th century palace was opened to the public. The visit is interesting for the reconstruction of the antique interior decoration and for the liveries, dolls and ceramics collection. Exceptional exposition of “Puppet Theaters” from the 18th and 19th Centuries. Continue Reading »

Weddings in Borromean Islands are just unique. Their incredible panorama, fragrant flowers, brilliant blue water and romantic walks make it a perfect location for your wedding in Italy.

The Borromeo Islands are a group of three small islands and two islets in the Italian part of Lake Maggiore, located in the western arm of the lake, between Verbania and Baveno to the north and Stresa to the south. Stresa is Lake’s Maggiore’s main resort since 19th century, with many luxury hotels, villas and easy access to the Borromeo Islands.

In 1817 the famous French writer Stendahl wrote, “What can one say of Lake Maggiore and the Borromean Islands…except to pity people who do not go mad over them.” Ernest Hemingway agreed, as well as a notable procession of famous others-Napoleon, Mussolini, Charles Dickens and English poets, William Wordsworth and Lord Byron.

These three marshy specks have stirred the imaginations of everyone from Napoleon to Stendhal, Dickens, Flaubert, Toscanini, and even Mussolini.
Isola Bella is undoubtedly the most famous of the Borromean Islands and when you see it today you can hardly imagine it as the tiny fishing village it once was. In 1632, Count Vitaliano Borromeo began its transformation with the construction of the palace and the ornamental gardens.
Isola Madre is the largest of the Borromean Islands and boasts a tranquil and enchanted atmosphere. It’s gardens are a pleasure to explore: filled with azaleas, camellias, rhododendrons, ancient wisteria they are truly beautiful.
In contrast to the other Islands, Isola Pescatori has retained it’s original charm. The Island has remained a quaint, picturesque fishing village with the traditional fishing boats anchored along the shore.

Continue Reading »