I have been reading this website for over a year now and reading all the helpful hints etc and now I see people asking some of the questions I asked myself last year, so I said I would put this little report together and fill you in on my wedding, which took place at Tragliata in Oct last year.
Save the Date Cards/Invites:
Firstly, people have asked about save the date cards, invites etc. Well, if it helps, we sent our save the date cards out 10-11 months before the wedding. Cheap as chips - we contacted the photographers who did the Tragliata website and asked them to email us the photo that they used for the Tragliata home page and I then used this cheap website (vistaprint) to make flat save the date cards using that Tragliata photo and just inserted some text. PM me and I can email you the photo if interested in using it. Guests commented on the use of the photo as the save the date card then gave them a little snippet of what the venue looked like and what to expect and set the scene for the atmosphere.
http://www.vistaprint.co.uk/event/weddi ... ng=1142051
We sent the full invitations out 3 months before the wedding with an 'information' letter. PM me and I can send anyone a template of the 'information' letter. It covered flight info, travel, directions, info on venue, schedule of events, running of the weekend etc. I also gave Steve a copy of this. I dont mind who uses it.
Contacts/Sources:
Steve gave us a list of the local contacts that he had suggested to previous brides but I sourced some of my own instead and it all went swimmingly well, so for that reason i said let you know about the following contacts:
Hair:
I used Jess (Roma Stylist) who was excellent but as I can see from this thread, she is no longer doing hair. However, its worth noting that we also booked Stephania (Steve's local contact) who did about 30 of the guests hair on the morning of the wedding, and the flower girls hair, and all were fab. I would have had no problem dealing with Stephania if Jess wasnt available.
Make Up:
I am Irish but living in London and after two disasterous make up trials in Rome last year, I just found a Mac Make up artist, Marissa following a random search on the internet, so following a trial, I booked marissa a cheap easyjet flight for her to fly to Rome from London and do the make up. Marissa is a Canadian girl who has worked for Mac for years but she has unfortunatly returned to Cananda temporarily, and Im not sure if she is due back, but maybe worth contacting her, if interested. This is her website, and embarrassingly, thats me on the main page. http://www.ml-makeup.com/. Believe me, she did a great job, as i dont normally look like that.
If Marissa is not available, I would recommend flying someone out with you if you are particular about make up and if it works out as cheap as it was for me (i.e. cheap airline etc). I think some of the Italian make up artists charge ridiculous money for make up once they hear 'bridal'. By having Marissa there all morning, she had some extra time on her hands so she did some Mac eye make up applications for guests for a small fee, 20euro or something, which went down v well with some of the ladies.
Flowers:
Personally, I found the local florist Donatella a little difficult to communicae with, so I sourced my own florist in Rome and it turned out she has done several weddings in Tragliata now. Her name is Debra, she is an American lady and living in Rome and therefore speaks english. She was absolutely fantastic to work with. We did not have one single verbal conversation and communicated soley via email, sending eachother the odd weblinks to images etc and all of her work was high class. She pays so much attention to detail and is very helpful in working within your budget and helping you save on things. She will tell you what to not waste money on and how to be creative with the budget (like using the pew end flowers in the church for the reception table centres). She is also very reasonably priced and was so so efficient on the day.
I would highly recommend Debra. Her website is as follows;
http://www.debraflower.com/english/index.html
Photos:
We used Catino Foto. They were more expensive than the other's we priced but they were the photographers for the Tragliata website and i felt they knew the venue, knew the lighting, knew what works and what doesnt work. They photographed us getting ready, the church, the reception, speeches, dancing, the cutting of the cake and right through to the first dance. Excellent value. Photographers at home usually leave after the church and photos.
http://www.catinofoto.com/
Ps: the photo on the Make-up lady's website was actually taken by Catino Foto.
Priest:
Don Sergio (the local priest) is a lovely kind and warm man. His mass was lovely and he is very funny. Having a priest to celebrate the marriage in English was also a huge bonus for us, as we could avoid having to have a translator, as you have to do elsewhere in Italy.
Church Music and Ceili Night Music:
We didnt want the usual string quartet, nor did i want an organist, so we hired 'The Shire' (Trad Band) for the church ceremony. Highly highly recommended if you like soft traditional slow irish airs and reels. They also did some classical music in a traditional celtic way. Fantastic guys to work with. My family are hugely into Irish trad music and they all commented on how some of these guys play better than any irish musician. Highlighly recommended. Marzio is the main man and is contactable on facebook and this website http://www.myspace.com/theshireitaly
We also hired these guys for the Sunday night after the wedding, as we arranged to have a little ceili night. We had 90 guests at the wedding, with 70 of them staying on for the night after the wedding, so we felt with that number, some form of entertainment would be needed. They went down v well. Very talented musicians and they welcome people up to sing and play. They were cool with us doing the siege of ennis and all that carry on. They allowed several family and friends to join them to sing and play.
