Matteo and Mariana are an Italian-Armenian couple who live and work in London. Matteo is originally from Torino and he is just like every good boy coming from Piemonte, he is in love with his own homeland. Over time, Mariana was infected with this love as well, and thus their decision to choose one of the most charming places in Piedmont for their wedding: the Lake Orta.

Fun and joy are two words which perfectly describe Mariana and Matteo’s wedding. You will certainly see that in the photos accompanying this post: pictures that tell of their friend’s feast and fun, the first pranks of marriage, the couple’s happiness after the ceremony… emotions and feelings captured by Maren Ollmann’s lens from the Photography Studio Ollmann/Ottaviano in Torino. In the PHOTO GALLERY you will find 27 exceptional shots filled with the passion and magic which bring together the most wonderful emotions of Mariana and Matteo’s Big Day.

Mariana and Matteo’s wedding on the Lake Orta took place in 3 venues: Hotel Villa Crespi, where the bride and groom and their relatives stayed, the Church, Sacro Monte di Orta, where the religious ceremony took place, and finally Villa Ortea, where the wedding reception continued till the early lights of dawn.

For their stay in Orta and their first wedding night, Mariana e Matteo chose the Executive Suite in Hotel Villa Crespi. It was a fantastic room overlooking the lake with XVIII century furniture, a refined marble bathroom with a hydromassage and a magnificent four poster bed.

The religious ceremony, a mixed catholic-orthodox service, was celebrated in the beautiful church of Sacro Monte in Orta. As the flower designer I was in charge of the floral arrangements, which I created with the precious assistance of my colleague, Manuela.
The entire design, begun with bride’s bouquet. It was based on large Lilium Longiflorum and various types of greenery, in particular Aspidistra and Bear Grass.

When the religious ceremony ended, bride and groom left the church in a bright red Fiat 500 from the 60s. While driving the legendary Italian car, Mariana and Matteo reached lake shores for the must-have, keepsake photos. Then they kept on driving to Villa Ortea, where their guests were waiting for them.

Villa Ortea is certainly one of the most beautiful settings on Lake Orta. It is surrounded by a wide park it has a fantastic view of the lake. A warm summer evening helped organize the reception in the garden. Special retro-lit tables were decorated with candelabras that Manuela and I had covered with various greenery, white rose buds and large slices of old movie film.

CINEMA, in fact, was for Mariana and Matteo’s wedding theme. Wedding soundtrack was made up by music and actors’ voices by famous films from the past, just like like Gone with the Wind, On the Waterfront, and the Dolce Vita by Federico Fellini.

On the tables, in addition to the candelabras and old movie film, there were glass table mats imprinted with a famous picture of Charlie Chaplin. A magnificent, gigantic table chart displayed photos of the guests as if they were pictures from an old film.

An original and truly amusing idea for one of the most enjoyable weddings I have worked for in 2009.
Mariana e Matteo: Get Married… and have a good time on Lake Orta!

All pictures were taken by Ollmann/Ottaviano Photography Studio in Torino. For further details please visit the site www.photographi.it
For information contact the Studio at the email address marenollmann@virgilio.it
or call +39 349 63 66 903.

Monika Andenmatten is La Piccola Selva’s floral designer.
Based in lake Orta, has worked with brides for over 20 years to create floral arrangements for weddings in the Italian Lakes district.
His wedding arrangements are creative, elegant and sophisticated. Monika will be able to help you choose how best to incorporate floral design into your wedding celebrations. From the initial consultation to the wedding day, she will make your wedding flowers truly an expression of your dreams.

For more information about weddings on Lake Orta please contact us.

Villa L’Antica Colonia is located in Crabbia, a small village on the hills of the Lake Orta, a few minutes from Pettenasco. The structure is surrounded by a large green area and is an excellent starting point for interesting trips into nature and culture.
But the strongest point of the Villa L’Antica Colonia is the magnificent panorama that sweeps over much of the lake and the surrounding green mountains, reaching up to Orta and the Island of San Giulio, a real spectacular scenary!

Try to imagine your wedding party on the large terrace of the villa with fantastic view on the lake: an unforgettable event for you and your guests!

