I never thought I’d choose to do a destination wedding. I’ve never really daydreamed about the exact location of where I’d get married, mostly because once I moved to California and had friends all over the US as the years went on, there didn’t seem to be one location that had everyone there.
When Drew and I were in Italy shortly after we got engaged, we kind of joked about have a very small, intimate wedding there. Joked. And then we started researching the possibilities, it started to become more realistic in our minds. There were definitely a couple times I paused and wondered if it was the wrong choice, as it’s a big ask for friends and family, especially for us those based in California.
I’d always wanted the location to be a place where all guests could stay onsite and we got to spend time with each other outside of the actual wedding day event. When I was younger I thought I’d want a big wedding. As I got older though, I realized that I really cherish intimacy. The idea of having to jump from guest to guest making brief small talk, some guests being people we’d never met (+ 1s), or distant family we rarely speak to. It was important that we were surrounded by people who are actively engaged and participating in our lives, and know us as a couple.
We concluded that an intimate (30 guests) destination wedding in Tuscany was exactly what we wanted, and represented much of our interests as a couple. Beautiful country & culture, excellent food, red wine, and history. We’re a little over 4 months out now (wedding is in early September), and although planning is tedious, we’re so excited to share this experience with our family and friends.
PS – You can read about how we found a venue in Italy + the details of our wedding here!
