A Wedding in Tuscany

The perfect place for a certain kind of Tuscan wedding

If you are looking to get married in Tuscany, then you might want to consider a wedding at Podere Patrignone. We usually have a couple of weddings here every year (we set a limit on how many we do), and although they are a lot of work for us, they are fantastic fun and we love doing them.

There are some of the basics:

• We can accommodate wedding groups here between 30 and 33 people & kids spread across the Villa and 5 apartments, 15 double bedrooms in total, each with an en-suite bathroom. There are other agri-turismi nearby where we can rent additional space for you if you need it. There is a minimum rental period for 4 nights in off-peak times, 7 nights during peak periods. This can be flexible depending on the time of year, and what kind of deal we work out, but you will be well advised to think longer rather than shorter; it will give you and your guests more time to get touched by the magic of the area.
• We are in a beautiful rural location with stunning panoramic views, an amazing back-drop for this amzing day (and not bad for your photos either).
• We can cater for your reception to suit your budget, from a local chef and team producing 5 courses of traditional Tuscan cuisine starting at around €60/head to Michelin-star catering from a local restaurant at €100+/head. We can host your reception on our Terracotta Terrace with its amazing views (up to around 50 people) or if it’s too hot/wet/cold we can go inside the Old Frantoio.
• The fee you will pay is for the basic room rental costs plus a one-off hosting fee of €1250 for renting the Villa's facilities on the day, plus any catering, wine etc.

Have you thought about...?

Here are some practical considerations:

• You need to start the process at least three months in advance in order to get the paperwork sorted out.
• You two will need to be here a few days in advance in order to sort out your Italian paper-work.
• We can put you in touch with a wedding planner to help you organise the paperwork, book the ceremony, and do the job of the Official Translator of the ceremony on the day. We can also book music/disco/bands etc during the ceremony and back here afterwards. The fee for this help will vary depending on how much you want done, but budget on around €600 + expenses for the basics (paper-work, booking the ceremony, translation). If you want to get married in the Siena Registry office (actually in the Piazza del Campo, it’s really beautiful there, the cost in 2009 is €800) or in Castellina in Chianti (closer, and also very pretty, but more expensive at €1000) we can book that for you and liaise with the local Comune.
• If you are planning anything more complex (such as organising a church service, marquees, etc.), you should definitley think about a wedding planner. We have some suggestions, or you can hire your own wedding-planner who will do all this for you and we will happily liaise with them.
• Don't over-invite in the hope that lots will say no. You are planning a wedding in a beautiful, sunny place, steeped in history, culture and awash with great wine and food. Would you say no?

A reasonable budget for a beautiful but simple wedding might be:

* charged by the British Consul in Florence (2009 prices)
** other accommodation is usually paid for by the guests themselves

Now, of course, there may be additional things to consider, like a rehearsal dinner/pizza, an evening torch-lit party under the stars, the wedding clothes, fireworks, rings, hair, flowers, photographers, transport, a wedding cake (or two), decorations, and so on, but we can help you do as much or as little of these as you like, with no additional pressure from us.

The important thing is that you get the day you want, no more no less. And you know what, in our experience, most couples married here believe they got all they ever wanted here, and more, and for a great deal less money than they would have paid at home.

If you’d like to get the ball rolling, drop us a line and let’s have a chat.

The weather for your wedding in Tuscany?

Try this link to get a view on the weather here at various times of the year.

Frequently asked questions about getting married in Tuscany

• Why do we need to rent the whole place? Because it would not be fair to rent apartments to other people while your wedding party is here, and we can't afford to leave space empty.
• Why do you charge a 'hosting cost' for weddings in addition to the rental? Because weddings are a huge amount of additional work for us over and above our normal duties as hosts. Don't get me wrong - we do love weddings. But we can't do very many of them because they are so exhausting, both mentally and physically. Trust me - we earn that fee several times over.
• Is it much harder getting married in Italy than at home? It depends where home is and your nationality. For example, it's relatively straight-forward to get married in Italy if you're European, but slightly more complicated if you are from the USA or Canada. But even then, the Italians have made things relatively easy for most groups, so don't be put off by the paperwork. It's a few hours extra work at most. 
• Will it be much more expensive that the same wedding at home? Of course, that depends on the wedding, but generally speaking, the answer is "no". Assuming your guests pay for their travel and accommodation, then it is hard to imagine a wedding in more beautiful surroundings, with such great food, for any money, never mind a budget of around €6k.
• How far in advance do I need to book...how late can I leave it? You only need to leave around 3 months from the time you decide to get married to the wedding itself. We've organised and held lovely weddings here on just such timescales. But we generally take bookings around 12-18 months in advance. So I would say you should try and get your venue and accommodation sorted out around 1 year in advance. If in doubt, drop us a line.
• What about other stuff...like flowers? We have lots of local contacts we can put you in touch with, or if you'd prefer someone else to look after it all we have a couple of good planners who would be happy to do all the organisation on your behalf. If it's something straight forward, we may be able to help you. We will charge amark-up on all outside services we buy in for you. This pays for our time. Or we can charge you an hourly rate for additional planning services. It's up to you.

Podere Patrignone
Castellina in Chianti

+39 331 733 8442
email Patrignone

All words and images ©Podere Patrignone 2009