Hi friends! It’s been a while, and I owe you some wedding updates. I’ve shared this on Instagram but am a little late to post it to the blog. In October, Jon and I took a trip to do some wedding venue hunting in Italy. In all honesty, we weren’t 100% sure we would do Italy before we went. At the time, we were still considering Colorado where we met and where my parents live, or the east coast near much of Jon’s family. Yet there was always a small voice in the back of my head that kept leading me towards Italy.
When we really started to dig into the costs (weddings are so expensive!), we noticed how overpriced venues are in the United States. Some of the locations that weren’t even THAT beautiful had insane minimum spends that would blow our entire budget and then some before flowers or decor. Hosting a wedding in Italy would mean we could do more with our budget. Plus – how romantic is Italy?! Thankfully our friends and family confirmed that they would be willing to travel out to Italy for our wedding, so it was time to book some venue visits.
I originally booked us five visits over the course of three days. The venues were all scatted throughout Tuscany between Florence and Siena. They varied in style from a fancy hotel just outside Florence to abbey ruins out in the countryside. Most of the venues were villas where we could have our nearest family and wedding party stay with us on the property.
The first venue we visited was the Belmond San Michele which boasted stunning views of Florence. The space was so beautiful and provided a ton of options for the ceremony, cocktail hour, and reception. It was also the first visit, so it felt so exciting to see how our wedding would actually come together. The downside to this venue was that we wouldn’t be able to book the whole property (well, you can, but the price is insane). There would be other people staying on the property and wandering around during the wedding, which I didn’t love. Additionally, the rooms were too expensive to ask our guests to stay on the property with us.
The second venue, I’m going to keep a little mum about. When we saw this venue, we had that feeling everyone told us about. The one where we could see EXACTLY how the wedding would unfold. Walking around, we just knew that this was the place. It’s a royal villa with 1600s frescos, gorgeous gardens, and views of the Tuscan countryside. It’s also an organic winery, which is something I was really excited about. After our tour, we had a long chat and decided to cancel our next two venue visits. We would see one more place which would have to beat out this one.
Our last venue was San Galgano about 40 minutes outside Siena. I had found this venue from a viral Instagram photo of the abbey ruins decked out in white roses for a wedding. It was the most insane backdrop for a ceremony even though Jon and I are not particularly religious. Visiting the venue, we started to question our feelings for the previous venue. The abbey was even more incredible in person and would make for the most insane photos. Additionally, the staff at the agriturismo next door were so incredibly friendly and helpful. They comped a tasting dinner and answered all our questions. The downside was that the agriturismo was a more rustic feel than we originally were looking for. It was also very far from other towns which would leave our guests with limited options for their downtime.
Our drive back to the airport after the final venue visit consisted of a lot of serious conversation. In the end, we decided to go with venue number two and are so so happy with our decision. It will be the perfect combination of Tuscan charm and glamour for the most magical day of our lives. We are excited to share that we have booked our venue and will be getting married in Tuscany in October 2023! Let the wedding planning commence!
Xx, Kelsey
