Elegant Italian Villa Wedding: Destination Planning & Bride Advice

Bride and groom embrace in a garden wedding portrait

There is a lot to take into account if you aren't staying in town for you big day. Will your dress travel well? Who will keep track of your vendors before you get there? Will the memories you make out weigh the cost? Thankfully you have this lovely couples private Italian villa wedding as an example!
Beautiful, elegant and simple this wedding set the perfect standard for destination weddings. You can read all of the brides advice below and see every last detail photographed by Jay Studio when you visit the full gallery here!

Bride in white gown holds bouquet, chair with flowers

Bride holding rustic pink and white wedding bouquet

Planning from Afar

From the Bride: As far as our wedding is concerned, our only prerequisite was that we wanted a relaxed affair, and for us a wedding in Italy would ensure that. A friend put us in touch with the wonderful Francesca from DreamWeddings and Daniele from Jay Studio, and from there our perfect day was created! What would've been a difficult and complicated planning process at home, was made a fun and exciting prospect with Francesca at our side and Daniele shooting even film.

Outdoor wedding ceremony setup with white chairs and arch

Wedding chair decor with pink rose and babys breath

Bride walks with her father at outdoor wedding ceremony

Bride and groom sharing a kiss at wedding ceremony

Happy couple exiting wedding ceremony, flower petals falling

Picking a Destination Dress

As we had a destination wedding, I purposely kept this in mind when choosing my dress etc. Although it would've been my desired style regardless, I chose a dress that was light and easy to transport. I didn't want a bodice-style dress but this worked well as the warm weather meant I was as comfortable as possible without feeling constricted

Bride and groom embrace on their wedding day balcony

Newlyweds share a kiss beneath a kissing tree sign

Happy couple at their wedding near tall green trees

Heels or No Heels?

Even as a guest at weddings, I often struggle to keep my heels on until the end of the day, and I didn't want this to be the case at our wedding. The groom is over a foot taller than me so I had to have heels of some description so I opted for wedges.

The lace design from the Toms Wedding Collection matched the style of lace on my dress and I easily wore them for the whole day and would recommend people consider it as an option. The venue also had a mixture of grass, cobbles, small stones and shiny floor and at no point did I struggle to walk.

Vintage suitcase wedding seating chart with floral accents

Elegant outdoor wedding reception table setting by the pool

Wedding table decor with floral centerpiece and rose petals

Wedding reception at a luxurious Italian villa with pool

Vintage suitcase holds guest messages and postcards

Keeping A Budget

I can hand on heart say if we had tried to achieve the equivalent wedding in the UK, we would not have afforded it. The catering was a big chunk of our expense but being in Italy it was always going to be one of the most important aspects. The food was exceptional and still a talking point now for our guests but it still worked out cheaper than a wedding meal at home.

We were charged per person but this included a sit down meal, antipasti & dessert tables and ALL the alcohol for the day. It also included the most gorgeous and delicious 'naked' wedding cake which I know when organised separately can be a huge expense.

Elegant buffet table at an outdoor wedding reception