HAVING SPOKEN to many happy and excited brides from all over the world who have had their weddings in Italy, it was clear that they all had one thing in common.

WELCOME to
– Dream Italian Weddings! –

HAVING SPOKEN to many happy and excited brides from all over the world who have had their weddings in Italy, it was clear that they all had one thing in common. Whether they had opted for a tiny church ceremony in Tuscany or a lavish event with hundreds and hundreds gathered on a cliff-top in Ravello, they all said, ‘I can’t wait to go back to where I got married.’ Now I have to say that I’ve never heard a bride who got married in her own country clap her hands with glee at the thought of getting in the car and driving hundreds of miles down the motorway to the church in which she said, ‘I do,’ - however beautiful the day may have been.
The reason why weddings in Italy are so special is because everyone gets to enjoy a magical holiday as well as having fun during the big day itself.
Whether people come for a weekend and nip back to work shortly after or take advantage of the situation and book themselves a few days extra to enjoy the Italian landscape, they are all agreed that it wouldn’t take much to persuade them to meet up for a wedding reunion. In this packed issue, we catch up with a superb wedding team from Dream Academy and Villa Giona who organise spectacular weddings but also reunions for families who fell in love with Villa Giona and the wedding itself and had to go back to relive that happy occasion. We also meet the lovely couple, Faye and Paul Tipton, who got married in Lake Garda and although it was the second time they had been to Italy (the first trip was to visit the spectacular castle venue), they simply cannot wait to get all their guests together again for a reunion in Malcesine.
I also find it absolutely astounding just how calm a lot of brides getting married in Italy are when it comes to the final details. In fact a recent survey by Wrigley Extra discovered that it was more likely you’d find a Groom-zilla than a Bride-zilla as the wedding day approaches! According to results, the grooms are more likely to fret about choosing the invites, the table plan and the venue than the bride. Well at least we know that couples getting married in Italy don’t have to worry about the venue! Yet to be fair, which groom or bride wouldn’t panic slight at the thought of the wedding dress being packed in a suitcase for hours during the flight, or what if they’ve been totally misunderstood about the kind of cake they wanted? It’s natural to worry about these details but what I’ve also discovered is that as soon as the bride and groom land in Italy they have absolutely nothing to fear, as they are looked after spectacularly well. Italians just adore a wedding couple and so nothing is too much trouble and attention to detail is phenomenal.
Whether it’s the hairdresser, the florist, the caterer or the dry cleaner, you can guarantee that they won’t stop adjusting a part of the event, however small it may appear, to ensure that the married couple and their guests have the best day of their lives.

Buon divertimento

• Le Spose di Giò
• Dream Wedding by the lake
• Marion Hunter and Paolo Saletti: packaging a dream
• The most exclusive Honeymoon Hotels
• Honeymooning in Italy on two wheels
• Ask the experts
• A sense of place 1
• A sense of place 2