One of the biggest perks of planning a destination wedding in Italy is that you and your guests can enjoy wedding celebrations in a relaxed, fun, and stunning new environment. You will all get to enjoy a beautiful and new experience: discovering Italy, bingeing on pasta, celebrating with a prosecco in hand, and most importantly spending quality time with your favorite people! You will find that Italy is, indeed, a great destination wedding location choice, with the multitude and variety of unique and fun destination wedding activities you can plan!
Your family and friends came from halfway across the world to join you in celebrating your unions, but let’s be real here, the travel and vacation part was also a motivating factor! So, it is only normal to make it worth their while and show them your appreciation by planning some cool events with an Italian twist!
In this article we will inspire you with some destination wedding events you can host or suggest for them to spend a great destination wedding weekend (or week! Who’s counting!?).
Let’s start with the best types of Pre- & Post destination wedding Celebration Ideas
Planning pre and post-wedding festivities is a great way to jump-start the party or end the destination wedding trip on a memorable note! While parties like the Bachelorette or Rehearsal Dinner are more common, with destination weddings, you can plan many festivities to double the fun and extend the celebrations!
Planning these events doesn’t necessarily imply covering all of the expenses. However, it is common etiquette and highly appreciated and recommended to host and cover expenses for at least one of them. And don’t worry about your destination wedding budget; there are so many possibilities available that you can select the event and location that suit your budget the most. We promise your gesture will go a long way! More on the costs of a destination wedding in Italy that you should or should not cover here.
Let’s go through our favorite and the most popular destination wedding event ideas you can host, and how to plan them in a way that takes your Italian wedding to the next level.
The Welcome party or Rehearsal Dinner
A pre-wedding party is the best way to greet your guests and kick off the Italian wedding celebrations! It is also the perfect opportunity for everyone to mingle and get to know each other. By introducing your guests to each other, you will guarantee a cohesive mood with a family feel throughout all of your destination wedding events. This could be any kind of event, from sunset drinks or a bar gathering to a full-on dinner party.
Pre-wedding parties are usually held the night (or day) before the wedding. It is however preferable for destination weddings to host these parties when your guests are set to arrive (or at least most of them are).
Rehearsal dinners are the traditional welcome party, but, especially in destination weddings, most couples opt for the former as it involves all the guests instead of being limited to the family and wedding party.
Here are a few ideas for an Italian pre-wedding party:
- If you’re in a beautiful city like Florence, why not plan a laid-back and very welcoming Italian-style aperitivo: think sunset drinks on a rooftop overlooking stunning landscapes, beautiful rooftops, and historical landmarks.
- Plan a cozy and warm gathering if you are getting married in the Italian Dolomites in winter. Set the romantic but fun mood by hosting your welcome party in a cozy wooden chalet-style venue, overlooking either the snowy peaks or the gorgeous rainbow-colored lakes like Lake of the Cadore.
- Dinner cruises are the best way to combine good food, style, party vibes, socializing, and sightseeing! If you are getting married in Venice then a dinner cruise across the canal will certainly be a crowd-pleaser!
The Post-wedding brunch / Morning-after brunch
Nothing like good authentic Italian food to cure those wedding post-party hangovers and relax from a full festive day. After all, a gathering to discuss how awesome the day before was and debrief of the wedding events is a MUST! It is the perfect opportunity to unwind and send off your guests on a beautiful, positive, and appreciative note. Think long rustic banquet tables, endless buffets, or brunch on the grass vibes. Post-wedding brunches are usually held between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. the next day following your wedding to allow guests to relax and recharge their batteries!
Here are a few ideas for an Italian post-wedding brunch:
- Nothing is more relaxing than unwinding on a Terrazza (that’s a terrace with an awesome Italian feel) on the Amalfi Coast. Style, stunning coastal views, sophistication, and good Italian food will certainly be on the menu for a relaxing yet elegant Italian morning-after brunch!
- Now, the following is something you can do in almost every Italian wedding venue, especially villas & borgos: Italian venues boast stunning lush green gardens and surroundings that would be the perfect spot for a laid-back, al-fresco brunch! Think olive groves, vineyards, countryside rustic vibes, etc. according to the area you are getting married in.
Extra point? plan it on the poolside and enjoy the fun!
