Destination Weddings
With the ever increasing cost of living and our general desire to seek out sunnier shores, it’s come as little surprise to me that more and more clients are getting in touch to find out about getting married abroad. Having got married in Italy myself back in 2010, I feel like this is my area of expertise!
Neither my husband nor I like being the centre of attention, and we dreamed of getting married somewhere stunningly beautiful with just our nearest and dearest there to witness our special day. Months later, after viewing countless hotels and venues in this country and various places online, our hearts were set on the Instagram-worthy Malcesine Castle on the shores of Italy’s Lake Garda.
I’d loved visiting Malcesine as a teenager with my family – what’s not to love about the constant supply of pizza and gelato, never mind mountain and lake views for miles around?! The vista when we stepped out of the Monte Baldo cable car just blew me away, and I guess it always stuck with me.
We found a destination expert to arrange all our wedding plans for us, and researching all the extras (wedding breakfast, canapes, flowers etc) was a massive part of the enjoyment. I fell in love with the idea of having a wedding that nobody I knew personally had done – I wanted to be able to celebrate in style and be talking about it forever!
Getting to our wedding day was a bit of a journey in itself – in more ways than one. The Icelandic ash cloud drama looked like it was going to ruin our plans (I started getting panic quotes in from coach companies to take everyone across the continent!), but thankfully it subsided in time. We travelled by car and enjoyed breaking up the journey with stops in the French Alps overnight, and even took the TGV to Paris for a few days at the end.
Of course the main reason we wanted to get married abroad was so we could enjoy getting married outside – the plan was to say our vows in Italian on top of one of the turrets of the castle. We definitely got some dramatic wedding photos after our ceremony – mainly due to the horrendous thunderstorms that hit the day of our wedding! Despite the dramas, we treated our guests to a (choppy) prosecco lake cruise and canapes by the waterfront after the service. A highlight was being cheered by a group of school kids who were visiting the town on a trip, and they couldn’t wait to have their photo taken with me – pure delight for them and I.
The Italians told me ‘a wet bride is a lucky bride’ – I think I’ve been pretty lucky since! Since my own wedding abroad, I have arranged many weddings abroad in Greece and Cyprus, and loved being able to attend our close friends’ wedding in Santorini. The Santo Winery affords incredible views over the island whilst taking your vows, and the much-loved Pyrgos Taverna was the perfect backdrop for a wedding reception to remember forever. I work with the best suppliers around to ensure your destination wedding isn’t just good, but absolutely great and what you’d always dreamed of.
Do get in touch if you’d like to learn more!