Italian Lakes Wedding Planner

Two lovely weddings on our lakes today! Melanie and David on Lake Maggiore, and Vanda and Tony on Lake Orta.

On Lake Maggiore Melanie and David came from United Kingdom and US to get married to Villa Rusconi in Pallanza.
Lovely ceremony was performed by our celebrants Giuseppe and Diane.

They wanted a very Italian style decoration made up with sunflowers, lemons and greenery.
A very country side setting for a beautiful wedding on the shores!
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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 »

One of the most beautiful weddings I worked on was Victoria and Daniel’s one last year. Victoria herself talked about it in a post she wrote for Italian Lakes Wedding site.
It is with pleasure that I come back talking about Victoria and Daniel’s wedding just in occasion of their first anniversary. I still recall the real satisfaction I felt for that event as floral designer.
On my website www.lapiccolaselva.it you could also see Victoria and Daniel’s photo gallery realized by Felix Segovia coming from Madrid.

Victoria is an kind English girl, very nice and simple. She is literally in love with Italy and its lakes. This was the reason because she choose to organize her wedding in our lovely country. It took almost a year, traveling across all lakes to take the final decision for her destination wedding. At the end she picked up Lake Maggiore.

Religious ceremony was held in San Martino church in Lesa, a tiny village on Piemonte side of Lake Maggiore, between Stresa and Arona. San Martino church is beautiful cosy and intimate and it is just few steps from the lake.
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Villa Muggia was elected as reception venue. It was simply stunning! Villa’s park was embellished with all spring blooming that bridegroom and their guests really loved. Villa Muggia ‘s park is full of azaleas and camelias. These are all lake plants that are exceptionally beautiful in Spring.

As floral designer I would like to tell you the most importan part as far as my job is concerned of Victoria and Daniel’s wedding: floral arrangements!
From the very first meeting Victoria was really decided on her wedding theme. She wanted a solar theme that really could recall Italy.
So we choose together LEMONS as main theme of the wedding. I think Lemons could be the right element for all that Victoria was looking for!
Since the color theme was really strong, I decided to smooth it a little in order to match wedding feeling of such a wonderful day.
I suggested Victoria some pastel colors she agreed with me.I picked up Vendela roses and peonies. I love peonies they make me think about vintage style, romanticism, Belle Époque, fascinating ages and elegance.
This flower is really delicate and it has a limited blooming period: April/May until mid June. Of course nowadays we can have flowers like this in every single period of the year, but consider that ordering them out of season could be very expensive and most of all the flower itself will last for very few time. Peonies cannot stay for long time under summer sun and in just 2 hours they will be totally burned. Continue Reading »

Garda Lake, the most Mediterranean of the Alpine Italian lakes, shows itself in its wonderful surrounding of natural luminosity and colors: a very requested unique spot in all seasons by the couples that are looking for nature and historical charm for their destination wedding. The shores of the lake, studded with villages and small towns, add the charm of a built up landscape to the beauty of its rich natural environment, and the spell of imposing buildings and noble villas. With its splendid blue water, breathtaking nature, the historical villas and its lovely churches, at Lake Garda you have all what is needed to create a great “WOW” effect at your love celebration.

The largest from the 5 islands of the lake, is Garda Island, situated on the Brescian side of Lake Garda, a short distance from San Felice del Benaco and it has been the expression of mysticism for centuries (St.Francis of Assisi founded a small community). The island was inhabited since Roman times and this is proven by the findings of old memorial stones and votive temples.
The water to the south of the island is shallow and forms the Emerald’s bay, which is where St Biagio’s islet (also called the rabbit’s islet) emerges. Next to it is the “altar’s”rock, so called because old memories say that once a year they used to celebrate Mass there, which fishermen were attending on board their boats from all over the lake.

Today the island owes its fascination to the extraordinary Venetian neo-Gothic style villa, designed by the architect Luigi Rovelli at the beginning of the 20th century; an imposing harmonious building, rich in surprising architectonic details. Seems like a romantic castle in the fairy tales….. The extremely complex building has its own stylistic unity and a rare stateliness. The façades are decorated by acutely arched windows and in the south-west corner stands a tower crowned with crenellation in stone with flowered neo-gothic style decorations. Doing your wedding here, you can really feel like a Princess who found the love with her Prince ….

Below, the terraces and Italian gardens slope down to the lake. All around the vegetation is luxuriant and intact, rich in local, exotic plants, rare essences and unique flowers. A harmonious wood of pines and cypresses, acacias and lemon trees, magnolias and agaves. The Island of Garda is magic and mystery… Continue Reading »