Pre- or Post-wedding day group activities
Group activities are a great bonding experience! You will be able to share fun moments with your close ones and create wonderful memories. Try to go for out-of-the- box activities to make it both an enriching and memorable event! Pre-wedding group activities are great because they will bring your guests together, creating awesome and fun vibes throughout the course of the destination wedding festivities!
Here are a few ideas for Italian destination wedding activities to entertain your guests before or after the wedding day:
- Spend an exciting and fun day celebrating in true Italian Lake style by going sailing for a day in Lake Como. Sea, sun, and party all the way!
- What is a destination wedding in Tuscany without a winery tour? Take your tribe on a fun winery tour, taste the wines and cheer for your happily ever after. Take the experience to a whole new (Italian) level by renting Vespas and touring several vineyards (Can we please tag along?).
And if you are getting married in the Veneto countryside, then go for a Prosecco Tour instead! - Learn how to make handmade pasta from scratch from a (real) Italian chef! This is one fun activity where you’ll get to spend quality time with your friends & family, bonding over your new cooking skills! Or lack thereof 🙂
- Or just keep it simple and spend the day at your venue’s pool!
Now that you have an idea of the wedding activities & events you can plan, here are some tips to help you get started
– Start thinking of the wedding events and plan them early on:
This will help you estimate and manage the budgets & cost of your destination wedding in Italy. You will also be able to plan the wedding activity you want without being restricted by availabilities. Here is some more info on how early you should start planning your destination wedding in Italy
– Consider Family-friendly and Adults-only activities
You are inviting your friends and family, which means you will have various age groups and interests. So have a close look at your wedding guest list before you start planning your activities. While you can’t cater to every single demographic, it would be nice to offer a few suitable options or just plan an event that will work for everyone!
– Rely on regional Italian destination wedding guides
Knowing the Italian region you are getting married in is a must, especially before planning activities. Make sure you read destination wedding guides as well as touristic guides to know all the things to do in your location and its surroundings. You will find a lot of helpful suggestions and information in our Italy Destination Wedding Guides like these guides to Veneto’s countryside, Tuscany, or the Italian Lakes. These guides will give you some much-needed insights and background on the Italian wedding location of your choice, including the types of wedding venues in the area as well various guest activity options available.
– Solicit the help of your Italian destination wedding planner
An Italian destination wedding planner specialized in your area will help you organize every destination wedding-related event. They know the best activities, the fun things-to-do and every unique or out-of-the-box experience available in the region and its surroundings. They will help you at every stage from organizing the festivities, decorating them to handling the logistics & transportation. Need more convincing? Check out the 9 reasons to hire a destination wedding planner in Italy.
– Inform your guests of the planned events prior to the trip
Keep in mind that this is not only a wedding celebration weekend for your guests but also a vacation and tourism trip. So make sure you give them a heads-up so that they can organize their time, plan their trip and pack suitable outfits! You can even go the extra mile and provide them with a printed & detailed schedule of the wedding weekend to keep with them for reference. A nice gesture would be to put it in their hotel rooms or add it to a welcome pack.
– Don’t overlook guest transportation & accessibility
While fun and good times are the ultimate objectives of your destination wedding weekend activities, it is important to consider distances and events duration. Hence, the importance of hiring a reliable guest transportation provider in Italy. If you are in Tuscany and planning a sightseeing tour of the surrounding villages, make sure not to schedule it for the next day after the wedding: your guests will be tired and not ready for a road trip no matter how tempting it is!
– Go for that extra-Italian touch
When planning your wedding activities and celebrations we highly recommend you include a true Italian vibe by either incorporating Italian wedding traditions and local & regional menu specialties be it for food or drinks. After all, everyone is there for an authentic Italian wedding experience!
A destination wedding in Italy is surely an emotional, fun, and fabulous experience for both you and your guests, and with our help, we hope to make it even more memorable! WedBoard is here to help you every step of the way! Use our Smart Venue Search to browse the most gorgeous Italian venues and chat directly with our list of the highest qualified Italian wedding vendors to make sure you get the best of everything. Meanwhile, stay tuned for more tips on planning a destination wedding in Italy!
Feature image – Photo: David Bastianoni | Venue : Lucca Apartments & Villas | Panner: Bianco Rosa Weddings
