Please will you also pass on our thanks to Vittoria who was brilliant during our time in Italy.

Very best wishes

Nikki and Leon Llewellyn-Richards

Dear Rosa,

I'm very sorry for not emailing you sooner - I had to fly off to the US for a business trip almost as soon as Eoin and I returned from Italy (down to Earth with a bump - Eoin says he is an abandoned husband!)

We wanted to write and thank you for your fantastic efforts in helping to organise our wedding in Bellagio. Despite the rather last minute arrival of my paperwork (thanks to the FCO) everything went off exactly according to plan and it really was the most perfect day. The flowers were lovely; the translator, Mayor and other officials were all just so kind and friendly; and the weather was perfect (unlike the next day when it poured with rain!). Everything went so smoothly and we really were so glad that we decided to employ your help in organising things. We really wouldn't have had a hope in managing it on our own! I'm sorry for being a bit of a stress queen in the preceding few days - thanks for putting up with me and for calming me down when needed!

We don't have contact details for the translator and officials at the Municipio but would be tremendously grateful if you could also extend our thanks to them. The gifts of flowers and the beautiful book of old Bellagio prints were so thoughtful and unexpected - the book especially is a lovely memento of our stay in Bellagio.

I believe I now need to send you a copy of the wedding certificate is that right? I'll try and remember to scan and email it this evening.

Thanks again for everything - we really are so grateful! (I'm attaching a few photos.)

All the best,

Susan and Eoin. (Married at the Town Hall in Bellagio)

Hi Rosa, We are back from sunny Italy with fond memories of our wedding at the Villa. When we started planning our wedding a year ago we knew that it would be a special day for us both. Special it was, and exceeded any expectations we had.

The Villa is a truly wonderful place, steeped in history and in an amazing setting. It has to be seen to be believed. As soon as we arrived at the Villa we were sure that we had made the right decision. The staff are fantastic, a real asset to the place. They made us and all of our guests feel really welcome. They helped to make the wedding and the rest of our stay a memorable one. We really cannot fault anything about the day.

The minister was great as was the service. Flowers beautiful, hair and make up well worth it, food amazing. Even the evening entertainment was great and had everyone up dancing. The only downfall was the weather. It rained in the morning! Therefore everything was held inside as recommended by Roberto. What a superstar he was. This just leaves us to thank you and all of the Weddings Made in Italy staff for all of your hard work and planning to create a really wonderful day. People haven't stopped talking about it.

I would definitely recommend you to anyone planning to take the plunge in a truly romantic country.

Thanks once again Kindest regards Mark and Nicola

I just wanted to e-mail you for when you got back to say a really massive thank you from Duncan and I for helping to organise such a wonderful wedding for us. We were truly overwhelmed by how beautiful Cortona is and how amazing the Town Hall was for our ceremony and the our wedding photos! The ceremony itself was perfect, the vows were really special and it was so nice to have our family and friends seated around us, rather than behind us, to truly share in the occasion.Our interpreter, Janet, was very good too - she even joined some of our family and friends and cried during the ceremony!

And not to forget the truly lovely setting of the restaurant for our wedding reception. The prosecco reception was lovely, and the food during the meal was superb (and plentiful!) and the wines were excellent too. The service and atmosphere were also second to none.

I would also like to say what excellent and attentive service we received from Denjs and Paula while we were in Cortona. We felt that, like you, they were well and truly on our wavelength and all of the additional things they organised for us were excellent, including our drinks reception in town the night before our wedding, and the fab pizzeria that all of our guests enjoyed and went back to several times!

Please pass on our very warm thanks to them for all they did, and for the wonderful gift of the tea set, we love it!

The hotel was excellent too - great rooms and lovely staff, and the views from the breakfast room were amazing! It met all of our requirements and the location was perfect.

I can honestly say that the whole experience was even better that we had hoped it would be, and we fell in love with Tuscany entirely! So thank you so much for all of your hard work and commitment in making our day so special and memorable, not only for us, but for all of our guests who have all said that they thought it was incredible. We all had a brilliant time, and for Duncan and I, it was the best start we could have had to the rest of our lives together.

So thank you to you and all of your colleagues once again for the care and attention we have received. We would certainly recommend you to anyone who was thinking of getting married in Italy.

Warmest regards Belinda and Duncan Laurance

What was the weather like? On the day of the wedding it was beautiful. The sun was shining, there was a slight cloud in the sky, which meant that the conditions were perfect for getting married as it was not too hot and unbearable. The temperature was about 21 degrees – perfect!

How and where did you meet? We met while out with our friends in Glasgow. We started talking and hit it off straight away.

When and how did you start looking for a wedding venue? We knew that we wanted to get married abroad. As soon as we went to Tuscany we knew this was the place for us. The countryside was stunning. It had lots of beautiful hills and the views were breathtaking. Once we had decided that Tuscany was the location, we than had to start to look for a venue! We knew that if we tried to do it alone, we could be looking forever as we did not have the expertise. This is when we decided that the best thing for us to do was to get in contact with a wedding planner who specialised in Italian weddings.

Why did you choose this venue? We decided to arrange our wedding with Weddings Made in Italy as wedding magazines had recommended them. I got in touch with Rosa the wedding planner, who was amazing and so professional from the very first enquiry I made. Rosa asked us some questions to get a feel of what we were looking for. She knew we wanted to get married in Tuscany, in the countryside. After this she sent us photographs and information for about 20 different venues in Tuscany. The villa stood out. The villa is just 25 minutes from Florence, it is an unspoiled setting steeped in history and surrounded by greenery. It was built as a monastery in the 13th century, and was extended in the 18th century into a magnificent villa. The tranquillity of the cloisters, the large outdoor swimming pool, the green of the centuries old park, all contribute to make the villa a most unique Hotel. This is the ideal place to relax and get married, surrounded by nature and by history. This is why it stole our hearts immediately.

Although we had seen photographs of the venue, its always much better to visit the location to get a real life feel for the place. Along with my mum and dad we decided to go to the Villa before we confirmed this as our venue. Rosa arranged this for us as well as organising us to meet with the hotel manager who showed us around the rooms, the grounds and he also discussed the possibilities on offer.

