hi all. i'm feeling overwhelmed by the idea of picking a "perfect" location...i need help! so if you were to pick one italian town/region for a wedding, where would it be?
i've been to italy twice in the past but only to the three major cities (rome, florence, and venice) for museum & restaurant hopping.
tuscany seems like a nice place for a wedding but i didn't take too well to tuscan cuisine (not that i thought it wasn’t good but i don't eat meat or beans...my idea of great dinner is fresh seafood accompanied by a bottle of crisp white wine). i always wanted to go back to visit umbria but my fiancé, who by the way has never been to italy, loves the ocean.
since our wedding is not for another year or so, i thought perhaps we should visit a few areas before we make our decision. any suggestions/ideas would be appreciated. thanks!
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Hi Julia, I think anywhere on the Amalfi coast would be incredibly romantic, and gorgeous! I was going to stay in Praiano (I changed my trip around because I didn't have enough time), but it looks equally as breathtaking as Positano, but without quite any many tourists. Just a thought....
Nicole
Posts: 194 | Location: California | Registered: 02 July 2005
Though I love Tuscany, I think the Amalfi Coast would be perfect for a wedding. Ravello is very romantic, but Positano is lovely too. You would have many choices along that coastal area. Best wishes as you plan! DeAnn
i watched under the tuscan sun and thought positano made a beautiful film location; my fiancé would love the idea of a ceremony with an ocean view. praiano also seems like a picture perfect town.
i get the feeling that his vote'd go for the amalfi coast but i'm not quite ready to give up on the tuscany hill towns with medieval/renaissance city halls adorned with fresco paintings.
how are the restaurants on the amalfi coast? sometimes, finding quality meals in resort towns can be challenging but again, we're talking italy here so perhaps that doesn't apply in this case!
In Tuscany, we always go back to Pienza. It's superbly located, and is small and intimate.The surrounding countryside is fabulous and full of wonderful places to stay.
In Amalfi, we stayed just outside of Praiano which we also found to be small and romantic.
If budget is no problem, then perhaps Ravello would be nice. It is definitely beautiful and romantic. Positano is "romantic", but it is also very crowded and has terrible traffic.
I think the most romantic place in Italy for a honeymoon/wedding is neither in Tuscany or Amalfi, but on lake Como - Bellagio!!!!
As for restaurants, there are great ones all over Italy.
Perhaps my website can help you decide. It includes several trips to italy:
I agree with Steve about Lago di Como as a great backdrop to a wedding. Also, Julia, if you're having a number of guests from the U.S., it's pretty easy to fly in to Milano and get the short distance to the lake.
On the other hand, when I lived in Sorrento, I once saw a great little wedding in Ravello on the grounds of Villa Cimbrone. The bride and groom stood facing the blue sea on a magnificent terrace high above the water while the Anglican minister conducted the ceremony. The guests ringed the couple and a string trio played from a nearby marble tempietta. A reception dinner was set up in another part of the garden.
Although my son and his fiancee were living in Milano at the time, they decided to marry in Sorrento, where I lived. About forty people came from the U.S. and elsewhere in Italy, everybody flying into Napoli or training down from Roma. The official (legal) ceremony was in the courtyard of the town hall, in informal clothes, attended by immediate family only. After that, everybody got all dressed up and a Presbyterian ceremony was performed by the bride's uncle on the fabulous Pompeiian terrace of the Hotel Bellevue Syrene, with the bay of Napoli and Mt. Vesuvio in the background. It was all very, very gorgeous and romantic. Later, a great dinner was set up and served on the same terrace.
It would be totally possible to have a fish course, or several, accompanied by the great white wines of the area---Fiano, Greco di Tufa, Falanghina.
Happy planning !
Posts: 340 | Location: Santa Fe, NM | Registered: 28 July 2002
Check out the Abbazia di San Giovanni in Venere in Fossacessia, Chieti. A beautiful church overlooking the Adriatic! So difficult to reserve the church for a wedding but you never know!
Posts: 653 | Location: Palmyra, NJ, USA | Registered: 29 July 2003
steve - thanks for sharing the link to your travel logs. i really enjoyed reading them, especially those covering "off the beaten path" places i've always wanted to visit.
pictures of lake como, though, remind me of a certain place in norway...hmmm.
nancy - your son's wedding sounds very romantic, intimate and "festive" if that's the right word. the amalfi coast seems like a popular place to get married in italy and i can see why.
robert - yes, i agree. but wedding and venice don't go together for me though. a bit too gothic maybe?
