Pienza Wedding

RICHARD CONTI & CATHLEEN BURTON

Civil Wedding in Pienza

Thanks for the message. Of course we loved every minute of our stay in Italy, and thanks for your help in making our Pienza wedding all come true.

Our accommodations in each area were beautiful. Of course Florence is Florence and we spent our jet lagged time buying leather and gifts, dodging the motor bikes, visiting cathedrals and churches.

Pardini's Hermitage on Isola del Giglio was a highlight. The food and surroundings were lovely. We got a lot of exercise hiking the hundreds of stone steps, playing bocce, painting the distant mountains with water colors, and swimming in our own private rocky alcove. Best of all were the people; we made several new friends including some royalty and a vineyard owner. Ghigio cracked several bottles our champagne in honor of our impending marriage, and we danced the nights away. Of course it was very, very hot so we will definitely return in the Spring or Autumn.

The food wherever we went was spectacular. Rick is a true "foodie," and he was in heaven! We had one of our best meals ever in the harbor of St. Stephano waiting for the ferry at a place called The Place. We ordered the special fish of the day but what we received was a six course feast including six of the finest fish dishes that we have ever had, followed by a most delicious and salty arugula salad and sherbert for dessert! We felt like it was Christmas Eve!! Then in the castle town outside of the Harbor del Giglio we had a terrific meat and meat and meat lunch that could not be beat. And, of course, the wine wherever we went was lovely and inexpensive.

The monastery at Santa Anna was another highlight, and we'd recommend it to any of your more adventurous clientele. The room was atmospheric and austere, but the views!!! Our room was on the second floor in the corner and we had two windows overlooking the sun kissed Tuscan hillside dotted with villages, cypress trees, and multi-colored farm fields. We ran back and forth between the romantically shuttered windows trying to decide which was the most impressive view. We never could decide! From this base we explored the countryside by car including Orvieto, Bagno de Vignoni, and many churches and chapels which we especially enjoyed. Next time we'll visit or stay at the Conti vineyard (since that's now my last name too!)

Finally we arrived at Il Chiostro di Pienza which did not disappoint. The garden courtyard is especially lovely and also has amazing views of the valley beyond; we never did tire of those incredible views. The only detail that I would change here in the future would be the room location. We were on the inside courtyard and the sun beat down intensely in the early evenings when we would be trying to nap or getting ready for the evening dinner. Even so it was more than worth it being right in the center of this beautiful village. We loved Pienza and are grateful to you for helping us arrange our wedding here. Sylvia did a great job with my manicure, and she did my eyebrows too, which was a relief since I am blind without my glasses and I was very tired by this time in our travels. The assistant Mayor was adorable in his goatee and sash. I had my picture taken flanked by Rick and the Mayor. The Mayor said I had two bodyguards! The photographer and translator were great sports and even helped us take pictures at a small chapel that we found on the way to the monastery of Santa Anna. Well, we saw it from the road to Santa Anna but didn't know how to get to it; how hard could it be?? So we all had another adventure trying to find our way to this chapel. In the end the gate was closed for the afternoon, so WE WALKED the dusty trail to the site. It was A VERY LONG TRAIL, but it was a dream to have our photograph taken there. Rick really had his heart set and who could disagree with such a romantic idea??

We spent our final day at Chiusi looking at Etruscian artifacts, and had another great meal at the Giardino again overlooking the spectacular countryside. All in all a perfect launching for our new life together as marriage partners.

Rick and I have already agreed that we could and would recommend your firm to anyone interested in getting married in Italy. Your guidance with the paperwork and your agents "on the street" were invaluable to us. We never could have done it without you.

Again, thank you all for making our dream come true.

Warmest regards,

Rick and Cathy

MICHELE MEKJIAN & JULIAN SCOTT

Pienza Wedding in Tuscany

COORDINATORS

The wedding coordinators at Italian Destination Weddings were both great! I can't say enough good things about them. Both were professional, helpful and wonderful to work with.

The wedding assistant in Pienza did a great job translating the ceremony and gave a wonderful talk about Pienza that everyone really enjoyed.

TOWN HALL & CEREMONY

The town hall was beautiful. I keep looking at the photos and thinking how lucky I am to be married in such a beautiful place.

The ceremony was also wonderful, and very unlike any wedding ceremony that I have been to in the past. The vice-mayor and the wedding assistant both did an excellent job and gave very interesting and thoughtful speeches.

