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.
As we researched, financially you can do more in Italy than you can in the US, especially as we live in California where prices are particularly high. For just a venue rental cost alone in the US, we can book out a small villa for a 3 nights in Italy. So our money goes much further towards a fuller experience in Italy.
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!
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