I love Cortona. It's just a sweet and truly beautiful town. Also, it sits high on the hill and affords you gorgeous views.
I could see getting married there and promenading through the town after the ceremony. Oh, and speaking of "Under the Tuscan Sun" - parts of it were filmed there.
I am a huge fan of the Amalfi coast. I particularly love Positano. However, as has already been pointed out, it is awful with traffic and very crowded peak Season.
Check out the town of Gubbio in Umbria. It is very quaint and very beautiful. I think it would be a great setting for a wedding!
Originally posted by juliaO: my fiancé would love the idea of a ceremony with an ocean view
Not to be too much of a purist, but I'm assuming you mean "water" view, as you will not find an "ocean" view anywhere in Italy that I know of (Ligurian Sean in the northwest, Tyrrhenian Sea in the south west, Mediterranean Sea in Sicily, Ionian Sea in the southeast, Adriatic Sea in the northeast). Other than a water view, what else would be important to you?
We enjoyed Talamone, a town in southern Tuscany with a very nice church in the main square, an incredible sea view (Tyrrhenian), a picturesque marina and several restaurants.
ellen
Posts: 2942 | Location: mahwah, new jersey, usa | Registered: 10 December 2003
I have to throw my vote in with the Amalfi Coast too!I researched wedding locations all over Italy last year for our daughters wedding and in the end she decided on an "Italian Themed" wedding here. The locations for weddings on the Amalfi Coast simply could not be beat for beauty. Do a google search for weddings in Italy and you can see wonderful places.
Posts: 838 | Location: Nashville, TN USA | Registered: 11 September 2002
Originally posted by ellens: Not to be too much of a purist, but I'm assuming you mean "water" view, as you will not find an "ocean" view anywhere in Italy that I know of
lol. i never even thought about this till now. yes, i meant water view or rather, sea view. living in the middle of the pacific ocean, i forgot all about the seas! as for what we're looking for aside from the view is that the town has a city hall with beautiful exterior and interior and that it's a place where we'd want to go back over and over again for our anniversaries, etc.
avvocato, thanks for the tip but i think we're having a civil ceremony. i did look up the church and found many pictures of it though. it looks like something out of a fairy tale. pic
giuseppe trisciuzzi - i had never heard of asolo & didn't at all know that there are romantic towns in the veneto region beyond venice.
kathy - i've read so many wonderful things about cortona that i'm starting to believe them! i've only seen the movie once so i'll rent it out again.
l&w – because i don’t want my fiancé and i to part over this I think we’d probably visit both tuscany and the amalfi coast sometime this year. while both venice and umbria are still very tempting, having the civil ceremony in tuscany so that i can have my fresco ceilings and slow traveling around the amalfi coast for our honeymoon sounds like a nice comprise to me. this way, we’d have wonderful memories of both places.
thanks for your support and advice everyone!
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Well, first if you want a city then certainly Venice. How much more romantic can you get than strolling the streets of Venice at night.
If you want good seafood then I would suggest the Ligurian coast. If it is a small wedding you could even do it in one of the towns of Cinque Terre. (On one trip we walked into Venazza from Monterosso and arrived just as the bells in the church were ringing and by the time we got to the center of town the bride and groom were throwing candy out to the crowd from a second stroy window). But some palce like Santa Margherita or Sestri Levanti would be very nice.
IF you want great food then (in my opinion) you must go to Piemonte. THe towns around the Barolo and Barbaresco area are very pretty and there are so many great restaurants!
Posts: 170 | Location: San Francisco | Registered: 20 July 2002
Well, all these places sound wonderful. I honeymooned on the Amalfi Coast, and there is no more beautiful or romantic place in the world than Ravello. If you were inclined to rustic seagoing places, a Sardinian location might be exotic, but it sounds as though you are more culturally inclined. Venice in the offseason is all a splendid idea for romance. But why not consider some lovely towns near Monte Conero, with charming piazzas and churches, and a magnificent view of the sea, and some of the best seafood and white wine.... in Numana, Sirolo. thereabouts. Some romantic hotels too, on Conero. And in the month of June, the lavender fields on the slopes are all in bloom....