THE RESTAURANTS

This was absolutely one of my favorite parts of the wedding. At "Buca delle fate" restaurant we had the best meal that we had in the three weeks we were away. There was so much delicious food and they kept feeding us until we couldn't eat any more!

Everything else was absolutely perfect. The service and the food were both exceptional.

The night before the wedding we had a family dinner at Dal Falco, which was also wonderful, although I am glad that I chose Buca delle Fate for the reception because that was the best meal I have had in as long as I can remember!

PHOTOS

I received the pictures today and they are just beautiful! I can't believe what a good job the photographer did. I am so excited to send the photos to our family and all the wedding guests. I can't tell you how happy I am about the quality and the beauty of the photos.

BOUQUETS

The bouquets and boutonnières were beautiful!

HOTEL

The hotel was very nice. The owners were helpful. The hotel was pleasant and enjoyable.

I would be happy for you to use me as a reference and I will tell everyone what a terrific wedding I had!

Thank you again for everything. You really did an exceptional job and I think that I had the best wedding that I could have imagined!

Warm Regards,

Michele and Julian.

KATHY & MORGAN LEHTO

Pienza Civil Wedding

We just got back into the country on Thursday the 13th and have just today started back to work and replying to our mail.

The wedding was incredible, it was more than we imagined it to be. The views of the countryside from Pienza seemed to go on forever. Everyone was so incredible to us, from the hotel staff to the interpreter and photographer and the staff at the restaurant. We had some time to shop around in between the ceremony and the dinner and we were inundated with good wishes from the towns people everywhere we went. The town was so friendly and I was even able to meet and thank the florist who had made my bouquet (which by the way was incredibly beautiful).

The restaurant was very gracious and even though the times were confused they thought that we should wait until dinner when they could give us the dinner intended, so we walked went back to the hotel to ask if they knew of any place we could get a small lunch to hold us over. To our surprise the hotel opened up their restaurant for us and served us a 4 course meal! It was very nice because we knew that the staff were on their break and the waiter and the cooked stayed to feed us.

When we did go to the restaurant we were glad we waited until dinner because everything was as beautiful to see as it was to eat. The food and wine seemed to go on forever and everyone had a glorious time. The waiting staff was so lovely and treated us like kings and queens. We felt very spoiled.

They even brought a bouquet of white roses for us that I was able to give to a young single girl the next day who hoped to be married soon.

Thank you so much for helping us choose Pienza, it was just the right size for us and it overflowed with beauty and romanticism. We had no idea how romantic it was until we saw the names of the streets (the street of love and the street of kisses).

The photographer was so fun and he worked very hard to make sure we had every picture one could possibly take in Pienza.

We look forward to seeing the pictures and I'm sure you will let us know when we should be expecting the proofs. We are so excited to see the pictures. I also wanted to know if you could give me the name and address of the man who interpreted for us. After all the the excitement I was able to personally thank and give something extra to the photographer and the guitarist, but I left out the interpreter. I would appreciate it. Again I can't thank you enough for all your help these past months, you have done a wonderful job and left us with memories we will take with us forever.

Hope to hear from you soon,

Kathy and Morgan Lehto

VICKI & CRAIG GIACOBBO

Wedding in Pienza

Thought I'd send you a quick note thanking you for all you did for us and our wedding, everything was perfect!!

Craig & I really didn't know what to expect for our wedding day and I don't think either of us thought it would be as perfect as it was. The day went smoothly right from the start, Sylvio and James arrived at our farmhouse ahead of schedule because they did not know where we were staying and didn't want to be late.

Both of these gentlemen were wonderful and were nice enough to give us a little history lesson on the region during our drive to Pienza. Thanks to Silvio our day was without confusion as he handled the paperwork and directed us smoothly throughout the day.

James picked beautiful music for us and it was breathtaking to listen to him. These two men really complemented our already perfect day and we hope you continue to use these gentlemen for future weddings.

Pienza was so very charming, we all loved it. People were very friendly there, for example, we took our photos before the wedding outside in the piazza and people began to gather and started taking photos of us as well! On our way to Dal Falco people stopped us and congratulated us. It really was a wonderful town and we're very glad we chose it.

Another great surprise was being married by the mayor. Our family kept asking us who was marrying us and we never knew what to tell them because we never even knew so it was a wonderful surprise when the mayor walked in the room. Dal Falco was amazing. The atmosphere, service and food left a lasting memory for all of us, it was three hours of delicious food on a perfect day in the perfect town.

Everyone raved about the restaurant and we are still talking about it to this day!

