It took a long time for Daniele and I to narrow down our options, but yesterday we told ourselves we had to choose. It came down to two locations, one a castle and the other an aristocratic villa.
Built by a soldier of fortune in 1465, Palazzo di Piero beat out the rest of the castles we considered in terms of character with the lovely wood beamed ceiling, frescoes, and gorgeous garden with centuries old trees. The courtyard and garden would be perfect for a small ceremony and reception, while every detailed nook and cranny of the estate holds promise of gorgeously styled photographs. Not far from Chiusi, Sarteano, the spa town Chianciano Terme, and the medival hill town of Montepulciano, known for some of Italy's best wine. The downside is there are only four bathrooms to share among 11 adults and 2 children.
Built by the Strozzi family, rivals to the Medici family, in the 17th century, Vistarenni is on the hill between two very important Chianti towns, Gaiole and Radda. It sits on top of 500 acres of land which includes a working winery, tennis court, and swimming pool. The views over the vineyards and Radda are glorious, but I had seen pictures of a number of weddings here before and wondered if the size of the estate took away from the intimacy we are after. The interior is elegantly decorated and includes en suite bathrooms for each bedroom. Earlier in our decision we had decided against Villa Vistarenni because we didn't love the wedding photos we've seen of weddings there, but it won its way back onto our short list yesterday.
All evening yesterday Daniele and I wavered back and forth between the two choices. We loved aspects of both options and since we wouldn't have a chance to see either location in person before our wedding, we had to go off of the pictures, reviews, and information online.
In the end we chose one over the other because of two reasons, the endless excellent reviews and the availability of private and semi-private accommodations for guest. Once we made our decision we've been absolutely positive that Villa Vistarenni is the right place for us!
Built by a soldier of fortune in 1465, Palazzo di Piero beat out the rest of the castles we considered in terms of character with the lovely wood beamed ceiling, frescoes, and gorgeous garden with centuries old trees. The courtyard and garden would be perfect for a small ceremony and reception, while every detailed nook and cranny of the estate holds promise of gorgeously styled photographs. Not far from Chiusi, Sarteano, the spa town Chianciano Terme, and the medival hill town of Montepulciano, known for some of Italy's best wine. The downside is there are only four bathrooms to share among 11 adults and 2 children.
Villa Vistarenni
Built by the Strozzi family, rivals to the Medici family, in the 17th century, Vistarenni is on the hill between two very important Chianti towns, Gaiole and Radda. It sits on top of 500 acres of land which includes a working winery, tennis court, and swimming pool. The views over the vineyards and Radda are glorious, but I had seen pictures of a number of weddings here before and wondered if the size of the estate took away from the intimacy we are after. The interior is elegantly decorated and includes en suite bathrooms for each bedroom. Earlier in our decision we had decided against Villa Vistarenni because we didn't love the wedding photos we've seen of weddings there, but it won its way back onto our short list yesterday.
All evening yesterday Daniele and I wavered back and forth between the two choices. We loved aspects of both options and since we wouldn't have a chance to see either location in person before our wedding, we had to go off of the pictures, reviews, and information online.
In the end we chose one over the other because of two reasons, the endless excellent reviews and the availability of private and semi-private accommodations for guest. Once we made our decision we've been absolutely positive that Villa Vistarenni is the right place for us!
Now that we finally made a decision about our wedding location, we can finally focus on all the little details. We have our photographer booked and we've been in talks with a few different caterers. I admit, for a while I've had the image below in mind for a wedding theme, so perhaps choosing Villa Vistarenni was partly influenced by how lovely the facade of the villa would fit so perfectly with the ideas that have been floating in my head. So excited!
Next time I'll go over how we researched and found resources that helped us plan our wedding abroad without a wedding planner.
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