Weddings in Italy are becoming more and more popular and the fans of Jane Maripose have asked her for some advice on how to go about organizing a wedding in Italy.  We have therefore contacted a number of event planners to seek their advice on how to avoid any unwelcome surprises when planning an event or wedding.  Here following is some advice we received from the  owner of The Big Event to help us in understanding what to look for when seeking a professional wedding planner in Italy.

The event planners are professionals who have acquired a high level of expertise and therefore have the knowledge and experience necessary for planning everything perfectly.

Defy from using “fly-by-night” companies and always make sure you are provided with references and information on previous events they have organized.
There are so many people these days that improvise themselves as wedding planners, but when it comes to the crunch their lack of experience very soon surfaces, placing the entire event at risk.  The more a wedding planner has been on the market and organized events, the more certainty you will have that the planner has considered every detail and is fully in control of the situation.

Another important factor to take into consideration is whether the wedding planner is able to understand and interpret the requirements of the client.
Each event is different and needs to be tailored and suited in an individual manner.
A professional event planner will be in contact with a wide range of service providers which can be called upon on the basis of the specific requirements so that each event is unique and in-line with the client’s requirements. There is nothing worse than an event company which churns out events which are all the same to one another.  This is not a commercial business where events can be fabricated with cookies cutters but more of an art form where each event is pleasantly unique creating a special ambience during the event which just cannot be reproduced.

Well, at “The Big Event” we are all set to take any challenge and keen enough to meet our client’s requirements in the best possible way. Not only do we have the expertise necessary to arrange wedding parties and business events, but we can also offer great deals for our clients who wish to organize a Gala Dinner. We can plan the buffet and reception in grand style.

Apart from these services, we also specialize in arranging trip excursions and related services. We offer affordable rates that can suit the budget requirements of different individuals. No matter what sort of arrangement you wish to have for your business event and wedding, put us to the test and we will endeavour to deliver the best!

Bask Under the Tuscan Sun

One of these movies is Under the Tuscan Sun, a 2003 Audrey Wells direction based on the Frances Mayes novel of the same name. The film helped reveal the best sights and historical attractions that dotted the city of Florence. Some of the locations used in the film included the Piazza della Signoria and the Piazza della Republica.

I love my job! I work in Florence in a nice B&B http://www.johanna.it and have lots of relationships with travellers from all over the world. Most of them are very nice and share with me their daily touristic experiences and only a few ones are always quiet and unemotional, but I think that it's because they are shy and clumsy. I like to give suggestions to 'my' clients and to give them the best Florence local tips for making their stay a discover t … Read More

via Amanda Lavelli – Tuscany notes

There is more to Udine, however, than the city’s fine historical, artistic and documentary heritage, closed within the rooms of its monuments. The best way to enjoy this gem of a city is through contact with the everyday life that enfolds on the streets and within the neighbourhoods, taking a stroll through the little squares and a look around the shops, or sampling some local food and wine in one of the many hostelries and winebars it offers.

It is pleasant to take a walk around admiring the little low houses, the charming little doors and tiny windows, the religious-themed frescoes and stylised decorations, just behind the university building of Palazzo Antonini, in the mediaeval neighbourhood, or Via Superiore, Via Leicht and Via Zorutti, superbly renovated after the 1976 earthquake; or to stroll along Via Anton Lazzaro Moro,Via Mazzini and Via Palladio, marvelling at the splendid Palazzo Florio, which houses the Rector’s office, or some of the city’s most important noble residences, such as Palazzo Antonini-Cernazai, or the residence Andrea Palladio designed for Floriano Antonini, or the Caiselli building, originally constructed in the Middle Ages and altered throughout the centuries thereafter.

Visitors then might like to stop off in Piazzetta Antonini to admire the delightful little Church of San Cristoforo, before proceeding up Riva Bartolini, past the old civic library and into the beating heart of Udine: Via Mercatovecchio. Were it not for the porphyry cobblestone paving in place of a canal, visitors might think they were in Venice. The street is flanked on both sides by mediaeval and fifteenth-century buildings, modern re-workings and nineteenth-century constructions, and under the two porticoes shopping fans will find a range of pleasant surprises: from the Zagolin milliner’s, whose activity is documented from as early as the 18th century, to Casa Tonini, more an institution than a shop, with the sort of fine, original furnishings most of us dream of, where Cavalli bedlinen rubs shoulders with a nineteenth-century French bench.

