10/09/2007

Villa del Balbianello

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Attention Brides: In case you’re still undecided on your wedding venue, Joy and I found the perfect spot today and we’d be happy to tell you about it. Villa del Balbianello sits on Punta di Lavedo, a romantic peninsula on the shoreline of beautiful Lake Como in northern Italy.

“Breathless” doesn’t even begin to describe the scene, and no, even through I tried, there are no photos that could do this place justice. Accessed by boat from Bellagio, the villa was the setting of a scene in Casino Royale, the most recent James Bond film, and one of the Star Wars movies.

The villa was originally constructed in the late 1700s and the most recent owner, Guido Monzino a prominent business man and famous explorer, left the estate to the National Trust fund of Italy when he died in 1988. The inside of the villa remains as Monzino left it, and daily tours are conducted. The gardens outside are meticulously maintained, and our tour guide confirmed that yes, they do host weddings on the outside garden terrace under the mushroom oak tree overlooking the lake.

Soooo, if you’re considering a wedding in Europe, or more specifically northern Italy, this is my shameless plug for the Villa del Balbianello. And of course you would need a fine photographer as well (hint, hint).

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One of the towns along Lake Como
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The narrow streets of Bellagio
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8 comments:

Brandy J Rammel said...

Ok, Sticky and I are planning our much overdue honeymoon and now it goes from 2 to 3 options.

Absolutely gorgeous!! It we were not already married we may just fall for your plug;-)

Kara Pennington Photography said...

This place is GORGEOUS!

K.C. said...

We were just in Italy this past March, it's a beautiful place. And you're right, that would be a great place for a wedding.

Anonymous said...

We were just in Italy....in fact, right when you were there. Upon closer review of your pictures, we were in your tour group. I remember the woman who was our guide and in the library picture, I see some of friends who we were traveling with.

Great pictures!

LaCour said...

This place looks amazing! Why couldn't I have come on this one too? You owe me some gelato :)

--Andrew

Anonymous said...

We got married here!!! We had the most wonderful time, our wedding day really was the best day of my life in the most special location. This villa is so beautiful, and the people are all so wonderful. We had fantastic weather, the sun was shining off the mountains and the guests were amazed at the beautiful setting. All the staff that helped us was incredible, we worked with Sonia and Alberto at www.weddingitaly.com absolutely suggested!!! I cannot speak highly enough of all the staff involved in our wedding Giuseppe the photographer and Sonia to mention only a few. The meal was of extremely high quality and was presented with such care. You are right! this is the perfect venue for a wedding!

franki durbin said...

I wanted to tell you how STUNNING your work is! I featured some of your work in a post on my blog. I've given credit to your work and linked back to your site. Please let me know if you would like additional copyright information to appear. I LOVE your work!

http://www.lifeinaventicup.com/2008/12/if-its-good-enough-for-daniel-craig.html

vanessa stirling said...

can someone help us? we are trying to book the Balbianello for our wedding this may, we want to take it for a few hours (4-8 pm) for the ceremony and some cocktails after (reception dinner at another location) and have been given a million different price quotes for this ranging from 4000 eur up to 12000 eur. Can someone tell us what is the actual price for renting this location for 4 hours on a saturday afternoon/early evening? thanks so much! vanessa