Built in the eighteenth century, the villa was for long time a church property. The large ground around the building, that in the beginning extended until the lake, was planted with vineyards and fruit trees and cultivated by the women of the village that were working for the clergyman. At the beginning of ’900 the villa was sold to a textile industry, which changed the property into a summer residence for the children of its employees, using part of the house for the breeding of the silk-worm in the winter season. It was later purchased by its actual owners, the family Manini-Maulini, who started the renovation of the property turning it into the beautiful villa we know today.

Villa L’Antica Colonia offers a unique and exclusive setting for your wedding: its prestigious balconies and arcades, between rustic and old, will give your wedding a scenario of the ancient times and a real magical atmosphere.

The old wine cellar of the villa is definitely worth a visit: excavated into the rock and kept unchanged for more than 3 centuries, offers a unique exposition of old wines from the most famous wine areas of Piedmont, from the Novara hills to the Monferrato and the Langhe .

If requested, Villa L’Antica Colonia offers also the opportunity to stay in the residence: the building is structured on 4 floors with 5 lovely apartments, all fully equipped and renovated with special care of details in different styles, that can accommodate up to 14 people.

Away from the crowded and noisy tourist centers, the villa offers peace and quietness to its guests: that’s why it is frequently rented by guests from abroad, who are looking for a pleasant holiday of total relax, granted also by the familiar management.

Villa L’Antica Colonia … much more than a “wedding with lake view”! 


On Italian Country Wedding web site you will discover a multitude of choices for unique ceremony and reception, an intimate elopement, sites, small town hospitality, and a variety of activities for you and your guests in the Italian countryside
Surfing on Italian Country Wedding you will undiscovered and unspoiled places to create the perfect setting for a special and real country wedding: gardens, vineyards, country villas, traditional Italian restaurants, agriturismos or farm houses, or even in a wonderful castle!

Italian Country Wedding is specialized in weddings across Piedmont region and Langhe and Monferrato country side areas….just have a look at it we are sure you will be amazed by the charm of countryside!

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.

Hotel Restaurant Conca Azzurra can host reception up to 200 guests.
The area is available for just one wedding per day with the possibility to have the venue on complete disposal during the wedding day.
Hotel Conca Azzurra has also a wonderful Wellness and Beauty Center named Il Canneto, a wide parking area and an independent entrance for bridegroom and their guests to park and terrace.

If you will choose Hotel Restaurant Conca Azzurra for your wedding you will surely have a lovely party in a peaceful and green place. You will enjoy a perfect wedding day with the great view on Lake Maggiore and some relaxing moments on the garden that goes towards the swimming pool and private beach on the lake.

As special gift for our bridegrooms: first night and breakfast on the terrace of the room in one of the superior rooms of the hotel.
A fairy tale wedding to Hotel Conca Azzurra …a night like a princess and a breakfast like a queen.

Valentina Lombardi is the Italian Lakes Wedding coordinator for Lake Orta and Lake Maggiore area.

She follows Italian and foreign bridegrooms who wish to celebrate their wedding in Piemonte and Italian Lakes area.

Valentina is Italian; she has worked in event organization business for years before becoming a wedding planner.

For more information about weddings on Lake Maggiore, please contact us.

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.

Upon entering the Grand Hotel Majestic, you are enthralled by the class and elegance of it’s reception hall, clad with original wooden floors, bronze chandeliers and art deco’ lamps designed by Florentine craftsmen.

From here you can take a look up at the rooms on four floors, visible from the interior court with white marble columns. Just a few steps ahead you can take in the panoramic view from the terrace tables in one of the lounge bars.

A succession of elegant and comfortable sitting rooms unwind along the entire façade, giving guests views through the picture windows of the terrace and porches overlooking the lake. At each of the two ends of the building are two large drawing rooms that re-evoke the fabulous ballrooms of the palaces of the past.

The marvelous view can be taken while dining at one of our two restaurants: “Il Rossini” chic and appetizing, and “La Beola” serving local a la carte specialties from the Verbano.
The Hotel has two main function rooms, The Toscanini and The Intra, which are perfect for holding meetings and banquets in a truly unique atmosphere: decorated in period style, the rooms are elegant, stylish and bright, thanks to the wide windows that overlook the porch and the lake and afford a spectacular view.

