Why Do I Love Italy?

Every year I travel to Italy multiple times for my work and I love the country. In light of that I thought I'd might share with you what it is that attracts people to get married in Italy, what are the reasons to choose Italy for your destination wedding? It is the most popular European destination wedding country and it has been for some years. Although I personally love Greece and Spain and think these countries are getting more popular for destination weddings, it intrigues me that Italy became and still is the most popular place for weddings abroad. Let me lay down, apart from the obvious weather advantage, what I think might be it's charm to me and so many others!

3 Reasons to Choose Italy for Your Destination Wedding

 

1. The charm, history and diversity of Italy

As the cradle of the Roman empire, like Greece, Italy is filled with the most amazing historical buildings (of which lots of them are available for hire as your Italian wedding venue), charming towns and stunning natural backdrops. Areas that are particularly popular for Italian destination weddings are Tuscany, the Amalfi coast, Umbria, Venice, Puglia, the Italian Lake District (with Lake Como, Lake Maggiore and Lake Garda) and the Marche region.

Tuscan landscapes
Getting married in Tuscany is a dream of a lot of people, the region has amazing ancient castles that are ideal to get married in but most of all Tuscany is known for its incredible landscapes of rolling hills and Mediterranean cypresses (they are my favorite trees!).

Stunning lake and coastal towns
The Amalfi coast (near Napels and Pompeï), Cinque Terre (the coastline near Genua), the Cilento coast (near the Cilento and Vallo di Diano national park), Bari (on the south-east coast, on the opposite site of the Adriatic Sea to Dubrovnic), Sicily, Lake Como, Lake Garda and of course Venice are world famous for their beauty and are therefore very popular locations for destination weddings.

But the best reason of all to have your wedding in Italy are the beautiful photos you'll get! The scenery and light in popular destination wedding locations in Italy are gorgeous. As a wedding photographer I’m more than happy to go back to Italy over and over again because the beauty of the country will leave my clients with beautiful wedding photos every time (hiring me for your Italian wedding does not involve travel costs by the way, as all my packages include travel within western Europe). It doesn’t really matter if your wedding is in Venice, Tuscany, the Amalfi Coast, Puglia or the Italian lakes either. The light is gorgeous everywhere!

A couple of my favourite places to stay, shoot and adventure in are:

Castello di Potentino
An ancient and stunning castle hidden in the Tuscan hills. It has everything a bride or groom could ask for. Beautiful rooms for your guests to stay in, stunning landscapes to have a photoshoot at (that includes rolling hills, vineyards, a weir, big entrance gates and doors to enter the castle and its courtyard and beautiful ancient steps), delicious food, live music and friendly, helpful hosts. This is a place straight out of a dream for those who love enjoying natural beauty in a comfortable but relaxed atmosphere. Another plus, the owners are from the UK, so you'll have no problem whatsoever to make clear to them what your wishes are.

Capri
Beautiful island, just a stones throw of the Amalfi coast, that offers natural beauty like the grotto verde as well as stunning villas to visit.

Villa Cimbrone in Ravello
A walk through the gardens of Villa Cimbrone are a perfect relaxed way to spend an afternoon, but as a wedding venue it might be even more perfect. Ravello has several villas that can be hired for private events, with the village build against the mountains every one of them has a garden with the most epic views.

Hotel Caruso in Ravello
Without a doubt the most stunning and luxurious hotel in the Amalfi region. Their  infinity pool is just where their level of luxury, beauty and service starts.

Masseria Potenti
The chalk white walls, the exotic architecture, the delicious food, the orchards or the cacti, who can say what attracts me most to this pearl in Puglia? But it surely is a venue you should consider for your destination wedding in Italy!

The Italian Lakes
The Italian Lake district is world famous for their stunning jet set location Lake Como. But northern Italy has a lot of gorgeous lakes very close to Lago di Como. For example the quite well known Lake Garda, the bigger Lago Maggiore and smaller gems like Lago (=Italian for lake) d'Iseo and Lago d'Orta.

Castellabate
This walled ancient village is what the current town was build around. It is the epitome of what you think of when imagining what Italy looks like. Cobblestone streets, beautiful vintage doors, flowers hanging from the windows and a breathtaking sea view to top it off.

Chiostro di Paradiso in Amalfi
The famous cloister of Amalfi. A small but stunning walled garden leads you to the cloister that is now primarily used as a museum and lastly leads you into the extensively decorated church.

