Continuing WeddingHappy’s blog series featuring cultural wedding tips and ideas from around the world, we are excited to share our latest feature with you- what it looks like to get married in Tuscany. Thanks to our friend, Jacqueline Bradshaw of http://www.marrymeintuscany.co.uk/ for providing us with her insight as a wedding planner in Tuscany, Italy.
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As a wedding planner in Tuscany I work predominately with English speaking couples that have chosen to get married in one of the most beautiful areas of Italy.
I have couples that come from as far away as Australia, America and Canada, and closer to home England, Scotland and Ireland. Although the couples have decided to marry here they obviously want to maintain some of the wedding traditions from home as well as adopting some of the traditions from here, so it’s really important that I know exactly which of these special traditions couples want to be able to incorporate into their wedding.
The wedding ceremony in Italy is lovely. It talks very much about the couple being a partnership and how both husband and wife are important, and that they should make crucial decision for their families based on both their personal needs. After all, isn’t that what marriage is about- a partnership where no one person is more important than the other?
However the Italian wedding ceremony doesn’t allow couples to say more than “I do”, and there is no part where they officially exchange wedding rings. As a wedding planner, I encourage couples to include their tradition of doing just vow and ring exchange, should they wish to. Couples can either write their own or use ones that are readily available which express their love for each other. They can also include a couple of poems read by their close friends and family which also makes the wedding ceremony more personal.
Siena town hall ceremony
Quite often in Tuscany, Italian couples will ask for flowers that are very “sobrio” or “low key”. Thankfully they are slowly coming around to the fact that a wedding is a joyous life event and are being more creative with their use of flowers and moving away from just a simple white bouquet (I think we have the wedding channel and social media to thank for that!). I’m happy to say that us Anglo Saxons do appreciate the joy flowers bring to a wedding and how even a simple use of beautiful flowers will add the all important finishing touches to the wedding theme.
Wedding ceremony with lovely flowers
One thing that Italians do very well at weddings is the gift- the bombonieris that we have all adopted as wedding favours. Italians will give each guest or family a beautiful gift with a little confection of confetti (not the paper sort that we throw at the happy couple but sugared almonds). The five sugared almonds symbolize: Health Wealth, Happiness Long Life & Fertility.
And they’re taking things one step further. There are now so many delicious flavours- like Gran Marnier, Champagne, Limoncello, chocolate, pistacchio, and lots lots more- that they are creating beautifully decorated confetti corners where after dinner guests can help themselves to these wonderful flavours. I’m hoping that some of my clients will adpot this new tradition and give their guests the wonderful opportunity of sample a little bit of Italy during their wedding day.
Confetti corner
Wedding Cakes are also entering into the spotlight too- wedding cakes have always been big in Italy but now cutting the cake is becoming a show stopper of the evening. Rather than bringing the cake to the bride and groom at the table, a secret area is set up with special lighting and music, lots of flowers and candles a spectacular scene is created for the couple to cut the cake.
Wedding cake
I hope that this little insight into some of the differences between our Anglo Saxon and Italian weddings differ slightly but it seems that there is a whole fusion of wedding ideas evolving here in Tuscany as each culture adopts the parts they like and use them at their weddings.
If you would like more information of how you can have a fabulous wedding in Tuscany, please visit Jacqueline’s website www.marrymeintuscany.co.uk or email on info@marrymeintuscany.co.uk.
