Surprise with a secret, romantic ceremony in San Galgano and a castle wedding

Now that the Christmas time is coming, I want to take advantage of this romantic atmosphere and write about a wedding where the bride and groom surprised their guests with a secret, romantic ceremony in San Galgano and a castle wedding.

The choice of a castle wedding

I still remember the day in November of last year when I received the phone call of my bride Ileana and she asked me to help her finding a breathtaking and unique venue for their wedding. Before, she already made an important selection of different venues and also asked some friends of hers, but she hasn’t found what she was looking for yet. After the call, my first idea was to contact Castello Poggiarello . From the first time I visited this venue and wine estate, it had just enchanted me. From the beginning, the authenticity, the natural surroundings and the warm hospitality of Sveva, the owner of the castle, have fascinated me and after Ileana’s and Mitch’s visit it was clear that they also have been enchanted by the castle. So, we could start the planning of the castle wedding and of course we had to find the best way to combine the castle wedding with a ceremony.

The romantic ceremony in San Galgano

From the beginning Ileana and Mitch have chosen the Abbey of San Galgano for their civil ceremony. This abbey is really a dream for the couples who want to celebrate their marriage in a unique and extraordinary atmosphere, especially when you combine the wedding with a reception in a castle – in this way the magic of the wedding is simply perfect. So as soon as the couple have chosen their wedding date, they decided to reserve San Galgano for their wedding ceremony as well as started to organize the bureaucratic aspects.

The surprise with the ceremony in San Galgano and a castle wedding

After we started the first preparations of the planning, Ileana and Mitch informed me that they didn’t intend to indicate the venue on their invitation. They wanted to surprise their guests. So we had to organize the transfer and the drive for those guests coming with their own car in the way that they could reach the venue without knowing the name. In this way the excitement became even higher, as well as the final surprise effect and emotion when they entered the Abbey, can you imagine the effect? It was incredible.

Ileana and Mitch enjoyed the ceremony in San Galgano with love together with the mystic, but the open atmosphere and their guests followed the ceremony with admiration and full of emotions. After the ceremony Ileana and Mitch took advantage of the Abbey’s magic and did some fantastic photos with Nicola and David. Their guests drove to Castello Poggiarello where they were welcomed in the shadow of the huge trees of the pool area by the cocktail prepared by Class Ricevimenti and the amazing live music of Stefano and Fabrizio Fanini. After the wedding ceremony the couple reached their guests for a wonderful toast, I guided them into the Italian Renaissance garden of the castle where they enjoyed a romantic candle-light dinner with an adoring flower arrangement and “moon-light”. Of course the wonderful music of the Fanini brothers didn’t stop.

Another emotional moment was the live-show cooking of the wedding cake. The guests enjoyed this moment a lot and it doesn’t happen often to taste some cake before the cut… at the end we prepared the cake cut on the top of a medieval well surrounded by candles – a very special moment to end such a fantastic day.

Thinking back on this day, I feel a lot of joy, excitement and emotion. I think it will be a day and experience that neither Ileana and Mitch, nor their guests will ever forget and I am thankful that I have been part of this wonderful day.

Best wishes to Ileana & Mitch!

In this occasion I would like to thank also the following people for their great collaboration:

Sveva and the staff of Castello Poggiarello;
Barbara who assisted me during the wedding;
Martina, Graziella and Alberto of Class Ricevimento for the Catering;
Margherita and Michela from Agriflor for the wonderful flowers;
Nicola and David from NDPhotography for the fantastic photos;
Stefano and Fabrizio Fanini for the lovely music;
Luca Noli for the lighting;
Paola Girardi for the tailor-made a romantic bridal dress;
Vanità Hair for the bridal styling;
Sartini Trasporti for the transfer to the ceremony.