codylocks wrote:missusb2b wrote:codylocks wrote:Gercliff
Hi there! I am in the same situation, just got engaged in July this year and really want to get married in Italy. Have just started doing some tentative research on wedding planners. Was very impressed by amoreweddings.ie, but haven't a clue whether they are very expensive or whether you'd be better off going to a wedding planner based in Italy rather than Ireland!!
Bit overwhelming! Any advice on your experiences since your posting would be appreciated!!
I've been looking at getting married since January and went to Lake Garda in June. It's a stunning place to get married. We've settled on Lake Orta and will be visiting there in September. I've found the planners I've contacted to be quite slow in replying to my queries except for Sposiamovi. Hoping to try and organise it ourselves though and put the money into the wedding.

Hey Missus2b2!
I think we have settled too on the lake district. I agree that some of the other lakes apart from Lake Garda look even more stunning & have you heard anything about Lake Garda religious ceremonies & restrictions? I read somewhere that you can't get married in a church in Lake Garda unless you are a resident? Let me know how you get on organizing things yourself. We are currently dealing with sposiamovi & finding them quite helpful but have yet to find out costs etc. When are you guys thinking of having your wedding?
I found Villa Baroncino
http://www.villabaroncino.com in the summer of 2009, after lengthy searches on the internet for a Romantic Italian Wedding
http://www.romanticitalianweddings.com !! Finally we tied the knot in September 2011, Villa Baroncino and all the staff of RIW has given us memories that along with our families & friends we will have always
I quote the words of Annie Lennox “There was a time when they used to say, that behind every - great man, there had to be a - great woman”!! Well in this case Marco has two great women, found in Alex and Ina.
Alex is like an angel– always there; who will answer any worries or questions you might have. I must highly compliment the promptness to which she replied to all of my emails, I swear she sleeps with her laptop; in fact I wonder if she ever leaves the office!! Alex was always so friendly and couldn’t do enough to help us, and this epitomises all that Romantic Italian Weddings is about – they will do their best to really make your dreams come through.
Ina was absolutely fab; I fall in to the category of a stressed bride. However Ina had such an air of calm that instantly made you feel at ease. We arrived at the villa Saturday night tired and hungry from the long day of travelling. Ina’s wasted no time in making sure we were looked after and ordered the best pizza’s we have ever tasted from Ciao Ciao. While we were waiting, Ina personally brought all of our guests to their rooms; this was such a lovely touch. In fact it’s the little touches that Marco adds that make the difference.
Finally the man himself – Marco!! Mark & I could not believe the level of detail to which Marco goes to. If you think you have dotted all your i’s and crossed your t’s – Marco will double check this. On Sunday afternoon we spent two hours with Marco and Ina going through every single detail, contact was made with all of our suppliers to confirm our arrangements, and that everything was exactly as we required. This service offered by Marco is a huge comfort to any bride and groom.
Catering: Our first morning in the villa, waking up to a beautiful day, and the sound of our caterer Renata cooking away in the kitchen, our guests were delighted to tuck into a bounty of both savoury and sweet delights – the custard filled doughnuts were a favourite of mine. I was delighted we made the choice to have a catered breakfast, it allowed our large group to bond, and it was the makings of what was to be a fun-filled week. Renata also catered a BBQ for us along with the assistance of her mother; it was such a lovely touch; like we were been welcomed into their Italian family. Again the food was absolutely amazing. Renata was such a pleasure to deal with, and all of our guests raved about the food on the wedding day, in particular Mark’s sister who is ceolic, she has never had the pleasure of a meal being fully catered to her needs from canapés to dessert – she is still talking about it to this day, it was all so tasty she couldn’t stop eating it!!
Flowers: I absolutely love Cristina, we had many late night chats on face book, both of us making the use of Google translate to convey our idea’s to each other!!! Cristina will do all that she can to provide you with exactly what it is you want, all you need to do is give a brief of what you require and you can be assured Cristina will turn this into something amazing. I wanted cones for the pews in the church, I didn’t see the final result till I was walking up the aisle, and the finished product surpassed my expectations, Cristina’s page has a vast portfolio of the great work she has done for many of Marco’s brides. It is of great benefit that Cristina’s florist is just a short car ride from Villa Baroncino, so I was able to pop in during our stay to further finalise my requirements.
Hair: We used the fabulous services of Monia, we chose to have this service at the villa. Monia looked after the two mothers, and they were delighted to have the comfort of having their hair done at the villa, avoiding stress of travelling anywhere. Other guests also benefitted of this little treat, and the prices are extremely reasonable.
Music: Musicians Bay & Alessandra Benedetti & DJ AlexBoth were exquisite, everyone raved about Alessandra’s voice, and the bonus of having this while the canapés are served – we felt like stars!! We sat in the Piazza in Cortona the morning of our wedding rehearsal, Musicians Bay were preparing for another wedding in the town hall, they were playing Songbird, and the sound was amazing, you will have everything you want in this trio. At the last moment we wanted to add a personal song to our ceremony, and the trio obliged us by sourcing the music for us, this took alot of pressure off at the last minute – thank you for this!!
DJ Alex was absolutely fab, a real cool guy, we got on great with him, and no music choice was a problem, he read the crowd very well, and our guests didn’t sit down all night. Ironic; Alex chose New York, New York as our last song and this was where we were heading on honeymoon, so a great send off for us!! Bring along your ipod too, Alex has all the tools if there is a particular song you require.
Transport: We used the coach services of Autonoleggio IL Girasole for transfer to and from airport, and then transfer to Cortona on the day of the wedding. The email communication between Massimo and ourselves was excellent, details and payment all organised prior to leaving for Italy. Our wedding car hire was with Drive in style – again Claudia was extremely efficient, and we felt totally comfortable that all was in control. I cannot remember the name of my driver on the day of the wedding, but we had great conversation and he helped considerably to calm my nerves!!
Wine Tasting - Andrea Baccheschi - We chose the wine tasting at the villa, both the wine and the appetizers were to die for. Andrea is a really lovely guy, and his knowledge is extensive. I would love to go back and spend an afternoon with him again. Again we communicated by email, and Andrea was always willing to accommodate our requests and nothing was a problem. Some of our guests bought wine from Andrea, and one of our guests would be quite knowledgeable in the area of wine tasting, and Andrea took extra time to speak personally with him, to offer further advice. I was super impressed!!
I hope from reading our testimonial, that you will feel reassured and excited for your upcoming wedding day. The opportunity to share this time with your friends and family in this environment was for me a once in a lifetime experience. When it is your time to leave Villa Baroncino, you will feel a sense of loss, as it really does feel like home.....
And finally..... As a child I always admired The Royal Family and how they would appear on the balcony for the first kiss, Marco made my childhood dream come through when we sealed our marriage with a kiss, looking down from the town-hall on Piazza Baldelli where our guests and well wishing on lookers cheered in support. Marco I will be forever grateful for this moment – thank you!!
Marco, Alex & Ina from the bottom of our hearts we thank you, and look forward to crossing paths again in the future.
Sarah & Mark