Pompeï, Ercolano and other ancient sights nearby Napels
Besides their attraction to any tourists, a couple of these sights are also available for hire for your Italian wedding. The smaller sites are pretty private as they are ancient roman villas and they can be hired privately. Some of them have amazing views over Napels.

B&B Maiure
This beautiful and welcoming B&B is my favorite on the Amalfi Coast. It is situated in Maiori (a drive of a couple of minutes to Amalfi and the other small seaside villages on the Amalfi coast) and offers affordable luxury at it's finest. Without the very helpful and immensely knowledgable owner of this hotel we wouldn't have had half as good a time at our first visit to the Amalfi coast. It's perfect for an Italian elopement or when you're inviting only a couple of guests to your wedding.

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2. The delicious Italian food

Fresh produce
Of course the ambience of a long table in a vineyard or a Tuscan landscape is enough to look forward to for your Italian wedding dinner but why is the Italian food so good and even better in Italy itself? It’s fresh food that is full of flavor. Like in most southern European countries most of the ingredients used in the Italian kitchen are much fresher and because of that, have way more flavour than a lot of the food I find in the UK or the Netherlands. If you’re a vegetarian, like me, you’ll have no problem to find vegetarian food on any menu.

Pizza, Pasta, Anti-pasti and Risotto
All four are traditional and delicious Italian dishes. Pizza might be an ideal option if you want a more casual and possibly less expensive dinner at your wedding. Pasta is so versatile and can be anything from very simple to culinary exquisite. Anti-pasti (for example insalata caprese and bruschetta) is perfect as an entree or when offering a walking dinner or lunch. Risotto is considered a lush and slightly more luxurious option. These world renowned Italian dishes aren't world renowned for nothing but the Italian kitchen is so much more versatile than the dishes the whole world has come to know and love. Italy is also known for their cheeses, wines, coffee and desserts as panna cotta, gelato (ice cream) and tiramisu. So don't hasitate to try out dishes you might not know yet, they may turn out to be the favorite dish from your entire wedding dinner.

3. Great wedding planners that specialise in weddings in Italy

Lots of wedding planners, who speak your own language as well as Italian have settled there or explored all your options for you. The hardest part of not getting married in your own country has already been eliminated by the great work these awesome planners have done already. So this fact had to be mentioned in my list of reasons to choose Italy for your destination wedding.

These are wedding planners and stylists specialised in weddings in Italy that I can personally recommend (as I love working with them!):

Federica Beni (formerly Honey & Cinnamon Wed)
Federica is the highly talented and immensely friendly owner of Honey & Cinnamon Wed and is an absolute authority on organising and styling your destination wedding or intimate elopement in Le Marche and all other charming Italian regions. Tuscany, Venice, Umbria, the Amalfi coast, none hold secrets for Federica, who is originally from the Le Marche region. She is a native Italian but speaks perfect English (much like me, she is in love with all things British). Everything she creates is incredibly stunning and perfected down to every detail. She has an organic, delicate style that I can't speak highly enough of. To get an idea of her stunning sense of style, please have a look at her website.

My Secret Italy Weddings
My Secret Italy is run by organizational wizard Julie. Julie is from the UK but nevertheless she's the authority when it comes to everything that the Cilento coast has to offer, she is incredibly fun to be around and always has the most wonderful surprises up her sleeve for her couples. She has a ton of experience in planning weddings on the Amalfi coast in Ravello and in Venice and will soon be adding the Puglia region to her portfolio. However, most of her weddings take place in the lovely seaside town of Santa Maria di Castellabate, a hidden gem not too far from famous places as Amalfi, Salerno, Pompeï and Napels and the Cilento and Vallo di Diano national park. Twinkle town, as Julie and her team lovingly call this wonder of a place, has everything a bride or groom could wish for. Delicious food, stunning, charming and luxurious venues and the scenery every couple wanting a destination wedding, dreams of.

Trouwen Italië [Italy Wedding] is THE Dutch wedding planner for your wedding in Italy. Inge is super relaxed, fun and most of all an amazing planner. Inge and her team can realise the Italian destination wedding of your dreams, all the while communicating with you in Dutch.

Destination wedding photographer in Italy

I hope this article with the reasons to choose Italy for your destination wedding has inspired you to consider Italy as your country of choice for your destination wedding. If you are looking for an English or Dutch speaking wedding photographer to capture your wedding, don't hesitate to contact me. 

 

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Interested in hearing more about my Italy wedding photography service? Head over to the Italy Destination Wedding Photographer page to find out more!