How did you plan your wedding? Planning a wedding can be a very stressful time. Because we had Rosa the stress and strains were lifted from our shoulders. Rosa organised practically everything. We advised Rosa as to what we wanted and she made it happen. She booked the venue, the Minister, the reception, the band, the flowers, the cake – even the gifts for the mothers! All we had to do was organise the outfits and turn up!

We wanted the style of our wedding to be elegant. It was designed around the features of my dress. We used organza, silk and crystals on our stationery, favours and table displays.

Describe your bouquet, the bridesmaids’ flowers, groom’s buttonhole and the flowers at the venue. I wanted my bouquet to be very simple, but elegant at the same time. I chose a hand tied bouquet of white roses held together with a white ribbon. The men all wore a single white rose, the same as my bouquet. The bridesmaids had a hand tied bouquet of raspberry coloured gerberas, In the cloisters where we had our ceremony, we had a display of gerberas and white roses on the altar. On the reception tables we had 3 gerberas in a tall thin glass with bear grass and foliage.

How did the bride arrive? As I was already in the Villa where the ceremony was to be held, I did not need any transport. My entrance to the cloisters was very striking. I arrived at the ceremony via a grand staircase with sparkling chandeliers and could hear the violinist playing some beautiful background music.

What did the bride wear? My dress was designed by Maggie Sottero. When I tried it on, I fell in love with it. I knew this was the one for me. My dress was diamond white in colour. It had an encrusted Swarovski crystal bodice, organza skirt with an asymmetrical cascading layered sash. It also had a strapless corset and a sweep train. This was also embellished with Swarovski crystals, bugle beads, seed beads and silver Swarovski crystals. My tiara, veil and jewellery also matched my dress as they too were covered in Swarovski crystals. I wore Benjamin Adams white duchesse silk shoes with a small buckle encrusted in crystals also.

What did the groom wear? As we are from Scotland, the men decided to wear our traditional dress – the kilt. Zenon, his Best Man Mark and our Ring Bearer Matthew all wore black tartan with the Argyll jacket and waistcoat. They had silk ivory cravats on that matched the colour of my bouquet and their buttonhole flower.

What attendants did you have and what did they wear? I had four attendants. My best friend Patricia was my Matron of Honour and my three cousins Elaine, Stephanie and Siobhan were my bridesmaids. I also had a flower girl, Niamh who is Patricia’s daughter. I chose raspberry as my colour theme. The dresses were designed by Hilary Morgan. They were gathered at the side with beads and crystals and were made from layers of chiffon. My Matron of Honour had a bolero to match her dress.

How many guests attended? 35 of our family and friends came over to Italy with us. Everyone stayed for 5 days at the villa. So as well as a wedding it was like a big holiday for us all.

Describe the ceremony. Were there any particularly memorable moments? The ceremony was very emotional. Our ceremony was held in the cloisters of the Villa. It was a small courtyard in the centre of the villa, perfect for a wedding. The ceremony was set up with rows of ivory covered chairs with large bows to the back. There was a red carpet down the aisle with the altar at the top which was covered with a white cloth and some beautiful raspberry and white roses and gerberas. We had a violinist playing a selection of our favourite hymns. As soon as I started walking down the aisle with my dad I could feel by heart beating as hard as it could. When I met Zenon at the altar, we both had a fit of the giggles, it must have been our nerves. Our Minister, Claudio was friendly and welcoming. He conducted the ceremony in English, but we had to have an interpreter present as a legal requirement. Simon was great . He came to the town hall with us also when we were registering our marriage. The most memorable thing for me during the ceremony was the readings and the prayers. We had chosen members of our family to do these. The prayers were a nice touch as they were read out from their seats behind us. It was nice to hear all the voices echoing through the cloisters.

How did you get to the reception venue? The reception was in the Villa the same as the ceremony. Describe the reception - how was the setting decorated, did you have a theme? We started our reception off with drinks and canapés on the terrace. The terrace looked over the rolling hills and the gardens of the villa. After this at about 7.30p.m we had a wonderful feast of Italian food in the garden of the villa. We had a top table for the wedding party and then all the guests were seated at circular tables. The sun was setting and there were large candles surrounding us.

What did you eat and drink at the reception? We had 5 courses of delicious Italian food. We started off with home made ravioli filled with ricotta cheese in a tomato and basil sauce. This was followed by home made noodles with guinea fowl flavoured with rosemary, beef entrecote in a red wine sauce, turkey with bacon, flavoured with mint. The ‘secondi’ was served with roasted potatoes and a spinach flan. We finished the meal off with a refreshing composition of fresh fruit.

Describe your cake. Who made it? Our wedding cake was amazing. We wanted to keep the tradition of having a Tuscan wedding cake. Our cake was a traditional Tuscan mille feuille wedding cake. It was made from layers of puff pastry filled with fresh cream. It tasted amazing. The cake was in three layers and decorated with the same flowers as the bouquets. It took two of the waiting staff to carry it to our table as it was such a delicate cake. They managed to do it without it breaking up into pieces! The wedding cake was served inside while we were dancing to the band. We shared our cake with other guests at the villa who were also enjoying the band.

What did you dance to? The jazz band Rosa hired for the wedding were fantastic. They learned some songs for us that we had requested before the wedding and even played longer than they had been asked too! For our first dance we wanted something that incorporated Italy and love and was fun too. We decided to choose “That’s Amore” by Dean Martin, it was great. Everyone was singing along and this was a terrific song to get the dancing off to a great start.

What time did the reception end? The reception ended at about 1.30a.m. Where did you spend the first night? We stayed at the Villa where the staff had put a bottle of champagne and a bowl of fruit in our room, an extra special touch.

Where did you go on honeymoon? After all of our family and friends left Italy. We went to Sorrento for our honeymoon. This was so romantic. Our hotel looked over the sea and our suite had a huge balcony with a Jacuzzi on it.

What was the most memorable moment from your wedding day? From the moment we woke up to the end of the day was just magical.. The whole day was so memorable, we will remember it for the rest of our lives.

What piece of advice would you give others planning a wedding? If you are getting married abroad then I definitely recommend a wedding planner as it makes your wedding day and lead up to it so much more enjoyable and so much more stress free.

Hi Rosa, we are back in the UK for a day before we fly out to Bali on our honeymoon, and just wanted to let you know what an amazing wedding day we had.

The Palazzo looked amazing (you were so right to suggest the extra candles, the citronella smelled gorgeous and it made the place look very enchanting), and everyone was completely taken aback by how beautiful it all was.