I'll put my vote in for Ravello. I can't think of a more perfect setting for a wedding. Church is in the square -up a flight of steps and the view -amazing. I will also add the crowds in many other popular places in Italy might be somewhat of a distraction for such a celebration.
Bellagio has my vote, but Ravello has my heart! We've stayed in Priano and Positano. Priano was nice, quiet, picturesque and convenient. We were able to travel the coastline by bus to the neighboring towns.
I'm chiming in for Ravello! We spent our honeymoon with six close friends this past May on the AC and Tuscany and all of us simply fell in love with Ravello. What charm it has. And if you are lucky (we were not), you can be witnes to the outdoor classical music at Villa Rufolo, overlooking the Sea.
Forget Positano - way too crowded and touristy.
Janel
Posts: 240 | Location: Chicago | Registered: 12 February 2005
Originally posted by juliaO: hi all. i'm feeling overwhelmed by the idea of picking a "perfect" location...i need help! so if you were to pick one italian town/region for a wedding, where would it be?
i've been to italy twice in the past but only to the three major cities (rome, florence, and venice) for museum & restaurant hopping.
tuscany seems like a nice place for a wedding but i didn't take too well to tuscan cuisine (not that i thought it wasn’t good but i don't eat meat or beans...my idea of great dinner is fresh seafood accompanied by a bottle of crisp white wine). i always wanted to go back to visit umbria but my fiancé, who by the way has never been to italy, loves the ocean.
since our wedding is not for another year or so, i thought perhaps we should visit a few areas before we make our decision. any suggestions/ideas would be appreciated. thanks!
Posts: 8 | Location: North East UK | Registered: 25 July 2005
Favorite romantic towns!! Well you would have to visit Barga and very old walled town in Northern Tusany about 30 km from Lucca another great place. Climb up through the town to the Duomo San Chrisifano at the top of the town! Just have a sit down in there! You can turn the lights on with a Euro if you want but it doesn't really matter if you don't. First time I sat in there I was with my then girlfriend of a few weeks! after leaving the Duomo she was intears for no apparent reason & I had decided I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her, so.....be careful.....don't ask for anything you don't want......good luck and god bless
Posts: 8 | Location: North East UK | Registered: 25 July 2005
I've been to Florence, Sienna, and various other spots in Tuscan and Umbria. I loved them. However, if you're looking for romantic, my pick would be Priano or Positano in Amalfi. Wow! We stayed in a small hotel in Priano and managed to navigate the twisting roads around the area, even going as far south as Paestum to see the beautiful Greek ruins.
Take a look at my photo gallery if you want to see what they look like:
We stayed at Hotel Holiday in the superior room and had a huge verndah looking out over the sea. What a treat to wake up to the sunrise (yes you can see the sunrise from there!) and the warm breeze coming in the french doors. Heaven.
Posts: 40 | Location: Seattle/WA | Registered: 23 June 2004
Originally posted by LL: I honeymooned on the Amalfi Coast, and there is no more beautiful or romantic place in the world than Ravello.
Seems like many others shares your opinon on this on this board including Elio, Donna Marie, Lynda, and Janel.
Elio - I feel the same way about the crowds. Thought I've seen wedding pictures taken in Florence where the onlookers added a nice touch as "extras," we won't be too comfortable with a large audience.
Looking at Hotel Caruso's and Villa Cimbrone's websites make me wish I were there right.
Wino666 - Sounds like you're willing to travel a great distance for great food and so am I. I'm not searching for the meaning of life but I am looking for that perfect meal. Just reading about truffles in Piemonte made my heart skip a bit or two.
Meagan - Portovenere almost looks it belongs to Disney Sea in Tokyo. It is a fishing village right? mmmm, seafood!
Phil - I'm glad that you enjoyed your stay in Northern Tuscany and found it romantic because we are or at least I am still leaning towards (Northern)
Topic Closed
I think we’d probably visit both tuscany and the amalfi coast sometime this year. while both venice and umbria are still very tempting, having the civil ceremony in tuscany so that i can have my fresco ceilings and slow traveling around the amalfi coast for our honeymoon sounds like a nice comprise to me. this way, we’d have wonderful memories of both places. 
