"A wedding in Italy is the dream of so many couples, which may have seemed far and unattainable, but it is very real!" couples dreaming of a wedding in Italy are encouraged by wedding organizer Zane Rüdele-Krave. And indeed - more and more couples choose to celebrate their wedding in one of the charming European pearls, giving their wedding the desired atmosphere.

If your dream is also a small, intimate wedding in Italy, take a look and be inspired by Zane's experience - and maybe she will become your wedding fairy who will turn your dream into reality!

How are weddings held in Italy? Are there cultural differences in cooperation with Italian service providers compared to cooperation in Latvia?

The Italian environment creates a wedding decoration and celebration atmosphere without much effort. How I laugh - when celebrating a wedding in Tuscany, you don't need bulky decorations at all - it's enough to prune olive trees, put tall candles in wine bottles, and the festive table is almost ready. In my opinion, the Tuscan environment seems appropriate for the concept of a small wedding; it surrounds you and everything happens so organically. On the other hand, the large, luxurious villas and gardens in the Como region - it is not only a completely different atmosphere, but also the cost.

Of course, it should be taken into account that when celebrating a wedding in Italy in a larger company, it is necessary to take into account that the location of the celebration must be reserved much earlier than here in Latvia. With a small number of guests, as my experience last year proves, only a few months are enough to prepare for such a celebration.

Weddings in Italy are celebrated exactly the way we want. We create our own wedding day and present its plan, which is also followed by the Italians. Perhaps it was something unusual for them - to eat cake after the ceremony - but they absolutely did not object and there were no comments that "we don't do that".

Why do couples choose an intimate, small wedding?

Intimate weddings or weddings with a small circle of guests is a very popular wedding concept, and I can say with absolute certainty that in terms of costs, at least the weddings that I have organized are equivalent in cost, whether they are celebrated in Latvia or Italy. Celebrating a wedding in Italy is a great bonus - the honeymoon starts the next day for the new couple, and the wedding guests have a vacation that started with great emotions.

In the concept of an intimate wedding, especially in Italy, you can get by perfectly well without a host of the wedding evening, all you have to do is find the right musicians, and the party hits a high note. 

How does the official marriage registration take place - is it more advisable to correspond in Latvia before the celebration in Italy, or is the official marriage registration in Italy simple?

The official wedding ceremony in Italy is complicated, so the locals advised us to stick to the concept - to register in our country, but to hold the ceremony in Italy with a local wedding ceremony leader. Just as it happens in our country, in Latvia.

Please tell me about the wedding you held in Tuscany! How did it all happen?

The wedding morning started with a leisurely breakfast and a bridal photo session. While the decorators were at work, the bride and groom went to get ready. It was a wonderful first meeting for the couple, with a fabulous wallpaper in the background.

The couple went to a photo shoot, followed by a ceremony. The course of the ceremony is identical to that in Latvia, if you choose to sign up in advance, but the ceremony is conducted by an actor or evening host. After the ceremony, musicians played, everyone took pictures and then went to "finish" the wedding cake. This process takes place under the guidance of the chef, pressing the cream, arranging the berries and finishing with a sprinkling of powdered sugar. I recommend a real Italian cake - millefoglie . After the cake, we continued with dinner, cocktails, dancing and went for a sunset photo shoot. I recommend this to everyone because sunset light is the best for pictures.

In this concept, I am your wedding organizer, driver, waiter, babysitter - anything to make you feel well taken care of and happy.

In our case, not only I went to the wedding from Latvia, but also my reliable team: wedding photographer and decorator. The decorator carried the flowers in a suitcase, because we had no guarantee that we would get snow-white flowers in such a minimal amount as we needed. I found excellent musicians in Italy, they literally set the dance floor on fire, and the party ended in the pool. The leader of the ceremony performed his task in exactly the same quality as in Latvia - in our country such ceremonies are conducted at a very good level. The master of ceremony also included an Italian text, which was the couple's request. And the caterers - I would like to give them ten points, because they worked at such a level that I literally had no comments. They arrive, assemble everything neatly, as per the book, the waiters are positive and with great experience - uncles. The cook is excellent. I rarely spare compliments, but here I am not stingy.

Advice for couples looking for a wedding planner!

• Choose a reliable wedding team from Latvia, because with us you can safely count on the fact that the work will be done and no unpleasant surprises await you.
• For part of the team, ask local professionals, because Italians give that real Italian wedding feeling.

The article was prepared by: Ieva Simanoviča