Wedding Day Music:
For the wedding reception, we had a contact of Steve's play the electric violin in the background next to the anti pasta reception. She was only 150euro and provided nice background music while people mingled and had the outdoor reception.
For the wedding reception (evening) following the sit down meal, we had Guty & Simone. A duo guitar band and they went down v v well. The floor was full all night so need I say more. Their website and links to you tube will let you know how good they are. All age groups up dancing, a good mix of jive numbers, rock n roll and general disco hits,
We wanted a specific stevie wonder song as a first dance and they learned how to play it for us, so we were v pleased with that.
http://www.gutyesimone.it/en/repertorio.html
In between the band and the disco part of the wedding, we breaked and moved out on to the outside terrace to light some sky laterns. I ordered 50 laterns on this website below and got them shipped to Tragliata. It was only £80. (The fireworks that I read about at Tragliata are something like a £1500-2000k so these laterns were the cheaper option) and for me, they added a very special atmosphere to the wedding night. They are also biodegradable and therefore dont harm the farmlands or nearby animals when they burn out. V romantic and heart warming. People lit them and made a wish etc etc.
http://www.skylanterns4u.co.uk/
For the disco, we just played an ipod! DJ's were quoting us circa 400euro so in a nutshell, we couldnt be bothered with that.
THE FOLLOWING DAY:
If you and your guests are hanging around the day after the wedding, we decided to put on a coach to take everyone to a restaurant near Lake Bracciano (20mins away) - beautiful setting along the lake.
http://www.lamuccagolosa.com/
We arranged a meal for 30euro per head, which included an anti pasta, choice of 2 starters, choice of 2 mains, choice of 3-4 desserts, unlimited wine and beer. This was an incredibly cheap option and nice to take people away from Tragliata for a little break. Everyone was impressed with the good value for money.
Steve arranged the bus for us. All v efficient and smooth and just added that 5euro for the bus on to people's bill as they checked out so was v convenient.
NIGHT BEFORE:
Forgot to mention, - the night before the wedding, we had the BBQ, recommended by Steve. We worked out a budget and kept to it. Everyone was well impressed by the selection and quality of the food and abundance of wine and beer! Highly recommended.
STEVE GERARD and TRAGLIATA itself:
Last, but not least, I can not describe the place as anything but magical and authentic. It is a very simple and rustic venue that oozes atmosphere and makes everyone so relaxed. I dont not know what the venue would do without Steve Gerard and the staff there. So much goes on behind the scenes and they are so discreet. Steve is the most organised and helpful man i have ever come across. He put his heart and soul into our wedding weekend to make sure everything went to plan. Even though I sourced my own suppliers, I put them in touch with Steve to finalise things like timing, access to amplification, function rooms, access for the florist to the church etc. Steve goes above and beyond his role at Tragliata and the success of the place is a credit to him really.
I really dont think there was one thing that i was dissappointed with all during the wedding weekend. The BBQ on the Friday night was wonderful. The food was delicious and in abundance. The wine and beer just kept on flowing. Oh, they even made us a wedding cake (a profitta roll tower!).
It is a magical little place and Im so glad we found it. I visited the place twice before the wedding and i would say to anyone who is not in a position to visit before hand, to just book it anyway! You will not be disappointed. We did not want to go and visit any other venues once we seen Tragliata and I have no regrets.
For me the huge attraction was the fact that the church, reception, and guest accommodation are all within the confines of the borgo. No need for wedding car and fussing with guest transport. Everyone walked and strolled about and it was a very relaxing weekend.
Admin Help:
If anyone wants any of the following material, please just PM me your email address and I will email you the following.
- Invitation Letter (This is the letter we sent out with the invitations that includes info on flights, accommodation, what to expect etc. Also includes a map showing airports and Tragliata and directions).
- Mass booklet template (we just did a 2 page front and back booklet with heading and allowed the local priest to do his own thing).
- Welcome letter (we wrote a welcome letter with a run down of whats happening where and when) for guests on arrival. Steve printed them out for us and enclosed them in envelopes with the guest's rooms keys)
Take care and best wishes with all the planning. Its such a fun time.
Sorry its taken me 3 months to log on and write this onto the website.
Minnie x
