Category Archives: Guest Blog

Ciao, I’m Rebecca, Founder of LUCCIOLA and proud partner of Weddings at Lake Garda. 

Unveiling your retreat to quieter corners of Italy, LUCCIOLA explores (but are not limited to) small, boutique hotels, country houses, villas and agritourism farm stays. 

What does this mean for you? 

You have a wedding planner AND certified travel agent, to confirm all travel necessities and luxuries for you and your guests to your beautiful destination wedding on Lake Garda, and inspire the honeymoon of your dreams, in Italy or beyond. 

Every day is an experience. How can you get the best from your time on Lake Garda? 

There is something to inspire everyone, and LUCCIOLA can book it for you! (Remember: when You book, We donate). 

Are you… a foodie? A wine nut? Take a tour of the wineries tasting the wines of Lake Garda in beautiful village locations, or maybe you want to learn the local secrets of olive oil and amarone? The more real and grounded the experience, the more memorable it will be, so how about a market tour and cooking class, or step into a Cesarina’s home to understand the genius recipes behind pasta and tiramisu?

Scout the cultural heritage by boat with a tour of the castles (and Bardolino wine tasting!) or on foot wandering the museums of Torre di San Martino, Rocca di Solferino and Museo Risorgimentale di Solferino, or learning the “Love Stories of Sirmione”. Capture your own by scheduling a private photographer experience, or a private walking photography tour of the landscapes.

Ride the Lake differently. Lake Garda boasts an incredible range of active pursuits, and if you’re a cycle fanatic, take your pick! Racing Bike tours around The Sphinxes of Lessinia, from Lake Garda to Valpolicella, Verona, Monte Baldo, the cycle path in Limone… or for a chilled way around, hop on a Vespa pedal bike….or paddleboard!

Wind down in the thermal pools at Colà or at the Aquaria Thermal Spa in Sirmione before seeing sunset on a private romantic motorboat tour around the lake (some will take you to explore Garda Island, Punta San Vigilio or just the local peninsula). 

Things to consider when choosing a tour:

• Everyone will have different preferences: private or shared tour? Guided or self-guided? (i.e. follow your own nose!)
• How much time are you in that destination? Will the tour maximise your time there? There are tours available from as little as 30 minutes up to a full day.
• Will the experience suit everyone in your party? If half of you fancy a wine afternoon, but others want to hop on a Harley-Davidson motorcycle experience, maybe that would be money spent more wisely. Time spent apart is healthy, more so when the experience fulfils you both.
• As the travel agent, we join the dots, but if you are doing research of your own, check the tour’s departure point will be accessible for where you are coming from.

To enquire or book, check out www.lucciola.uk, follow me on Instagram or email [email protected] – I’m always here for a chat, business or otherwise.

Added note from Ginny, please check that you are up to date with the travel requirements to Italy as per this blog

Why choose Sustainable Wedding Stationery?

Choosing your wedding stationery can set the tone for your wedding day ahead. After all, it is the first part of your wedding that your loved ones will see. So why choose to use sustainable wedding stationery?

We had a chat about what makes eco-friendly and sustainable wedding stationery a great choice for your wedding with Simone, the creative stationery designer behind Ellie and Liv. Simone is passionate about creating invitations that are kind to the planet but don’t compromise on style or beauty.

So why choose sustainable stationery?

We all know that your stationery is a paper-heavy item at your wedding. Along with other elements of your wedding, this can make a real impact on the waste your wedding produces. By choosing to use carefully selected papers such as recycled, tree-free, seeded or FSC certified papers (sustainably produced paper) you are helping to reduce this impact.

Recycled papers are made from post-consumer waste. This means less landfill, less energy and less water are used to produce it. Long gone are the days when recycled papers were low quality, there are now some real luxurious options to chose from in the most amazing colours and textures. I’ve recently used some amazing vegan papers that contain food waste. They are some of the most beautiful papers I have ever used, with subtle colours and stunning flecks.

Just by swapping your paper, you have instantly reduced your impact on the environment.

Not just the paper?

When designing my stationery, I like to think of the whole journey it has taken. Yes, the paper is the largest factor, but how it is produced, printed and finished is all considered when I design for couples. I only work with suppliers who have strong environmental ethics that share my sustainable mindset.

Eco-friendly finishings

By choosing minimal finishings that are made of reusable or recyclable materials you will reduce the amount of waste your stationery will produce. Load your stationery up with glitter and plastic finishings and your invites will be going straight to landfill.

