Venice, Italy with its elaborate waterway system and famous gondolas will make the perfect destination for a wedding abroad. Experienced wedding planners offer religious, civil and symbolic ceremonies as well as simple blessings for foreign couples marrying in Venice. It is best to first determine what type of wedding is preferred as each has its own set of rules and regulations as to where the ceremony may be held and as to what documents are necessary from the bride and groom. The religious ceremony policies will depend on specific faith, again a decision to be made in the early planning stages. Typically a residency of two days is needed to marry in Venice.
Some of the more popular locations for a wedding in Venice are the spectacular villas built in the fifteenth, sixteenth and eighteenth centuries. Whether onsite accommodations or nearby, the villas offer reception areas for up to two hundred people depending on an inside or outside reception. And while the villa is quite large, smaller wedding parties are welcomed as well.
Venice is close to several historic castles that offer lovely wedding ceremony locations and facilities for the reception as well as rooms or apartments for sleeping. Or maybe reserve a centuries old vineyard or one of the many fabulously restored palaces. Venice is rife with historic treasures that make it very difficult to decide upon a wedding location.
In addition to the magnificent castles and palaces, many fine dining restaurants offer banquet facilities. A few of the city’s hotels are famous and indeed luxurious. Offering exquisite accommodations, scrumptious culinary pleasures and strategic surroundings, these hotels may offer boat shuffles, heated pools, brilliantly, colorful gardens, superior views and opulent amenities. One can never experience boredom here as the hotels have thought of everything from private beaches to casinos, tennis, golf and art.
And the “jewel in the crown” of destination wedding locations is the prestigious Historical Theatre in Venice. Having been burnt to the ground in 1998, the Opera House has been reproduced to its former beauty and majesty. Flexible in its bookings, groups may request private concerts, private tours and intimate gatherings for as many as two hundred people.
While in Venice, ask your wedding planner to organize one or more of the many tours available to you and your guests during your stay in Italy. Tours by helicopter, gondola, minibus and yes, by foot are conducted with English speaking guides. Medieval towns, abbeys of the fourteenth century, ancient mills, the world famous First Century outdoor arena, and the many vineyards will make a Venice destination wedding complete.
In addition to the beautiful surroundings, Italy offers a plethora of gourmet delights with their diverse cuisine, one that by the way, most people crave and love to eat. Lastly, although Italian tradition encouraged the throwing of rice or pasta at the newly married bride and groom, most venues no longer permit the practice. The preferred wedding throw is biodegradable confetti or real flower petals.