But many florists love working with this flower – it’s long lasting, pure white heads, and it’s wonderful flexibility in compositions make it a great flower for floral design. Probably when it doesn’t work is when it’s used solely as an accent, or filler. But when you give Gypsophila a lead role, it can make for a stunning wedding design, and help you keep the floral costs under control.

Here’s an example wedding.

Olma and Dan held a Roman Catholic wedding in central Florence, then moved on to this stunning villa overlooking the city for the evening of relaxing conversation, top Italian cuisine, a spectacular cake made in front of the guests, surprise fireworks, and hot dancing into the night! Video courtesy of Riccardo Lavezzo Video

On the morning of the wedding the groom will either deliver the bridal bouquet to the bride’s house or wait outside the ceremony venue and present the bride her bouquet upon her arrival.

The bridal bouquet is usually a gift from the groom’s family and its colour and design are meant to be a surprise to the bride.

Wedding guests will wait outside the ceremony venue for the bride to arrive and then follow the bride and groom inside for the ceremony to commence.

The groom will usually accompany his mother up the aisle.

When the bride reaches the altar, she will often hand one bloom or stem from her bouquet to the groom’s mother.

Often when the bride leaves her home, someone will have tied a white ribbon over her front door or gate which she must cut. A white ribbon may also be tied in front of the ceremony venue to symbolize the bond between the bride and groom.

It is considered bad luck to wear any gold on the day of the wedding until the wedding rings are exchanged.

At the wedding reception each guest is given a Bomboniere. This Italian wedding tradition is the original version of favours and the Bombonieri are 5 sugared almonds wrapped in lace. The almonds symbolize health, wealth, fertility, happiness & long life.

Before the wedding meal begins the best man will serve the guests sweet liquor so they can toast to the happiness of the couple.

At the reception the best man will cut the groom’s tie into little pieces and auction it to the guests. The bride and groom get to keep the proceeds from the auction!

The brides entrance – as guests wait outside the ceremony venue for the bride to arrive, there is not the same buildup inside the ceremony venue waiting for the doors to burst open and the bride to walk down the aisle.

The first dance will take place before the evening meal. Upon entering the reception, the newly weds are introduced and take their first dance followed by the bridal party and then the rest of the wedding guests.

At Italian weddings there is no “top table”.

Saying the term “Auguri” which means congratulations. You may hear people say that a lot, especially if you have a photo shot in the local town where your wedding is taking place – the Italians love weddings!

This stunning medieval location, just 17 km from Florence, is a charming and magical venue for large and small weddings alike. Perfect for an event that is both unique and unforgettable.

For locations – there’s the beautiful medieval courtyard, ideal for a formal seated meal, illuminated by torches at the windows and on the castle’s 13th century battlements. Then there’s the park and Italian gardens, with the centuries old Lebanese cedar, and the magical driveway. Overlooking the beautiful countryside of Chianti the external spaces are ideal spots for blessings, and for aperitifs.

Finally, the small chapel located off the courtyard; a location for intimate wedding celebrations.

Ideal in all seasons: cool in summer and warm in winter. Perfect for a traditional tasting of top local cuisine and the heart of the best Chianti Classico wines.

The beautiful central courtyard and the adjacent loggia are perfect for a summer event; in the shadow of the medieval tower, the space hosts up to 220 people for a table service. Also this space has excellent acoustics for every type of musical backdrop.

If all of these are your worries, then consider this wonderful band.

The singer is mother tongue English, and all the band members are widely acclaimed recording musicians in Europe. Their repertoire is vast, and covers many differnt styles. Most of all, they know their place, they know how to fade into the background or take the initiative when appropriate.

On this page there’s some of their playlist – from Sinatra, Rat-Pack, Standards, modern Standards, to contemporary dance music. They will accept a good number of your own personal requests, and they are certainly, never, cheesy.