San Gregorio was charming and very convenient as it was so close to Dal Falco. We completely enjoyed our stay there and would like to thank you for the beautiful flower arrangement. Speaking of flowers my bouquet was perfect like everything else, I only wish I could have dried it and taken it home with me for memory's sake.

.... We can't thank you and your staff enough for making our day unique and stress free. Craig and I didn't experience the typical wedding stress that we hear about from others, it was literally a stress-free day and wedding as a whole. We had the time of ours lives and would love to recommend you to others wishing to marry in Italy. Our entire trip was fabulous, Tuscany is so beautiful!!

Thanks again!!!

Vicki Giacobbo

THOMAS & RHONDA CLINTON

Wedding in Pienza

We had a fantastic time in Italy and our wedding day was extra special. Pienza was such a beautiful town, and the people were so warm and friendly. Actually we visited San Gimignano the day before and found it to be too touristy, so we were pleased that we couldn't schedule that location. Our meal was wonderful also. Thanks for helping us to make our day memorable. By the way, we are making our plans for a 10th of maybe 5th anniversary in Pienza and the beautiful Tuscany countryside.

Can't wait!

LAUREN SIEMER & MICHAEL RIZZO

Civil Wedding in Pienza and Honeymoon in Italy

THE GROOM

I am sure that Lauren will send you a detailed letter about our trip... I will keep it brief from my perspective. Everything was wonderful. Thank you for all of your help in pulling it together.

Michael Rizzo

THE BRIDE

I hope you are doing well, and that your Christmas and New Year was full of fun and happiness. It was so nice to finally get to meet you in Venice... It seems like a million years ago! We just got our pictures yesterday, and to see the photo of you with us in Venice was very nice and brought back a lot of good memories.

Thanks SO very much for all your help with the wedding and the entire trip!

Everything was just wonderful... I can't imagine a better way to get married and honeymoon! I will sit down in the next week or so and write a nice e-mail about the trip and your services, so you will know how pleased we were with your help and with your company!

It's funny to be back home -- I started classes last week and work is very busy for Michael, so it was a bit of a shock at first but we're settling in all right. Looking at the pictures last night was wonderful... I will scan a few of them and send them to you so you can see too!

Thanks again, and I WILL write a recommendation e-mail for you to use however you see fit -- it might take me a week or two to get to it, but I will be very happy to do it.

Best wishes,

Lauren Rizzo (!)

After having received the photos...

Wanted to let you know that we got our album and it took our breath away. I cannot describe to you what a delightful surprise it was. The quality is everything I could have hoped for and the picture even made me look good which is a very difficult task!!!:):):) Lauren and I will treasure this album for the rest of our lives.

I hope everything is going well with you. I can't tell you how much we miss Italy. Thank you so much for all you have done for us. You are wonderful.

Michael Rizzo

Mrs and Mr Rizzo wrote as recommendation:

We are writing to let you know how completely satisfied and delighted we were with our wedding in Pienza last December! Everything was wonderful - the wedding and our entire trip was even better than we had dared to hope, and if we had the chance, we'd do it all over again!

We were a bit tentative at first to be organizing our wedding over the internet... It seemed like a big risk, and we weren't sure. But you were both so attentive to all of our questions and put so much time into helping us that we soon realized no one who was trying to 'scam' us would have the patience! We were also a bit worried about how everything would turn out... would the real thing be as wonderful as you were telling us? Well, it certainly was! We had you plan a large portion of our trip for us, and we were pleased with everything -- each town, each hotel, each tour guide -- and would recommend them without hesitation.

Finally, we must tell you how much we loved Pienza, where we were married. We wanted to be someplace intimate and romantic, and surely there is no town anywhere more intimate and romantic than Pienza! Our ceremony was very sweet, and we even received an official picture of the town. Our dinner was amazing... we are STILL telling our friends about it. The people of Pienza were extremely friendly and helpful -- the town is so small we saw just about everyone involved in our wedding the next day around town. Finally, our pictures (which arrived here at our home just a few weeks after we got back!) are absolutely beautiful!!! They are exactly what we wanted... again, better than we'd hoped for!

It was a fairy tale wedding, and perfect in every way. We can't recommend World Weddings service highly enough -- and if every consultant is as kind, patient, helpful, and sweet as the one we had (who travelled almost four hours on the train one day just to meet us!), every couple who has ever planned their wedding through you must be just as happy as we are.

Our very best regards,

Lauren and Michael Rizzo

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