|
Wedding Related Articles with Wedding Planning and Advice for Brides>
Wedding articles to help you plan your affair. Tips on marriage licenses, bands, florists, photography, bridal shows, and more.
Wedding Bells in Italy
8 Apr 2008
If you are planning to get married in Italy, you may want to consider hiring a wedding coordinator. What can they do that you can't do on your own? Maybe nothing, if you have an abundance of patience, have the time to wade through the maze of documentation, are proficient in Italian, and want a very simple ceremony. Otherwise, hiring the services of a professional wedding planner could save you costly mistakes and allow you to enjoy the time before your big day without numerous headaches along the way.
Wedding coordinators provide one-stop shopping, which is certainly convenient. The bride and groom make their preferences known and then leave it to the professional, who has the experience and relationships with proven vendors to make the arrangements.
The types of services requested are as individual as the couples themselves. Some want only a simple civil ceremony while others may choose a wedding at St Peter's basilica or a spectacular view in Tuscany. While basic documentation is required for all weddings, the paperwork can vary, depending on where the couple is from and where they wish to marry. For instance, the procedural requirements for the municipal hall in Rome are different from those for the municipal hall in Florence. Some of this information is readily available on embassy websites if you are game enough to tackle it yourself, but it can get confusing if you aren't familiar with the terms and how to proceed at the local level.
Italian Gabriella Lojacono started www.wedding-in-rome.com in 1997. She plans weddings not only in Rome, but in Venice, Florence, Capri, and on the Neapolitan coast as well, and handles all the paperwork herself because "it has to be accurate".
American Sandra Maffey, owner of Vista Weddings and Events (www.vistaweddings.com) planned an upcoming wedding for 150 people at a private castle just outside Rome. The festivities include a private viewing of the Sistine Chapel, walking tours, a wine tasting for the bride and her girl friends and a post-wedding brunch on a private terrace overlooking the Pantheon. Other treats are custom-designed wedding favors, packaged hotel room gifts and fruit baskets for out-of-town guests, a personalized wedding program and a newsletter outlining the events for the wedding weekend with customized maps and restaurant suggestions. A wedding of this caliber could cost as much as €150.000.
Some requests made of the wedding coordinator require not only resourcefulness but also creativity. For one wedding, which took place in Cortona, Tuscany, Maffey was asked by a friend of the groom to arrange some type of special entertainment for the couple as a wedding gift. To suit the mediaeval surroundings, Maffey decided to organize a performance of sbandieratori (mediaeval flag performers) in the town's main square. To the great surprise of the couple and their guests, 25 performers were waiting for them when they came out of the municipal hall, playing trumpets and drums and performing with their oversized flags.
What does service like this cost? Couples who approach Vista Weddings and Events complete a questionnaire and have an initial telephone conversation with Maffey (this may last as long as an hour) before an estimate is provided, which includes the wedding coordinator's flat fee. Based on what services the couple has requested, the coordination fee runs from €2,000 to €5,000, tax excluded. Lojacono will quote two fees, one for preparing the paperwork and the other for all other services. She declined to disclose her fees.
All of the clients of Vista Weddings and Events and www.wedding-in-rome.com are foreigners, with the majority from the U.S., but several come from England, Ireland, Australia and Canada. Italians have not yet begun to use wedding coordinators as they still rely heavily on family members to help with plans.
Martha Miller
|
|
Shipping and Delivery Times / Returns / Order Info / Shopping Cart / Contact Us / About us / Security & Private Policy / Argento Communion Favors / Baby Shower-Birthday Favors / Capodimonte / Cappuccino and Tea Favors / Clearance Favors / Crystal Favors / D'lusso Home Collection / Italian Espresso Sets / Italian Espresso Cup Favors / Organza Tulle and Almonds / Italian Ribbon Confetti / Italian Porcelain Favors / New Italian Wedding Favors / Espresso Spoons and Servers / Bigliettini Italian Tags / Religious Communion Favors / Silver-Stainless Steel Italian Favors / Italian Pasta Platters / Personalized Wrapping and Ribbon / Spoon Rests and Oil Bottles / Sweets and Desserts Favors / Ceramic Favors / Wedding and Party Invitations / Wedding Blog / Testimonials / Links / Link to us
   
We accept all major credit cards
Shop with Confidence. Secured with 
All personal information you submit is encrypted and 100% secure, Guaranteed!