We were worried about the weather (it did rain at about 2pm!!!), but it turned out to be warm and dry for the wedding and the sunset we had in the evening was second to none - thanks for organising that for us!!!

The staff were great and Gerardina was superb, nothing was too much trouble and she ensured that everything went to plan and was excellently organised.

The Deputy mayor and translator looked very smart and professional and the ceremony itself was great. The musicians played beautifully and the courtyard looked amazing. The aperitivo went down very well (everyone commented on the food) and the meal was delicious. The tables looked really good and we loved the flower arrangements in the centre of the tables. Gerardina put some extra lanterns out on the trees which looked great.

The cake was delicious (actually I forgot to have any, but heard amazing comments from our guests) and the fireworks went down really really well. Filippo was great and everyone seemed to appreciate the bar and disco area.

So, all in we had a wonderful time, and we wanted to thank you very much for all of your help, we are very grateful and had a day that we are sure our friends and family will be talking about for months and hopefully years to come.

Everything went beautifully and we are now looking forward to relaxing on our honeymoon. So again, thank you very much for all your hard work.

Kind regards, Samantha and Ian Hovell

Hi Rosa, I was in the process of typing an email (when yours arrived).....I have the wedding thank yous on my list, but first wanted to thank you again! It is difficult to put into words our feelings, we were (& are) just so happy with everything. The wedding day, the honeymoon, everyone at the Villa, all the other suppliers.......how it all went......faultless. Everyone loved the location & our families are still talking about it!

In particular the Villa & the food.....as an example, well we gave them a list of the aperitifs we wanted after tasting, but need not have bothered, as all they all were available! The Italian laid back way is just soooooo much better than. I know for a fact in the UK, if we weren't sitting down at the designated time we would be asked to.......but at the Villa there was no pressure or anything......what more can we say?????

In Ravello we were seeing 1-2 weddings a day......tourists taking photos........it just made us realise the Villa was the perfect choice.

Please thank everyone on our behalf.

Re the honeymoon, the hotels were great, always very accommodating, nothing too much trouble, etc. We don't normally stay in such expensive places, certainly for such a period i.e. 3 weeks......but given it was our honeymoon we're glad we did. We are converts, we now have to work & save for the next time!

Indeed, everyone was great even the Naples transfer

Unfortunately we are now back to reality! Given I'm contracting; I'm a kept man currently, although Barbs has me busy with a long list of chores; as I said above the thank you's starts here! We are hoping the pictures will be arriving imminently, as we aim to produce a book & take to show everyone. We would also like to send a copy to the Villa, if Elena would like, as she had examples of weddings, & they would help her? If a copy would help you for future 'clients' then we can also send you a copy........maybe the photographers send you the disc directly, so you could take a copy yourself?

Anyway, everything was great - we would recommend you, the Villa, etc to anyone.......so if you ever need an endorsement, we are more than happy to help

Thanks again for everything.....absolutely memorable

Craig & Barbara

Our wedding day at the villa in Florence can only be described as beautiful!

Everything about our day was absolutely perfect and far beyond what we could have ever wished for for our special day.

The location of the hotel was absolutely outstanding, nestled on the hillside with a beautiful panoramic view of florence and its famous sights, the Duomo, Palazzo Vecchio and Ponte Vecchio. As you can see from the pictures the hotel was absolutely gorgeous. Once through the impressive gates, the grand drive leads you to the beautiful gardens and the villa itself where every time you are greeted and welcomed to the hotel by the chirpy and very courteous 'bell boys'. However it is not until you venture around to the back of the hotel that you realise this hotel really is amazing!!!

The terrace overlooking Florence is absolutely stunning!!!! It takes your breath away!! The location is very peaceful, a world away from the city, yet close enough to reach out and almost touch all of the beautiful sites. The hotel and its grounds are immaculately maintained and the decor of the hotel is very elaborate yet understated and contemporary.

veryone at the hotel was so friendly and kind and couldn't do enough to make us welcome throughout our stay. On our wedding day all of our guests were treated like royalty! Nothing was a problem and their every wish was accommodated. The standard of service from this hotel can only be described as outstanding. It is very polished and professional yet relaxed and very friendly. I could not recommend this hotel highly enough to anyone else looking for a wedding location. Its like all of your dreams come true at once!!

Absolutely magical!

The ceremony took place in the gardens at the front of the hotel. A stunning location in front of the villa with the fountain in the background. The area was set up perfectly with the flower stands and table at the front and elegant seating for our guests. Exactly as discussed with the hotel. My only criticism would be that at some time, possibly the evening before, the grass had been watered by the gardeners and I continually sunk into the grass. Everyone's shoes were very muddy and I found it quite difficult to balance and walk on the grass. Perhaps in future either don't water grass or create some kind of aisle with carpet.

The reception area was also beautiful. On the terrace outside of the restaurant. The table set up was as we had asked with our lovely flower centre piece. The hotel created name cards for all of our guests and we were all seated together on one lovely big table making it very easy to chat and socialise with all of our guests. Exactly as we had discussed with Carolina. The food could only be described as exquisite and the service as outstanding. The wine was beautiful, white was served with the starter and second course and red with the main meal. Finally very, very nice Spanish sherry was served with desert. Very impressive to the wine lovers!!! The hotel was also very happy to provide a beautiful omelette for my aunty who did not eat fish and provided the baby with french fries instead of his meal.

All of our 'extra' details were also wonderful and we really appreciate the planning and time you have taken to ensure everything was absolutely perfect for us.

Firstly the flowers. The florist personally delivered the bouquet to my room and asked me if I was happy with his work. He had produced the most beautiful bouquet, more beautiful than I could have ever have imagined. The roses were large cream roses, very fresh and crisp, tied with greenery and eucalyptus. He had added my ribbon in beautiful bows....exactly as i wanted. The table decoration and flower stands were equally as beautiful, again cream roses and greenery, very simple but beautiful. All flowers were kept chilled by the hotel and spritzed with water to keep them as fresh as possible. We were very pleased we had chosen the cream roses with green rather that introducing any colour to the occasion as they enhanced the ceremony and reception areas without detracting from the beauty of the location. Very simple and very elegant.

