A very particular wedding in Tuscany

As we have a large wedding party arriving today, maybe this is a good time to talk a bit about the Tuscan weddings we occasionally host here at Podere Patrignone.

Twice each year (and no more, see below) Podere Patrignone plays host to a very particular kind of Tuscan wedding. They are intimate gatherings, usually between 15 and 45 people, and start with a legal ceremony in one of the stunning official venues nearby, usually in Siena or Castellina in Chianti Then everyone comes back for Prosecco and hors d’oeuvres on our Terracotta Terrazza and a sit-down many-course wedding banquet at sunset. After that, we head into the trees for an enchanted party in the woods lit by fairy-lights, with a disco, band, or the B&G’s (Bride & Groom) favourite playlist.

There are, of course, many variations to this theme. Sometimes we have a symbolic ceremony here at Patrignone instead of a legal civil wedding, for example. We’re had fireworks, porchetta stands, and a gelato cart.

But the overall tone is a relaxed, informal, noisy, joyous.

And it’s not just a one-day show. What makes Patrignone weddings special is the fact that everyone is here for the whole week. The guests chip in with their help, creating table decorations, arranging flowers, decorating the party area, hanging lights, buying party drinks, and so on. So everyone is included, their personal contribition adding to the whole, and this brings everyone together in ways that just never happen in normal weddings. The wedding day itself is the culmination of several days with everyone working together and helping out, so guests feel like they are part of the wedding, not just spectators there to eat and drink.

One of the most important aspects of a Tuscan wedding is, as you might expect, the food. Don’t expect your typical wedding catering at a Patrignone wedding, it’s not our style. We serve upwards of a dozen courses, some of them teeny, some not so teeny, all cooked in-house using the finest (often home-grown organic) ingredients. Our organic wines are from tiny local boutique wineries that make stunning Chianti Classico at very reasonable prices, and we serve everything with as much Italian flair and panache as we can muster. You, and all your guests, are going to love our food, and that’s a promise.  

A location wedding in Tuscany is not at all difficult to organise. For starters, this is not our first rodeo, so we are extremely well-organised. Not to get too nerdy about it, but we have budget spreadsheets, project management spreadsheets, table plans, you name it, all online so we can all work on them simultaneously. But the process itself is relatively straight-forward. Weddings are usually booked a year or so in advance, and 90% of the work is already done several months before the wedding, to the B&G can relax a bit and enjoy the run-up.

And don’t think that a wedding in Tuscany is going to be expensive. It’s not. In fact, most couples find that a Patrignone wedding costs them far, far less than a typical wedding at home.

Despite our considerable expertise in the field, Podere Patrignone is not a specialist wedding venue. In fact, we limit ourselves to 2 weddings a year. Why? Well, mostly, this is because they are a lot of extra hard work. And although we’ve organised dozens of highly successful and beautiful weddings, they are more than a teeny bit stressful. After all, there is a lot of responsibility sitting on our shoulders. But we love hosting weddings because there are such fun. And it’s a completely different kind of week for us, full of joy and excitement. We remember every wedding we’ve ever hosted, and always in a good way, and that’s just how we like it.

If you’re considering a location wedding in Italy, and would like to have an informal chat to us about how a Patrignone wedding could work for you, please drop us a line.