Destination Wedding Planning- Tuscany Italy Villa

lvblacken

Hi everyone,

We recently started planning for a symbolic ceremony at a private villa in Tuscany with 10-15 family guests in 2016. We are legally getting married in the U.S at town hall before we go to Italy and having a reception after for family/friends unable to travel. Has anyone done anything similar? Does anyone have any tips for destination wedding planning? Should I be using a destination wedding planner? I've traveled a lot on my own but I feel like there are a lot of things I am missing in planning. 

Thanks!

XrebeccaX

By private villa I take it you mean a private home, not an estate that operates as a wedding venue? I ask because we got married at a country house in Ireland and it "came with" a wedding coordinator of sorts that helped us plan our menus and walk through a checklist. They also were able to suggest a florist, dry cleaner, musician, driver etc; and provide a list of nearby B&Bs for our guests who didn't stay onsite.

In your planning, consider that you will not want to overcomplicate things logistically so think carefully about favors, programs etc. We skipped favors and I had our programs printed and then flat-packed them and folded them when we arrived.

Carry on your dress, shoes etc...I did and was very glad I had when we arrived in Dublin and our checked bags did not.  

We did all the legalities over there so my primary advice for people in similar situations is to make sure you're on top of all of that, but it sounds like that's not an issue for you.

Sounds like it will be beautiful! Happy planning

onefootinthebayou

My number one tip would be to make sure that your guests know that you are actually married and that this won't actually be a wedding (where you get married) but a celebration of marriage or a vow renewal.  I would assume you know this but you would be surprised at the fact that some people plan these DWs without letting their guests know they are already married...