Hair and Make up. Both the hairdresser and make up artist were wonderful. I showed the hairdresser photographs of what I wanted my hair to look like and he copied it exactly. He took his time and asked if I liked my hair or did I want it changed in any way. If something was not perfect he was very happy to change it. I asked the make up artist to use some of my own colours e.g. foundation, eye shadow, bronzer - which she was very happy to do. She also took her time and the end result was perfect. Both were very pleasant and friendly despite the language barrier. On my wedding day both arrived on time and for the trial, an added bonus was the location of their shop...at the end of our hotel's street in florence. Perfect!

Violinist. A very attractive and well presented young lady. Her music was simply beautiful!! She began to play before the ceremony and continued until we sat down for our reception. Throughout the ceremony the minister prompted her which piece of music to be played at certain points and she played beautifully. Whilst everyone relaxed with drinks on the terrace, her music created a lovely, happy atmosphere and everyone commented how lovely the back ground music was. We were very happy with the music she had chosen to play and how long she played!

Photographer. Again excellent service! The photographer arrived at my room to take some pictures getting ready, he obviously took lots of pictures of the ceremony and after drinks we visited a couple of locations in Florence, Piazzale Michaelangelo and Ponte Vecchio. On our return to the villa he took pictures in the garden and on the balcony of our room. He was very relaxed knew exactly what shots he wanted and how to get them. He asked if there was any other photos we particularly wanted. He was a very pleasant man and very nice to work with!

Car. A beautiful Mercedes. What can you say about a car?? Picked up 2 groups of guests and brought them to the hotel in good time. Drove myself, Paul and the photographers to photo locations. Driver laughed and chatted to photographers about football rivalry between Siena and Florence. He was very charming and very courteous.

Wedding cake. An absolutely gorgeous cake, almost like custard inside with small chocolate chips. Beautifully presented on the table on the terrace, with cream roses as the simple decoration. Our waiter looking after us also presented cake beautifully to Paul and myself, adding two small roses to our plates. Followed with Adami Spumante, which I must say was a very pleasant drink!!

We were blessed with absolutely gorgeous weather all day and as we all relaxed on the terrace in the evening we were treated to a truly magical sunset which illuminated the sky and made the city glow vibrant terracotta. The perfect end to a perfect day!!

Dear Rosa,

We had a wonderful time! It was exactly as we had planned it, if not better. I enclose a couple of photos. Thank you so much for all your hard work and meticulous organisation. Alfred and the staff at the hotel and restaurant were also extremely helpful and welcoming. We were very sad to leave Certaldo at the end of it all, but I'm sure we'll be back - perhaps for our anniversary?! I think all our guests had a wonderful time too.

The food was also very good. Thank you again for a wonderful, truly magical wedding. We'd be very happy to provide references for future clients.

With very best wishes Emma

Dear Weddings Made in Italy

Although Jane has thanked our wedding planner Rosa over the telephone, we wanted to write to thank you for organising our wedding in Venice.

Everything went smoothly on the day and the wedding was even better than we hoped or expected. The venue was magnificent, both inside and the views of the Grand Canal and the Rialto Bridge from the balcony. Not many people have wedding photographs with demonstrating gondoliers blockading the grand canal in the background. Our No. 1 waterbus ride from the town hall to the restaurant was a memorable experience, for us, the tourists and local people!

Your translator was both very helpful and presented as very interested in ensuring we had a good day. She made the walk from the hotel to the Town Hall even more fun by translating the comments of local people as they saw our small party of six winding our way through the calles. Our thanks again for a wonderful wedding.

Steve Dobson & Jane Pagler

Dear Rosa,

We've arrived home now after an amazing two weeks in Italy. We are so depressed now that we are home as we had such a fab time. Well, what can I say, where do I start! thank you, thank you, thank you (or grazie as we're used to saying now!).

Everything was perfect. The hairdresser Marcello and his team were fantastic, they were friendly and were excellent hairdressers too, I would certainly reccomend them to anyone, in fact my aunt said that when she goes back to Florence she will get her hair styled at their shop!!! Simone was so nice also and was very professional, he even helped the photographer with his lighting! My cousin is a professional photographer and she was very impressed with the way the photographer worked, so you can pass on our compliments. The Minister was so nice also and his English was perfect, my guests commented on how gentle he was and how nice the ceremony location was, especially with the violinist and the stunning floral displays and bouquets. The hotel staff were all amazing too, Allesandro and Roberta were so kind and so helpful, and made us feel very special. The food was delicious and the band finished off the evening superbly.

Thanks again Rosa for making our day so fantastic. Weddings Made in Italy certainly is a company I will be recommending to anyone wanting to get married in Italy and have the wedding of their dreams! I have attached a couple of photos of our day for you to see while we are waiting on the official ones to come through. Thanks again Rosa, you have been wonderful.

With much thanks and happiness. Claire and Zenon Hubler xxx

Dear Rosa,

We got back on Tuesday evening and I went back to work Wednesday morning!!!!!!!!!! Well, a BIG THANK YOU to you it was everything we dreamed of and much much more!

Rosa it was perfect the flowers, the place, the people, our hair, the church the photos it was all perfect. We Thank You so much for making it a day we will most definitely remember for the rest of out life's. We had such a fab time and everything ran without one hic-up. The food was great we had loads and it was all yummy everyone enjoyed it. The wedding cake was the best cake we have ever tasted! The restaurant was set out perfectly we think this was down to Fanco's wife. Francesco the English speaking lad who picked us up on the Thursday before the wedding could of not been more helpful.

Honestly Rosa it was like something out of a fairytale we loved every minute and our guests did too.

Thank You so much and of you want to know anything else just ask.

Thank You soooooooooo much Love Rebecca and Geoff Aldridge!!

What a fantastic experience. Right from the outset you were kind and considerate and just answered all my questions and helped me with my dream wedding. Everyone said how wonderful it was, simple yet elegant and everything you recommended worked so well.

Thank you for everything. Carina....

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Hi Rosa

I just wanted to thank you for the truly amazing job you did with planning our wedding. Everything was completely perfect (including the weather - it was seriously hot!).

Everything from the moment we landed in Milan to the time we left ran smoothly and caused us no stresses at all, the arrangements were perfect. I couldn't believe that even the table arrangements were exactly how I'd had in planned in my head. Oh, and the flowers were stunning.

Laura was a star as well and made us feel very welcome and made sure the boys had their button holes on correctly etc. All of our guests said that it was a magical wedding and that is largely down to you.

