Italian Lakes Wedding Planner

Lisa and Darren are another lovely English couple who chose the end of August for their wedding on the lakes. A very good choice considering the wonderful sunny days that we usually have on Italian Lakes at the end of August. A great sky with a mild and not too hot temperature.

The entire event took place to Villa Rusconi Clerici in Pallanza on Lake Maggiore. Lisa and Darren had their blessing in the garden of the villa by the shores. Ceremony was conducted by Diane Wheeler.
Then they had a lovely aperitif in the garden, followed by a second aperitif on a big boat for everybody with 1 hour tour of the lake and an elegant dinner in the pavilion of the villa.
Dances and a bath on the lake to follow!

Fuchsia pink together with white of hydangeas were the theme colors Lisa chose for her flowers.
We will come back soon speaking about these and other details of this lovely wedding on Lake Maggiore in the following week. Just enjoy these first pictures!

We’ve mentioned this lovely news in our Just Married section. This was one of the most important event of 2010 Summer Season on Italian Lakes: Daniel and Tessa’s wedding on Lake Maggiore.

Tessa Brix is a Dutch model. She is also famous in her country for many TV spots and catwalks.
In 2003 she was Miss Netherlands Universe and she represented Netherlands to selections for Miss Universe in Turkey.
In 2005 she was chosen again to represent the Netherlands to Miss Europe in Paris.

It was a real honor for Italian Lakes Wedding Team hosting Tessa Brix wedding. We worked hard to make this happen and to let Tessa and Daniel enjoy their event in every single detail.
Valentina Lombardi – our planner for Lake Maggiore – followed the planning event, Monika Andenmatten followed floral design. Enrico Mocci was the photographer chosen by Tessa and Daniel to be their official photographer for their Big Day.

You will see here just few images of all the pictures but do not hesitate to see Tessa and Daniel’s PHOTO GALLERY. There are more than 60 images taken by Enrico Mocci who calibrated colors, lights and shades in a perfect way. Continue Reading »

We have another wedding today for our Just Married section.
Nicola and Nicolas got married today on Lake Orta. Such a wonderful day for a wonderful ceremony on the shores.

We will speak again about Nicola and Nicolas’ wedding!

Wedding bells are ringing today for Lina and Borja, because the big day has finally arrived!
Lina and Borja got married a couple of hours ago on Lake Maggiore.

Such a beautiful day for a wonderful ceremony on the shores.
Have a look to some first shots here.

We’ll be sure to update you with more images when they’re available!

Lake Orta and Lake Maggiore are very close to each other.
They are divided just by a mountain: Mt. Mottarone. In spite of being so close they are very different from each other. Lake Orta is small and tiny with quaint villages, gardens and narrow roads for romantic walks and lovely sights on the lake. Lake Maggiore is wider and more touristy, with many 1800 villas and palaces with Italian gardens and great views.

What happens when you fall in love with the romantic atmosphere of Lake Orta and breathtaking panoramas of Lake Maggiore? You choose both! Just like Cassy and Gary did.

Cassy and Gary opted to have their civil ceremony to Villa Bossi on Lake Orta and their reception to Villa Rusconi on Lake Maggiore. The two most beautiful lakes of Piemonte region together for a wonderful event!

Cassy ang Gary came from United Kingdom with their relatives and friends and decided to have their accommodation in Orta San Giulio.

Before the ceremony all guests met Gary in Orta main square for wonderful pictures with
St. Julius island in the background and some drinks. Then all of them walked to closer town hall.

As soon as main square was empty Cassy arrived by foot with her dad and 4 pretty and blond green-dressed bridesmaids. Continue Reading »

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 »

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 »

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 »

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 »

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 »