Come nice weather, one can enjoy sitting on the porch under the arcades in the garden. The recreational program of the Grand Hotel Majestic offers excursions by boat or limousine to enjoy the sun at private beaches or to practice various sports in the vicinity like sailing, golf and horseback riding.

Beauty Farm is available to the hotel guests who would like to take an invigorating and toning swim in the pool, utilize the fitness center, or benefit from a relaxing massage.

The guests at the Grand Hotel Majestic can count on high quality accommodations and facilities, thanks to the recent meticulously carried out renovations and additions, which return an air of a poetic era: the magical beauty and splendor of this elite hotel renders it refined and in harmony with the magnificent Lago Maggiore, and a place where its guests can enjoy the most relaxing and revitalizing vacations.

It is a sanctuary is at the top of a huge rock leap of more than 400 m. high on Lake Orta. From the courtyard of the sanctuary looking towards North side, you could see the Alps of Ossola Valley up to Switzerland. On South side you could admire valley towards Milan and Ligurian Apennines, mountains divide Piemonte region and Ligurian sea.
An unforgettable vision on one of the most beautiful Italian belvederes. This is the reason because many call it Orta Balcony.

Planning your marriage on Madonna del Sasso church means give to your wedding a touch of magic to share with your guests that will surely love this enchanting beauty.

The entire area around Madonna del Sasso church includes ancient villages kept as they were such as Artò, Centanara, Piana dei Monti and most of all Boleto, a real medieval hidden jewel.

Madonna del Sasso church evoke a real spry that happened around 1500. It tells about a pretty waitress of a local teverna in Pella village that married a rude soldier named Aycardo. When he came back from a war mission he heard some rumors about his wife betraying him with an English soldier. Aycardo got mad, he put his wife on this shoulders carrying her on the rock and finally throwing her down it. The poor girl grabbed to a bush but when she looked up seeing his husband – who was trying to save her this time – she decided to let herself going down. On this place some people decided to place a wooden cross, then a little chapel and at the end a big sanctuary.

Sanctuary has been built on the edge of a white granite rock. During 1800 a granite cave was opened beneath the church. This activity kept on going for more than a century until it was closed. People feared that the extraction of granite material would had lead to church collapsing. In order to remember those times there is “miners museum” in Boleto village that tells vistors hard work of Lake Orta miners who were well known as masters in stone-crafts.

Madonna del Sasso Sanctuary is a baroque church with a single nave. It has been recently restored. Inside the church you will see the great Lorenzo Peracino paintings (1771), some wooden furniture, marble balusters and precious Fermo Stella di Caravaggio altar dated 1541.
Madonna del Sasso chuch is an extraordinary monument kept as it was in ancient times. You can see in the image below some wedding floral arrangement by Monika Andenmatten from La Piccola Selva.

Madonna del Sasso sanctuary is a lovely wedding destination for religious ceremonies. It is very easy to reach from Orta village even after a civil service to Villa Bossi.

The beauty of the place, sky and lake, mountains and plain with breathtaking view make Madonna del Sasso church the perfect destination for stunning wedding pictures, too!

Valentina Lombardi is the Italian Lakes Wedding coordinator for Lake Orta and Lake Maggiore area. She follows Italian and foreign bridegrooms who wish to celebrate their wedding in Piemonte and Italian Lakes area.
Valentina is Italian; she has worked in event organization business for years before becoming a wedding planner.

For more information about weddings on Madonna del Sasso Church – please contact us.

All images © Italian Lakes Wedding and:
photo 1: Mauro De Luca – Italian Lakes Wedding
photo 2: Raffaello Mazzoleni – Studio Artefoto Omegna
photo 3: Enrico Mocci photographer – ArteFotoArona
photo 4: Mauro De Luca – Italian Lakes Wedding
photo 5: Mauro De Luca – Italian Lakes Wedding
photo 6: Raffaello Mazzoleni – Studio Artefoto Omegna
photo 7: Mauro De Luca – Italian Lakes Wedding
photo 8: Maurizio Paracchini – Foto Studio 2000

St. Julius Island is a tiny place right in the center of the intimate lake. Some nuns live here, right in the pretty convent close to the abbey dedicated to St. Julius who was the first to land on the island. On the island there are also some villas which used to be owned by the church. Now they are all holidays home of rich families coming from all over the world. There is also a tiny little restaurant here, the only one on the island.