I've attached one of the photos for you that my brother took outside the Town Hall. Speaking of photos, the photographer didn't speak any English but I think he was asking if he could put our photos on to his website, which we said was ok. Do you think you could find out what his website is so we can see them for ourselves?

He was a great photographer, even through the language barrier he still managed to get us to do what he wanted.

A huge thank you again. Best regards. Sarah & Matthew

(Got Married in the town hall close to Como and then had the reception at a castle)

Hi Rosa,

I would like to emphasize how wonderful everything was, the staff, the restaurant, the palazzo, absolutely everything. The restaurant was flawless. Dario looked as if he was conducting a military operation with his staff and no-one was without food or drink for even a minute! The food fantastic and the décor magical. I would highly recommend it.

The celebrant was very helpful and spoke English very well. He made us feel relaxed. The Palazzo was lovely and clean and you were brilliant.

Many thanks for everything.

Jayne & Benx

(Got Married in a Venetian palazzo and then had the reception on one of the islands)

What can I say, it was absolutely sheer perfection. Everything was fantastic, there is absolutely nothing I can fault, it was faultless. Thank you for making the day and also the whole planning stage just perfect.

Nick & Carley (Got Married in a Florentine castle)

In March 2009, this wedding was featured in Real Weddings in one of the many bridal magazines:

School sweethearts, Nick first noticed Carley when she got on the school bus. “Half way through my trip a pretty brunette girl always used to get on and sit down stairs away from the noisy 14 year old boys. After a while we meet at a party on a bouncy castle and we, or at least I, feel in love from that moment.”

Years later Nick surprised Carley with a romantic trip to Handon Manor, Hertfordshire, Essex. “I booked a suite at this amazing manor and invited our parents,” he reveals. “We booked a large table in the center of the main dinning room then, in the middle of the busy restaurant out of no where, I turned to Carley, got on one knee and proposed. The entire restaurant cheered and most of our table cried !

Talking about her initial wedding ideas Carley explains how she always wanted the perfect fairytale wedding. “I was in love with the idea of getting married in Italy, in a castle where the entire outset would be just breathtaking. I found finding the perfect place very frustrating at first as I knew what I wanted but just couldn’t find it. After countless Google searches I found ‘Weddings Made in Italy’ and the name said it all.”

With wedding planners Weddings Made in Italy on board, plans for the wedding began to get underway. “Rosa, our wedding planner at Weddings Made In Italy lined up several locations to look at, so we fly over to Italy one weekend and scouted,” says Carley. “We fell in love with the first place we viewed, it’s just beyond amazing, a very spiritual place.”

With the venue in place, the fairytale continued with the search the perfect wedding dress. “My dress was the most wonderful dress, I love it and hopefully one day I will have a daughter who can wear it,” enthuses Carley. “It was a combination of two dresses I had seen as I had loved the top of one and the bottom of the other so the wedding boutique combined the two pieces for me. I didn't know what the completed dress would be like but when I went to see it I cried and so did my mum and mother in law - it was spectacular. I looked like a princess and felt like one.”

Carley accessorised her dress with antique pearl earrings and necklace, a bracelet gofted to her from her mother-in-law on the morning of the wedding and a beautiful tiara featuring Swarvoski crystals to match her dress. “I also wore a cotton bracelet round my ankle which my little boy had bought for me in Florence the day before the wedding. That was my lucky charm.”

In true fairytale style Carley describes her wedding day as “breath taking and magical.” “We held our reception in the courtyard of the castle with candles on every table, in fact there were candles everywhere you looked, it was beautiful. For dinner we served carpaccio of beef, crepes Florentine, wild boar pasta and fillet steak. Our dessert was our wedding cake which was made in front of everybody. The food was truly amazing, topped only by the speeches which were very funny.”

This was followed by coffee and hot chocolate later in the evening served in another part of the castle which was open air and lit with candles. Entertainment was a local rat-pack style band. “We wanted to steer away from the disco wedding style and keep things a little more special,” explains Carley.

When asked for their highlights of the day Carley and Nick have a long list! “ My Dad and step-Dad singing together; our friend getting on the drums; our little boy presenting a crystal cushion to Nick with our names and date on it after he had walked down the aisle with my mum…the whole day was just amazing and the fact that it all happened against the backdrop of a magical castle completed the fairytale.” A special Thanks goes to Weddings Made In Italy and to Rosa who made it all possible.

I had to send you one of our official thank you cards to say one final thank you for everything you did to make our wedding so special. It really was perfect in every way and I can't believe how you managed to make the sun shine too.

I will send you some words for the web site and some more photos via email. I will definately recommend you to anyone who wants to get married in Italy .. it couldn't have been better.

Thank you so much.

Harriet & Andy XXX

(Got Married in the Amalfi Town Hall & the reception in the hotel restaurant)

Hello Rosa, Please find attached some photos of our special day. We still can't quite believe how well it all went. Thank you so much. I am sending you a link to the photos. Also, I have written some words about the days for other people who are thinking of doing the same. I hope this is helpful.

Our wedding in Amalfi, Italy was just magical. What a wonderful setting to get married. I cannot recommend it highly enough.

Everything went so well, right from the point that we decided on Italy for our wedding, everything went smoothly. I contacted Rosa and she was happy to give me a lot of different options. We went over to Italy for a weekend to decide on Amalfi as a location and also to decide on the restaurant for the reception. This I found very useful but it wasn't essential.

Most of the organising was done over email. Rosa developed an itinerary very early on and this was really useful as you could structure your thoughts and ask the right questions.

The week or so before the wedding had lots of emails going back and forth but mostly about the weather. Apart from a little bit of concern over whether it was going to rain, we really didn't have anything to stress about. Having Rosa doing the organising made it totally stress free. We were really pleased to have chosen Amalfi for our wedding due to the fact that we were having quite a lot of guests - around 70 in all.

The town has plenty of hotels with different price ranges and is also small enough to bump into everyone. We met everyone in the town square on the Friday night which was lovely. The hotel was a perfect setting and the hotel manager, Giovanni, is a delightful and kind man. We had a beautiful room with a wonderful view. It was a lovely place for us girls to get ready in the morning of the wedding.