Just a few steps from here lies Piazza Libertà, the very emblem of Udine, with the Loggia del Lionello, thus named because it was built on a design by Nicolò Lionello at the request of the Republic of Venice, motivated by the desire to affirm its power in Udine; the embankment with the statues of Floreàn and Venturìn, the clock tower with the Moors striking the hours, and the magnificent Town Hall building designed by the architect Raimondo D’Aronco, who took twenty years to finally complete it in 1930.
Just off Udine’s main square, alongside Via Mercatovecchio, down a number of charming little lanes, is Piazza delle Erbe, also known as Piazza del Mercato or Piazza San Giacomo, where you can see the attractive Church of San Giacomo, assymetrical compared to the square shape of the Piazza, which is surrounded by tall, narrow buildings from the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, each one a different colour from the one beside it, and all of which have been adorned in various ways over the centuries with stucco work, decorations and frescoes. In the middle of the square is the embankment with the fountain, where fruit and vegetables, and indeed antiques, are sold.

As you leave the square and walk in an easterly direction across the roggia (a little artificial waterway) a walk along the ancient Via Poscolle (post collem is Latin for “behind the hill”, in this case the Castle hill) will take you to Piazzale 26 Luglio.

At the centre is the Monument to the Resistance (Italy’s civil war), by the architects Federico Marconi and Gino Valle, built between 1959 and 1969, in front of which is the Tempio Ossario, a memorial to the victims of the Great War, dated 1925 and built by the architects Provino Valle and Alessandro Limongelli. In the same square is the twentieth-century construction that once hosted the brewery where Moretti beer (famous for its label featuring a man with a moustache and a Borsalino hat) used to be made, which today no longer belongs to the firm.

By: Laura Sebastianutti

Photo by: Archivio fotografico dell’Agenzia TurismoFVG

Art lovers will find plenty to keep them busy in Udine: the Castle Museums (on Castle Hill, tel. 0432/271591) boast a fine collection of archaeological finds, galleries dedicated to ancient art, drawings and prints, the Friuli Photography Museum and the photographic archives, and shows and exhibitions are often held there.

Then there is the Modern Art Gallery (Piazzale Paolo Diacono 22,  tel. 0432/295891; gamud@comune.udine.it), which is home to a collection of over four thousand paintings, sculptures and drawings from the mid-nineteenth century up to the present day and includes names such as Modigliani, Vedova, the local Friulian contemporary artist Zigaina, and the brothers Dino, Mirko and Afro Basaldella, to whom an area is dedicated.

The Gallery hosts a number of particular collections such as the twentieth-century Italian artworks donated by Maria Luisa Astaldi (Sironi, Morandi, Guttuso, De Chirico), the works donated by American artists (De Kooning, Andre) to show their solidarity following the 1976 earthquake, and the international-style engravings donated by Fabio Mauroner.

Visitors often come from all over Italy to see the Diocesan Museum and the Tiepolo Galleries (Piazza Patriarcato 1, tel. 0432/25003, info@musdioc-tiepolo.it; www.musdioc-tiepolo.it), housed in the eighteenth-century Archbishop’s Palace, which was once the residence of the patriarchs of Aquileia.

The interior of the Palace is an extraordinarily spectacular testament to the skill of Giambattista Tiepolo: from the broad ceremonial staircase with the fresco depicting the Caduta degli angeli ribelli, to the Giudizio di Re Salomone in the Sala Rossa, or red room, and the Galleria degli Ospiti (Guest Gallery).

By: Laura Sebastianutti

Photo by: Archivio fotografico dell’Agenzia TurismoFVG

From 23 April until 1 May 2010, Udine will be playing host to the Far East Film Festival, the most important showcase in Europe for cinema productions from the area, which will be featuring over 60 movies from China, Hong Kong, South Korea, Japan, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Taiwan (www.fareastfilm.com).

From 21 to 30 May 2010, the heritage Giambattista Tiepolo left in Udine will be celebrated with the organisation of keynote lectures, study encounters, themed exhibitions, Baroque music concerts and guided visits around places related to the artist’s works. (www.udinecultura.it).

By: Laura Sebastianutti

There is plenty to choose from here too. In addition to the traditional restaurants (www.friuliatavola.it) and pizzerias (run by families from the Campania region who settled in Friuli decades ago), such as “Da Raffaele”, in Via Cividale 11, visitors might like to try one of the many hostelries Udine offers, such as the characteristic “Alle Volte”, in Via Mercerie 6, the original “Allo sbarco dei pirati”, in Via Bartolini 12, where you are likely to find yourself seated among university students toasting exam successes or degree results, “Alla Ghiacciaia”, in Via Zanon 13, where you can sample typical local dishes beneath the pergola and over the roggia, or “Al Vecchio Stallo”, where you can rub shoulders with the crème della crème of Udine as you enjoy the famous salted cheese.