Throw a Traditional Italian Wedding
Despite what you might think, you don't have to be a sun-kissed couple fresh from the shores of Sicily in order to have an Italian wedding. A couple of Italian descent are more than welcome to weave Italian traditions into their wedding -- whether or not they've ever set foot in Italy.
Many of us find that the most satisfying weddings combine nostalgic old traditions with contemporary ways of doing things. And old religious observances, historic dances, and traditional Italian foods are sure to give your wedding a warm Italian heart.
As everyone knows, Roman Catholicism is Italy's primary religion. So a traditional Italian wedding typically means a traditional Catholic wedding as well, including a full mass with the ceremony. However, it's still true that not every Italian is Catholic. Although it may be a bit unusual, if you and your partner aren't Catholic, you can still incorporate the Italian traditions in your reception. One of the most charming is the dove release, symbolizing the love and affection of each newlywed for the other, although this tradition is not very old.
No Italian wedding is complete without a few traditional dances, such as the Tarantella. Although the Tarantella's origin is somewhat murky, most of the stories about it involve a spider bite, and tell of a dance either meant to counteract the venom, or one that simply mimics the uncontrolled motions of the sufferer. At any rate, these days the Tarantella is performed at wedding parties to wish the couple a fine future together. Participants form a circle and dance in a clockwise direction, until the music speeds up and the dancers must change direction. The tempo changes several times, each time forcing the dancers to change direction and dance even faster. The Tarantella continues until it becomes impossible to keep up, and the dance falls apart.
What's the most distinguishing aspect of an Italian wedding? The food, of course. The Italians invented the evocative word abbondanza, which somehow means something more than mere "abundance," and no Italian wedding would be complete without an overwhelming feast of many courses. Traditionally, the wedding reception begins with an antipasto course of cheeses, olives, mushrooms, and pickled sweet peppers. This course is followed by subsequent courses starring pastas, meats, salads, soups, and desserts, each one punctuated by freely flowing wine.
It's interesting to note that some of the foods at an Italian wedding have symbolic overtones. For example, the giving of sugar-coated almonds to guests symbolizes that marriage is both bitter and sweet. The number of almonds given is associated with traditional meanings: for example, three almonds speak to fertility, while five almonds wish for wealth.
Another authentic Italian wedding tradition is the breaking of a glass at the reception's end, somewhat like a similar tradition within the Jewish faith. However, the deeper symbolism underlying these traditions is very different. Within Judaism, the broken glass symbolizes human frailty and the hardship the couple's ancestors endured as a result of their faith. But in Italian weddings, the broken glass points toward the future. The number of shards is said to predict the number of happy years the couple will have together.
It's deeply satisfying for couples of Italian descent to weave these traditional elements into their modern-day wedding. Even if only your distant relatives still reside on Italian soil and you've never been to Italy, it's still absolutely fine to follow these traditions. And that's not to say you have to be Italian, either -- all that's required is that you appreciate the richness of Italian culture and are willing to try something new.
More Italian Wedding Favor Articles
My Italian Wedding Favors is your number one source for Crystal favors, Italian Ribbon Confetti and Capodimonte favors.
We are family owned and operted and have been offering Italian Wedding and Party favors, at factory prices for the past 15 years. We guarantee that we will absolutely not be undersold. If you have any questions about our wedding favors please feel free to call us toll free anytime at 1(866) 99-FAVOR.
We will personally be happy to help you and answer any questions you might have. We look forward to providing you with fabulous wedding favors and an added personal touch!
You can email us with any Italian wedding favor questions. Go to our Contact us page and we will personally email you back right away with answers to your questions.
Please note:
Most items on our site are handmade and handpainted. Due to the nature of this quality, My Italian Wedding Favors cannot be responsible for variations in color, size, shape, weight etc. Our customers can be assured that we make every effort possible to control the quality of our products.
We are an Exclusive distributor of D'Lusso Home Collections and Lorren Home Trends. If you see Italian wedding favors or Italian Baby shower favors that you like on another site but cannot find them by searching our site, please call us. We can almost definitely get them for you at a lower price.
CALL US TOLL FREE AT 1(866) 99-FAVOR.
Thank you for shopping for your Italian wedding favors and baby shower favors at My Italian wedding favors.com
Copyright © 2009 My Italian Wedding Favors LLC ., All Rights Reserved.
Wedding Favors Shipped to USA and Canada
   
|