The ceremony was lovely. The interpreter was a really lovely lady who put us at ease the whole way through. The vows were lovely. We had two readings which were a very nice addition to the formal bit of the ceremony. The lovely thing about the town hall is the balcony outside. Everyone gathered beforehand to wave to me as I arrived and we had some lovely photos there afterwards.

After the ceremony, we made our way to the Hotel and had drinks in the cloister. Fabulous strawberry bellinis! Then we moved into the restaurant. We had the far restaurant but I had asked for the wooden chairs to be brought in and this looked lovely. The view was almost as spectacular as the food. Wow! Every course was just superb. The cake was the only disappointment - not because it wasn't amazing, just that I only managed one bite as I was too busy talking.

After the meal, we wandered down to the Grand Cafe. The outside area was just big enough for everyone to fit in and sip prosecco, before we made our way indoors for some dancing. I don't think the locals knew what had hit them. Lots of strange English folk dancing foolishly!

On the Sunday, we had hired a boat for a 2 hour tour of the Amalfi coast. It blew all the cobwebs away and we thoroughly enjoyed it. It was a lovely chance to speak to everyone properly. The boat crew were really helpful and happy to be taking us out for a little celebration on the sea. It was a perfect way to end a perfect weekend.

We are very grateful to Rosa for all her hard work to make our wedding so special. We can't thank Weddings Made in Italy enough!

Andy & Harriet O'Regan

....On a momentary serious note, many thanks for making the stress of organising a wedding in Italy such a pleasure. You were a breath of fresh air and quite rightly we thought you were wonderful. On a less serious note, I have enclosed the CD of hen, stag and wedding as shown at the Irish reception (for your personal consumption) ! Hope looking at the pictures of people you do not know isn't too boring! keep in touch.

Love Brian & Ching P. Italy forever (after Ireland)!

......I don't think we could ever find the words to thank you enough for all the hard work you put into organising our wedding in Sorrento, it was all absolutely perfect and we could not have wished for a more perfect day in a magical setting. The palazzo was gorgeous and we can certainly say that Paola was fantastic at what she does and the attention to detail was superb. It is a stunning venue and I would recommend it to anyone. I feel rather sad knowing that I won't be emailing you again as I have done.

Thank you for putting up with me and always being so professional and also so caring. I wanted to send you flowers because I love receiving them myself but lots of people said you probably get loads, so we are enclosing a cheque just for you to buy something nice.. I hope that is OK!

We think you are wonderful... Thank you ever so much for everything.

All our love Kirsty & Andrew Hall XXX

My dearest Rosa and to your wonderful team,

we want to say a big big Thank You for helping us to organise the most memorable day of our lives, not only for us but for all our family and friends.

We cannot wait to see you and thank you personally when we come to collect our marriage certificate.

Love Michelle & Mark Thompson XX

(Got Married in the Duomo in Ravello with the reception in a private villa)

Michael and I just wanted to send you a wee note to thank you so much for all your help organising our Big Day !

We both had a wonderful day and have so many happy memories. We know that the day would not have gone so well without your advice, support and guidance every step of the way. Thank you for everything and here is a token of our gratitude.

Jennifer & Michael.

(Got Married in a small chapel in Positano and then off to the restaurant on the hill)

Got the e-mail ok Rosa. We got the paperwork through this morning (civil). Thanks alot for getting it sorted. Also we would like to say thanks for everything you done. You were great. The wedding meal was superb and the owner and his staff couldn't have been kinder. They just kept coming out with course after course and everyone here is still talking about how good the food was.

I strongly recommend you advise other couples to go there instead of the more expensive places down by the beach in Positano.

Thanks again for everything Michael Boyle

Dear Rosa,

I cannot even begin to describe how wonderful the wedding was that you arranged for us, from arriving at the spectacular villa after a hair rising drive up the dirt track to being overwhelmed by the stunning views - everything took our breath away.

The little chapel was just perfect, and Jo's service was the most beautiful and touching I've ever been to. When I noticed the harpist - well I was speechless, thank you so much for that - what a wonderful gift. After a glorious day of celebrations we chilled out and enjoyed the pool and the wine! We've just returned from a few days in Rome where we had a lovely time and cannot wait to return.

So thanks again for helping us to achieve our perfect day.

With our very best wishes.

(Got Married in a private villa in Tuscany)

To Anna & Rosa,

a note to say thank you for all you did for us. We had a fantastic day. Everyone had a great weekend.

Thank you.

Patricia & Jonathan Moore.

(Got Married in the Florence Town hall & Restaurant)

To the wonderful Rosa... It's such a shame our wedding is finally over as it means our relationship has now come to an untimely end, which truly makes me feel sad!

Keep doing what you are doing and making dreams come true! You are one in a million and I hope one day our paths will cross again. Maybe we'll renew our vows so we get to do it all over again.... and you thought you'd got rid of me ha ha !!!

(Got Married in a hotel garden in Positano)

Dearest Rosa,

I apologize for my few days of silence. We came back to Antigua yesterday and I am slowly trying to tie up all the loose ends. Before I get into the small details I would like to say a THOUSANDS THANK YOUS for all your help and for making this event possible. It has been a great success.

I just wish that you could have been there. Do you ever go to your weddings? I have never sent you an invitation but you know that you would have been absolutely welcome. The pictures will now be your way of participating and living back with us this very special moment that felt to us and all our guests as the most wonderful dream.

Dina

....then this was followed by a card:

Dearest Rosa, I cannot believe that over two months have already gone by, looking back at the pictures it all feels like a beautiful dream which will remain forever in our memories.

We would love to thank you very much indeed for all your help, patience and support and understanding of the stressful moments. Thank you for helping us to make it just the perfect day ... and now even all the trouble with the paperwork seems part of the fun.

With all our love.

Dina & Andrew PS We will send you as many clients as we can and not just this but I really hope that you will be able to help me in organising the exhibition. I really enjoyed working with you. Dina.

(Got Married in the a private luxury villa in Tuscany)

We are back & are happily Mr & Mrs! We had such a fantastic time and everybody was lovely. We fell in love with Positano and would highly recommend it to any one. Bernadetta was especially lovely and so was Peter Sellers! Having said that all the staff went out of their way to be wonderful. I do feel sorry for the piano player though because when I threw my bouquet it rolled down the cane roof and hit him on the head. He was very nice about it though and never stopped playing 'Here comes the bride'!!!!!!!!!!! I know you would have laughed.