By: Laura Sebastianutti

Hotels, B&Bs, farmhouse accommodation just outside the city: Udine offers plenty of choice when it comes to accommodation.

Prospective visitors might like to take a look at www.turismofvg.it; www.agriturismofvg.com; www.bedandbreakfastfvg.com

By: Laura Sebastianutti

Photo by: Archivio fotografico dell’Agenzia TurismoFVG

In the collective imagination that unites most Italians, Udine is “in the mountains”, but in fact the capital of Friuli has nothing higher than the hill on which the first settlers seem to have appeared during the Iron Age, attracted there by the high, protected position overlooking the plain below.

On this same hill today we can see the sixteenth-century castle, which now houses the Civic Art and History Museums.

The castle was built with the contribution, amongst others, of an apprentice of Raphael, Giovanni da Udine, responsible for the decorations in the splendid Salone del Parlamento hall.

By: Laura Sebastianutti

Photo by: Archivio fotografico dell’Agenzia TurismoFVG

Finding love and deciding to get married is a most special experience for anyone. Most people who have made the decision to tie the knot are faced with several other decisions for their wedding, and one of the biggest of these decisions is the venue of that big and special day. Italy, a country with unsurpassed beauty, offers just the right venue you’ve been looking for.

The place is Positano, a dreamy coastal town etched upon the face of a rock along Amalfi Coast in Italy. The town’s unique structure and atmosphere magnified by the beautiful scenery that stretches practically all around the place creates a most magical venue perfect for any special occasion. But aside from its tourist-worthy beauty, Positano has a special affinity to romance, which is why it is not just the ideal destination for just any occasion; it seems to be made specifically for your wedding day.

In fact, Positano seems to have been made with lovers in mind. The beauty of the place provides the perfect setting for falling in love. It is quite simple to fall in love in this quaint town. There are various attractions that can provide the perfect backdrop for your lasting memories. There are also plenty to see and enjoy so you and your loved one can spend a lot of quality time together in the small town.

Due to the many picturesque attractions and sights found in Positano, it is considered by many as a very romantic destination. It is the perfect destination for lovers longing to get away for some time of their own in one of the world’s most beautiful places. It is also a common destination for honeymooners, with the grand views of the ocean making you fall in love and magnifying your romantic feelings. And it is true that when one sees something of extreme beauty, he thinks of the person he loves. So if you are looking for a romantic destination, Positano is the place you just have to share with your loved one.

Positano’s close affinity to love and romance can be traced back to the glory days of mythology. The town is just along the Amalfi Coast, which puts it in a close distance from Galli Island, a well-known island lying offshore Positano. This is the exact same island where the sirens of Ulysses’ story lived. According to the mythological legend, Ulysses and his men were sailing along the ocean when they passed through Galli Island, from which streamed the beautiful and enticing song of the sirens that drove most of Ulysses’ crew out of their minds. Though a myth, the attraction exuded by the sirens’ song mirrors the attraction exuded by Positano itself. In fact, the myth can be taken to represent the appeal of Positano among travellers. The town itself is like a beautiful siren’s song, comfortably attracting people from all over the world to marvel at it.

All these shows that Positano has a soft spot for that thing called love, so your dream wedding in Positano is no longer a dream. To complete the experience, however, you should stay at a Positano hotel that offers the same level of beauty and romantic ambience that the rest of the city offers. Your choice of a Positano hotel can also already serve as the main venue of your wedding in Positano, but it is important you choose the best.

When it comes to Positano hotels, one of the most highly recommended is the Hotel Poseidon Positano. It is the number one choice among tourists due to its luscious feel and relaxing ambience. But Hotel Poseidon does not only provide accommodations. The well-known hotel in town also offers a beautiful hotel terrace and a Town Hall, both of which can be used as the venue of your wedding in Positano. The facilities for getting married are complete since Positano weddings are quite common. The hotel itself is also complete. It has a rich history, a famous hotel name, various restaurants, and a beauty center. It even comes with a panoramic restaurant where the big day can also be held. And after everything, you can simply relax beside Hotel Poseidon’s pool and enjoy the Italian sun.

If you want to take this a bit farther, you can rent a boat or join a boat tour. Nothing else would be more relaxing and romantic than that. As you sail towards the center of all the beauty, you will truly be touched by the sheer beauty of the town.

If you are interested in boat trips, staying in Hotel Poseidon will give you ready access to the boating facilities in the hotel anytime you need to. The Hotel Poseidon offers free boat trips on the world-famous Pettegola of Positano. And as you sail along with the town of Positano rising up the rock that characterized the unique town, what better way is there to end your wedding festivities but with a romantic ride on the boats lounging around in Positano?