Your Tuscan Love Story

Choose a region and a villa, decide on the legal route (a civil ceremony at the town hall or, at a licensed property, at the villa itself), engage a local wedding planner, assemble the suppliers, and arrange guest travel and accommodation. A British couple typically starts the legal paperwork four to six months ahead and books a peak-season venue 12-18 months ahead.

For a party of 60-80 guests, most UK couples spend between £45,000 and £75,000 all in, and US couples between $55,000 and $110,000. The venue is the biggest single line — usually 25-45% of the total, climbing higher at castle and prestige-estate venues. Italian VAT at 22% applies to nearly every supplier. An elopement or very small wedding costs considerably less.

Only at villas licensed for civil ceremonies by the local comune — a smaller subset of properties. Otherwise the legally binding ceremony takes place at the town hall and the villa hosts a symbolic ceremony. Many couples do a short legal ceremony at the town hall a day or two before, then the symbolic ceremony at the villa.

May, June and September are the strongest months — warm but not unbearably hot, low rain risk, and the landscape at its most photogenic. July and August are hotter, often above 35°C in the afternoon. April and October are cheaper and quieter but less reliable on weather.

Most wedding villas sleep 14-30 in the main property — the closest family and bridal party — and host receptions of 80-150 guests across terraces, gardens and indoor dining rooms, with the largest estates accommodating 200 or more. Guests beyond the villa's sleeping capacity stay in nearby hotels.