Three days under the golden Italian sun, three days in the company of your dearest, three wonderful days of enjoying, celebrating and creating the most beautiful memories of a lifetime – this was Festival Dell’Amore. Our wonderful couple Jane and Paul tied the knot after 17 years together, between the rolling hills and vineyards of Tuscany. It was a wedding in Italy that carried both deep meaning and pure joy of life.

Everyone was welcomed by two fairy-tale-like venues, Villa la Selva and Villa Nemora. Located right next to each other – you could even say attached – these venues both offered an authentic Italian atmosphere, yet each radiated its own unique feeling. Villa Nemora, with its rustic charm and authenticity, hosted the preparty, and Villa la Selva became the main venue for the following two days – the ceremony, the evening celebration, and finally, the pool party on the last day.

The couple remembers the wedding as a truly personal and special festival: “Our wedding in Italy wasn’t just a wedding party, it was a festival – Festival Dell’Amore. It was hard to leave that bubble of happiness. But as American writer Dr. Seuss once said: ‘Don’t cry because it’s over – smile because it happened.’” The following paragraphs share the couple’s memories and thoughts about their wedding and the planning process.

Favourite moments from the wedding

It’s quite hard to name just one most moving moment from the wedding. Our entire wedding in Italy felt like a film composed of moving and emotional scenes:
The arrival and welcome dinner;
The wedding day in all its glory – the morning preparations, three hours of hair and makeup, the first look with Paul and our children, the ceremony guided by the caring hand of local celebrant Giuliano, the beautiful video and photo session in the vineyards, the deliciously uplifting dinner, touching speeches, the making and cutting of the wedding cake, and the dance party that lasted into the late hours;
The afterparty that began with a visit to one of Europe’s biggest polo clubs and ended with a proper BBQ and pool party – life like in a movie or book.

Of course, the most moving thing was that our family and friends made the time and came to our festival of love. It would’ve been quite sad if all this joy we had planned couldn’t be shared with anyone. If someone asked me what I would do differently when planning a wedding today, my honest answer would be: “Nothing.”

Why was Italy chosen as the wedding destination?

Estonia is very dear to us, and at first we considered having the wedding here. We have a country home with special meaning on the shore of Lake Agali in Tartu County, where Paul’s parents got married 38 years ago. But for the kind of festival we envisioned, it would’ve been a bit too small.

That was the reason we started thinking about going abroad. Another reason was that we wanted to take people out of their everyday lives – to create a real festival vibe and avoid the temptation of going home the next day. We definitely wanted a multi-day wedding and considered various Southern European countries.

We both love the elegance of Southern France, the kind-hearted people of Portugal, and the food and wine culture of Italy. In the end, the decisive factor was a keyword around which we thematically built our wedding – rustic elegance. Southern France wasn’t rustic enough and Portugal not quite elegant enough. One important criterion in choosing the wedding venue was accessibility – how easily one could travel from Estonia to the venue.

Key elements of your wedding

In the planning process, some elements were more important to us than others. One very important component – stemming from the festival vibe – was music. There had to be music every day, and it had to be good. We wanted a bit of local Italian sound and also to bring in a proper banger from Estonia, fit for a festival. Since I value a good party and good DJ skills, I was beyond happy that my absolute favourite Estonian DJ could join us.

Planner’s note: It’s always a joy to see the different elements that matter most to each couple, and for Jane and Paul, these were definitely music and food. So, based on their lovely wishes, NOËP and DJ Sander Mölder travelled with us to Italy – definitely a great combo, who made the pool party evening flow with only good vibes. This kind of multi-day and thoughtfully curated wedding in Italy is a perfect example of the value that comes from great teamwork and attention to the couple’s wishes.

On the wedding night, guests danced to well-known indie and pop tunes performed by the band Hopeless Wanderers. A truly cool Italian group whose music had the guests dancing in a circle and moving in sync – an incredibly warm and joyful evening. The following day’s pool party was kicked off by an authentic Italian folk band, who created that true feeling of being in Italy with their rhythmic Italian-language songs. A big thank you to musicaevento!

Why did you involve a wedding planner?

The help of the wedding planners was extremely important in every stage. We can’t emphasise that enough. Paul and I really appreciated that the whole Celebrate Group team involved in the wedding, came with us a few months before the big day to see everything on site. I think the planning took a bit longer at first because we had to get to know each other. While Paul and I usually understand each other pretty well – 17 years of life and experience together – we sometimes struggled to translate our vision to the planners.

In the end, nothing important got lost in translation. I might have been an unusual bride in that table decorations and flower arrangements weren’t a big priority for me. Some other things were more important – like good music and location. In this area, our wedding planner Merily was an amazing support – she helped make decisions easier and, in the end, our wedding décor turned out magical and perfectly aligned with our vision of rustic elegance. The true cherry on top were the chandeliers – putting them up turned out to be more of a challenge than expected, but the end result was worth the effort.

I think we had a super team when it came to planning. Me – the dreamer, Paul – the realist, Celebrate Group – diplomatically in between, trying to fit dreams into realistic timelines, spaces, and budgets.

We are truly grateful to the Tuscan sun, the kindness of the Italians, and the party spirit of the Estonians. Thank you Merily, Taago, Kirke, Meelis, Alex, Siiri, Mihkel, Antonella, Silvia, Giuliano, Villa La Selva and Villa Nemora. You gifted us with an amazing festival of love – You Are Simply the Best.

If you’re also considering planning a wedding in Italy, we recommend reading our blog post about Italian weddings!

You can also get inspired by Lii and Marko’s wedding, which took place in Sorrento!