It is easy to understand why St. Julius Island is a place where silence and meditation play the main role. You can just breath a mystic atmosphere here. It is the amazing scenery Mark and Rachel choose for their wedding. The two guys are a lovely couple coming from Dallas TX, who planned their wedding with Italian Lakes Wedding Team.

We already mentioned Mark Followill in another post. He is the official speaker of Mavs TV, Dallas Mavericks TV channel, one of the most famous NBA basket ball team of USA. Mark and Rachel choose Lake Orta and St. Julius Island after visiting our web site and reading our posts. A very good result for our Team which main task is promoting lakes territory, one of the most romantic for a wedding in Italy.

After taking in consideration many photographers of the area, Mark and Rachel opted for Raffaello Mazzoleni. They were impressed by his skills, perfect shots and quickness in delivery. Images you can see here give you a perfect idea! You can have a look to his sites to know more about his work: www.artefoto-omegna.it and www.italianweddingphotojournalist.com.

Rachel picked up for her bridal bouquet one of Monika’s creations. Monika is the famous floral designer of La Piccola Selva. She created for beautiful Rachel a Hand-Tied Lilium Longiflorum bouquet.

After a short trip on private motorboat, ceremony has been celebrated on the lakeshore just by the small pier. An idyllic scenery: the abbey and villas on one side and lake and Orta village on the other.
A little farer there was Buccione Tower. Medieval tower that has been over viewing on Lake Orta for more than 1000 years.

Mark and Rachel decided to have a ceremony in late afternoon when all tourists had already left the island. This allowed them to have an intimate and romantic ceremony for their own. Just after the ceremony bride and groom had a walk on the little cobbled roads that surround the island to arrive to the only tiny restaurant there.
They had a lovely meal with a few friends who came from United States for them.

Candle lit dinner on the terrace of the restaurant facing the lake. They tasted typical dishes and wines of Piedmont tradition in perfect harmony with the entire event.

Our best wishes to Mark and Rachel and thanks from the bottom of our heart for choosing Italian Lakes Wedding!

Valentina Lombardi is the Italian Lakes Wedding coordinator for Lake Orta and Lake Maggiore area. She follows Italian and foreign bridegrooms who wish to celebrate their wedding in Piemonte and Italian Lakes area.
Valentina is Italian; she has worked in event organization business for years before becoming a wedding planner.

For more information about symbolic weddings at St. Julius Island, Lake Orta – please contact us.

It is a former convent that become Visconti Family country lodge. Around mid 1500 the property was transformed in a real castle with tall walls and towers.
Across centuries it was widely modified. After a long renewal work – still ongoing – Castello di Massino Visconti opened his doors to public to put on disposal the beauty of this enchanting medieval venue for bride and grooms who wants celebrate their wedding on Lake Maggiore or Lake Orta.

The Open Day planned for Saturday 11 July will be a unique occasion to know and visit Castello di Massino Visconti. The Castle will be open from 10.00am to 5.00pm for all bridegrooms to be.
Young couples will discover every corner of the castle among vintage cars, floral arrangements, work of arts, and most of all the wonderful function rooms for events. Bridegrooms will have also have the opportunity to explore the cellars, ancient prisons and blades wall.
Last but not least all couples will have the opportunity to taste wonderful wine of the castle.

History, ancient atmospheres, and great scenarios are Castello di Massino Visconti main features a unique wedding venue on Piedmont lakes.

Let’s come to discover it on Saturday 11 July in occasion of the Open Day to Castello di Massino Visconti.
All images © Piero Gatti fotografo – Foto Smile Baveno, Lake Maggiore

Valentina Lombardi is the Italian Lakes Wedding coordinator for Lake Orta and Lake Maggiore area. She follows Italian and foreign bridegrooms who wish to celebrate their wedding in Piemonte and Italian Lakes area.
Valentina is Italian; she has worked in event organization business for years before becoming a wedding planner.