Plus you probably know we went for the private garden area for the reception and I must say the 2 waiters were perfect, polite, lovely and would like you to send them on to us here please!!!......and the lady who served the luscious Rossini's, they never stopped and they never stopped smiling, we all loved them and thought they all worked so hard to make our day very, very special. The photo man took fantastic pictures and we can't wait to get the video, they said they would send it on. Once I've scanned a few pictures I'll e-mail some to you.

Love Lara Matthews! xxxxxxxxxxxx

Hello my little flower. We received the wedding video a couple of days ago and it was fantastic, both chaps were amazing at their jobs and I would highly recommend them and tell anyone who was getting married there to have it captured on both, it was worth every penny and Andy & I can now sit back in a more relaxed state of mind (not like on the day!) and relive it all again and pick up on things we didn't notice was going on around us at the time and we can hear what we actually committed ourselves too again!!!!

Take care Lara

Dear All THANK YOU, THANK YOU.... AND A MILLION MORE....What a truly wonderful day.

Amazing experience in the most beautiful place I have ever visited. Everything was perfect the flowers...the cake ..The cars. Everything was on time and as planned. Rosa Cantrella was a very lovely lady and a pleasure to meet.

The celebrant a very well spoken gentleman. I was thrilled with everything. The service was beautiful, I cannot tell you how special it all was. The Cathedral in Ravello was better then I ever dreamed..wow….What a place.

I loved the photographer he and his colleagues were excellent. Thank you again for my dream wedding....hope you get to see the pictures. They are like something from a magazine.

With love and best wishes until we renew our vows in Ravello.

Dawn (Got Married in the duomo in Ravello and had the reception in a restaurant in Ravello)

Hi Rosa, I am back!!!

" thanks for an amazing wedding, I don't think I will ever see a wedding that will be as amazing as yours was" "I know it sounds corny, but that beach at the reception was amazing, almost magical" "It was by far the best wedding I have ever been to" x about the 10 people who have said this "The church was beautiful, better than anything you would get in the UK, I really loved the way the ceremony was done a paragraph in Italian and then translated into Italian, that was really cool". “It was brilliant everyone was dancing on the beach smiling and laughing, you would never get that in England" "It was so romantic, Amalfi was lovely, we would never have come here off our own accord, thanks for inviting us to such an amazing place". “There was so much food, no-one could eat anymore and the lady that was serving was great".

(thought you might want to know all the above so you can congratulate yourself). Thanks again for all of your help, you did an amazing job and thank you so much for putting up with my neurotic ways, I am enough to try the patience of a saint sometimes.

I will be sending thank you letters out shortly and I am going to get a CD done of the best photos to send out with these so I will include you to receive one so you can see the best pics of the church and reception.

Many, many, many thanks Laura x x x

(Got Married in the church in Atrani, then boat to the beachside restaurant)

Dear Rosa,

my new husband and I would like to sincerely thank you for the effort you put into organising our wedding. Your very approachable but professional manner made it feel like a pleasure to deal with you.

The day went fabulously well, the sun shone, wine flowed, everything went so quick. The restaurant was perfect and the food fantastic. I would definitely recommend it !!!

Janette & Mark (Got Married in the Positano Town and had the reception at in a restaurant in Positano)

The day was fantastic and we are writing to you from our villa in Positano. What a day we just want to relive it again and again and want to do it all over.

Everything was wonderful we knew it was going to be great but it lived up to our expectations but was even better. Thank you for everything you have done in making this one of the best days of our lives.

Speak to you when we get back. Dylan & Michelle (Got Married in the Sirmione Town and had the reception at a restaurant in the historical centre of Sirmione)

Dear Rosa, We are now back on terra firma as Mr & Mrs!!. I can't believe the wedding has come and gone. It has gone so quickly. It seams weird that after all that organising we are back home sending out thank you letters.

We had an absolutely fantastic time in Amalfi. Such a beautiful place and perfect for a wedding. The scenery was amazing, the hotel was brilliant and the view we had from our hotel terrace was out of this world. All of my family and friends had a brilliant time, this was what I was most worried about especially when they has taken time off work and paid a lot of money to join us in our special day. The run up to the wedding day went well. Eva was brilliant, she was so helpful, and I will be sending her a special thank you card sometime this week. The trial for the hair and make up went really well. Very quick and simple. The make up artist liked using her own make up rather than the clients but that suited me as she had much better stuff than I did. Giovanna was also amazing. She was so friendly and jolly. She always had a smile on her face and she was very calming. Even a few days after the wedding she rang the hotel to wish us all the best for the future. I could not ask for better wedding photographs. Massimo did such a fantastic job. The photos are so crisp and the colours are amazing. Massimo obviously knows Amalfi well and he took us to some fantastic tiny streets and alleyways to create some very romantic and traditional photographs. The backdrop for each photograph was just perfect..........the food was fantastic and the location was brilliant.

Thank you for organising the wedding which was fantastic and will be remembered for the rest of our lives.

Regards Mr & Mrs Orton.

(Mr & Mrs Orton did have a problem with the reception venue as on the day of the wedding, the restaurant had misread the itinerary and were expecting the couple and their guests at 2100 hours in the evening instead of 1900 hours which was an error that the restaurant tried to make up in the end by providing extras – extra canapés and prosecco and also providing fireworks for the couple. (Got Married in the Amalfi Town and had the reception at a beach style restaurant in Conca dei Marini)

Hi Rosa from Mr & Mrs Goring!!!!

We are now home and missing Italy, the villa and Daniela WOW WOW WOW! We could not have asked for more, the picture we had in our head when we first came to see you was lived out on Wednesday, it was even perfect weather although rain was forecast!

The caterers were superb, worth every penny! Daniela was incredibly helpful and, the wedding aside, we are so pleased to have met her, she's lovely. The actual day ran like clockwork and we were able to just relax and enjoy it, quite surprising as, no offence, but Italians seem to run on Jamaican time, it happens when it happens!! Quite refreshing actually!

Everyone enjoyed the whole week, the accommodation, the setting (stunning views!) the local golf course and the cheap and friendly 'Grillo' in Castelfiorentino. We decided to have a day to ourselves on Friday and caught the train from Empoli to Pisa and then Florence which was an incredible, beautiful and very romantic day. We will call/see you soon but just wanted to say thank you from the bottom of our hearts as soon as we possibly could. It was perfect.