For more information about wedding at Castello di Massino Visconti – Stresa, Lake Maggiore – please contact us.

All Italian Lakes Wedding Team is very proud of it. The hotel is one of the most exclusive and famous on Lake Maggiore. It was built during 1800 in Belle Epoque style. Most famous people stayed in it. Grand Hotel Des Iles Borromées is the ideal destination for a wonderful and unforgettable wedding on the lakes.

We are publishing shortly a more detailed post on this wonderful leading hotel and Valentina will also tell you about best historical hotels on Lake Maggiore, Piedmont side. Stay tuned!

Langhe hills were the exceptional scenario for the wedding I would like to talk you about: a real Country Wedding. All begun in 2007 when Patricia and Richard, from Philadelphia PA USA, decided to come over Italy to celebrate their wedding.

Both of them are of Italian heritage, Richard’s grandparents origins are from a little village of Piedmont on vineyards hills. Starting from this point Patricia and Richard re-created the same atmosphere for their special day. The planning process lasted over 1 year.
On September 24th 2008 Patricia and Richard got married, such a wonderful event!

Langhe and Roero are two close areas South of Torino city and North of Italian Riviera. This wonderful district is right between mountains and seaside. its hills are the perfect place to grow vines to product the best Italian wines such as Barolo, Nebbiolo, Barbaresco and Dolcetto.
This are is also well known for truffles and delicious food. It is right between Bra and Alba, the most famous towns of the area, that Slow Food Association was born. Its task is protecting and preserving food and wine excellences of the area. Thanks to Slow Food, Pollenzo site was restored. It was an ancient Roman settlement, then Finance Agency during 1700 for King Albert of Savoy and now home of first Enogastronomic science University, a wonderful 4 stars hotel and Bank of Wine, where best and precious Italian wins are preserved.

Patricia and Richard choose this special place to celebrate their wedding together with their family and friends that came from all over US. Ceremony was held in the lovely garden of the hotel in the heart of Langhe where there are also Romans ruins of more than 2000 years ago. Aperitif then was served under the hotel wooden porch and dinner in the brick ceiling room with lovely round ivory tables.

Every single detail, including floral arrangements and bridal bouquet enriched with scented spices was linked to country style idea.

Invitations and stationery were provided by a well known American Wedding stationery, Bella Figura of Syracuse NY. They created a simple elegant old fashion design inspired on Italian colors and landscape of the beginning of Autumn, where light is smooth and warm and vines still green.

Wedding cake was prepared by famous Torino Matre Chocolatier Costantino Guardia that also prepared chocolate tasting and sweets for foreign delegations that came over Italy during 2006 Olympic Games. After that guest also tasted typical Piemonte nuts and Gianduja chocolate.

Swing and boogie for the dances after dinner together with grappas and cigars tasting. Skillful American Photographer Sora De Vore documented all the event with her wonderful images. She came from US to be part of this special event.
As far as the events before the wedding are concerned Patricia and Richard decided to offer to their guests a local atmosphere too. They welcome their guest to magic city of Torino to let them know the beauty of its architecture, museums and arts.

Patricia and Richard then choose for their rehearsal a Cascina on one of the higher point of Langhe . The venue is a perfect match between country style and contemporary trendy one with a breathtaking view over the vines and mountains.
The day after the wedding newly weds and guests spent some time on the hills and cellars and most of all Wine Bank to taste delicious wines and enjoy the atmosphere.

A Country Wedding could be very special you choose an perfect venue such a lovely spot as Langhe in Piedmont. There is enough here to fall in love at first sight, isn’t it?

Valentina Lombardi is the Italian Lakes Wedding coordinator for Lake Orta and Lake Maggiore area. She follows Italian and foreign bridegrooms who wish to celebrate their wedding in Piemonte and Italian Lakes area.
Valentina is Italian; she has worked in event organization business for years before becoming a wedding planner.

For more information about country weddings in Langhe Region, please contact us.