Thank you so much, especially for the video which was great fun making!

Mr & Mrs Goring! (Got Married in a private villa in Tuscany)

One of David's guests...

Most of New Jersey and select slices of New York, Conn. and Mass. will soon be aware of the Ultimate Experience we shared - in the far away mountains of Tuscany where our "time travel credit card" transported us back- somewhere- perhaps the Middle Ages- with delightful touches of before and after, including modern plumbing. The wedding, an existential mix of religion, theatre, romance and family reunion, starring beautiful young faces amidst ancient arches, was obviously planned by some benign historical figure, briefly returned, perhaps Shakespeare. And the reassurance provided by the sharp swords of British officers, assembled from the four corners, lent credence to the proposition that There Will Always Be An England- as well as incomparable photo-ops. We are so happy to have been included- and to have been received with so much enthusiasm and love!

Love, congratulations and admiration.

The wedding......It was amazing!!

Everything ran like clockwork - Luigi in particular kept a very close eye on what was going on. There was a slightly scare with the thunderstorm at 6am and a very brief shower at 3pm but after that the skies cleared. I have to admit that I don't remember that much of the ceremony itself - I think I was concentrating too hard! But everyone said how nice is was, and how good the priest was.

The area certainly looked beautiful - the chair covers were definitely worth the extra cost and a simple flower display was all that was needed. The reception on the terrace went well and the sword arch did happen - 8 swords managed to make it through UK and Italian customs!

We had the dinner inside in the end - Luigi thought it would be too cold outside plus there was the worry of rain (although it didn't!). We used the restaurant area which was beautiful. Not sure how much of the extra wine we got through but by the end of dinner people were quite lively so I suspect quite a lot!

Most importantly, we and everyone else had a fabulous time. I think because it was a relatively small number of people the day had a very friendly and loving feel. All the staff were really really impressive, Luigi in particular. Everything just happened as it was supposed to - and all in a very unobtrusive and unpretentious way.

We did sort of run away on Monday morning without having the time to say a proper thank you to anyone (except Laura who gave us both a big hug!). Please do send our thanks and best wishes to Luigi and Roberto.

Thank you for all your hard work (and there was a lot of it!). I'm sure I've forgotten lots of things but I will let you know when I think of them. I've attached a few low resolution pictures that a friend sent us a couple of days ago and I'll also forward an email from my American cousins Carol and Sandy - they were very impressed.

With enormous thanks and best wishes. David (Got Married a private villa in Tuscany)

Hiya Rosa,

we just got back from our honeymoon last night, we had a fantastic time. Thank you so much for organising the most perfect wedding. The villa was absolutely amazing and Daniela was so lovely and made our time there so special, nobody wanted to leave! Certaldo Alto was the most perfect place to get married.

The day was really magical and far better than we imagined it could be. The food was out of this world and the cake was the best wedding cake we've ever seen and tasted! We really appreciate you making everything so easy for us, it would never have been so special without you.

We'll e-mail some photos to you when we're properly organised. Thanks again Mr and Mrs Dadswell xx (Got Married at the town hall Certaldo and had the reception in a private villa)

Hi Rosa,

We had a wonderful day! I have to say that Marcello & Jaidar (and Simone) put us all at ease and did an absolutely fantastic job - my compliments to them!!!

The ceremony was perfect, and the caterers all did a fabulous job - everyone has said how good the food was. I didn't even notice that Massimo and the videographer were there most of the time, which is great from my point of view as I hate having my photo taken! They also put us very much at ease, and I look forward to seeing the results. I'd also like to say a big thank you to you for being on hand, reassuring us about certain events and organising a fantastic wedding (my head and heart are definitely still there!)

Vicki. xxx (Got Married in a castle in the Florentine Hills and had a Jewish ceremony)

Dear Rosa, 426, 438, 674, 684 Well, what can we say?

How about "thank you for organising the best day of our lives"???

Our wedding was absolutely perfect from start to finish, even with all the last minute bridesmaid and hotel-related changes! We really can't thank you enough. The flowers were beautiful (particularly the display at the cloister, which we have some lovely photos of), so please pass on our thanks to the florist. The violinist played his little heart out too, in fact it was only when we watched the video that Daniel's brother recorded that we realised he'd actually been playing pretty much non-stop throughout the ceremony! So if you could thank him for us too that would be great. Oh, and the driver also. Special thanks must go to the photographer, Massimo. He went above and beyond the call of duty, taking us around various locations in Sorrento, and even stopping a little way out of town on the way to Massa Lubrense so he could take some shots of us on a terrace overlooking the beach. He stayed with us for quite some time at the Relais. He took some gorgeous photos, we're so pleased with them.

The interpreter was lovely, she made us feel really welcome and was grinning almost as much as we were! A really nice lady. And we don't even know where to start on the Relais.

I think it was the most beautiful place we or any of our guests had been before, everyone was completely blown away by it. We're so thrilled that you suggested it to us. They'd put us on a private terrace that was totally ours for the entire evening, and the table was set beautifully. The food was absolutely delicious, and that cake! Wow! But above all, the service was so attentive. I don't think my prosecco or wine glass ever had the chance to even get half empty. We were so impressed with the waiting staff, we were more than happy to give them the maximum tip you'd recommended. In all the excitement of the day we didn't actually thank them properly, although we have now sent a thank you card and letter to him and his staff.

So once again, thank you. If any of our friends or family decide to get married in Italy in the future, rest assured that we'll be passing your details on.

With very best wishes, Sarah and Daniel Grimes P.S. We've attached a couple of Massimo's photos so you can see how all your planning turned out! (Got Married at the cloisters in Sorrento and then had the reception in a relais outside Sorrento)

Hi Rosa,

I have been meaning to email you, but I have been a bit manic at work since being back!!! Everything was absolutely perfect, I could not fault a single thing everything far exceeded both of our expectations, so thank you so much for all of your help. The staff at the villa were so helpful and accommodating and Vittoria was great helping with the church etc.

If you want us to do a testimonial for your website or anything at all then we would be more than glad to do so. Once again thanks for all your help in making our wedding day so lovely!

Kind Regards, Lea-Anne Soteriou (Got Married at the duomo in Ravello and enjoyed the reception at a private villa)