Great sustainable and eco-friendly finishings to use are

Bamboo silk ribbons – hand-dyed with natural dyes

Twine – made of natural fibres such as jute

Cotton – handmade cotton tassels

Metal clasps – these fancy paper clasps can be reused for years to come

Paper twine – easily biodegradable

Recycled paper bellybands – easily recyclable

Only print what you need

I believe that every wedding is as unique as the couple who are getting married, just because something is on the stationery tick list it doesn’t mean you have to have it or it is right for you.

There are many clever ways you can save on paper and reduce your stationery budget too.

Will I compromise on style if it is eco-friendly?  

Absolutely not, regardless of the fact I use environmentally friendly methods, I’m passionate that you receive stationery you adore. From the initial consultation to the delivery of your stationery I will work with you to capture the style of stationery you desire, that will reflect both your wedding and personality. All the elements I use have been carefully hand-selected by me. I am extremely fussy when it comes to the quality of the items I use. I test all the papers and finishing in my studio before I recommend them to you.

Packaging 

Waste doesn’t just stop at your stationery. The way your stationery is packaged also has an impact. All my stationery is packaged using recyclable elements.

Giving back

Alongside using environmentally friendly papers, suppliers and finishings I like to offset the impact my business makes, for every wedding stationery suite I design I plant and dedicate a tree in celebration of their wedding in one of the National Trusts woods. Not only helping our planet but creating new places for our future generations to enjoy.

If you would like to know more about how you can make your wedding stationery a sustainable part of your wedding then get in contact with the lovely Simone at

www.ellieandliv.com

Over the last few years I have also been offering a stand alone service as a Wedding Celebrant. In some cases this has been for couples who simply needed the Italian Civil Ceremony translated into English but more often it has been for couples who are having a symbolic ceremony. Couples might choose a symbolic ceremony for many different reasons but one of the advantages of it is that you can really personalize the ceremony itself. There are no longer restrictions over what text has to be read and there is complete freedom to shape it to suit the wedding that you want. And I have discovered a real joy for performing these ceremonies.

I’d love to share the story on one of my more recent Wedding Celebrant experiences. Luci & Robin had most of their wedding already planned but they didn’t have someone to perform the ceremony for them. Happily they found my contact through the wedding jungle drums on Lake Garda and they dropped me an e-mail. We followed this with a video call so they could tell me what they wanted for their big day. We don’t want the ceremony to be all about loving endearments and mush they said. We don’t want to say vows promising undying love, we just don’t talk like that. We want it to be fun and light hearted. Entertaining for our guests. So, a ceremony that’s not very ceremony like….. I took a little pause at this point to wonder how we could make sure their wedding, which was of course about their love for each other, wouldn’t be too lovey dovey, not too soppy.

I read their website to get a better idea of who they are and their style of showing up in the world and I learnt about their love of G&T’s which they say was really where it all began. Well, I thought, a G&T isn’t too far different to finding your perfect partner is it? There are just a few ingredients, Gin, Tonic, ice and a slice of course, it’s not complicated. But which is your favourite ? Is it a classic Rhubarb Gin with Fever Tree or is it a classic Hendricks with Fentimans ? Those two taste quite different. And so it is with love. It’s not about finding the perfect person (anyone out there going to try and sell us on how perfect they are ???) it’s about finding the right match that suits your tastes just perfectly. And so a ceremony about love was born – while talking about G&T’s.

Luci & Robin loved the idea and were totally sold but we still needed to find some readings. I then discovered that if you google ‘funny readings for weddings’ as I did, that many, many of them refer to animals in some way, I’m not sure why. That might be a discussion for another day. But I didn’t find anything that really felt just right. Then the morning I was going to have a meeting with Luci & Robin I had an inspirational download….. what about Friends. Joey married Monica & Chandler and of course it was funny. Luci & Robin are huge fans and loved the idea and so it was, that as I wound up their ceremony, I was quoting the eloquent Joey Tribiani with the biggest smile on my face.

If you’re looking for a Wedding Planner or Wedding Celebrant that has an open mind and heart to whatever you want for your special day please get in touch. [email protected]

Read the testimonials here

Photo credit @chillipictures

If you take nothing else from this read – Don’t make your honeymoon an afterthought… 

From the 2010 survey @womenshealthmag 76% said they would do something differently, so we scrolled the reflections of previous brides and grooms, and here’s what we learned…

💝 TAKE CARE OF YOU. I understand it is super stressful planning your own wedding (I wouldn’t know just yet!), let alone a honeymoon too, so delegate! Let me do all the necessities and niceties ensuring everything is in place for you – all you need to do is be present and soak it up.

⏰ TAKE IT EASY, NO RUSH. Depart once you have recovered from the wedding, start and finish the holiday with relaxation with one serious adventure in the middle (The Serenity Sandwich). Live every hour of every day, dawn until dusk and beyond 💃🕺

🌉Make it special, with unique experiences, from airport lounges at sunrise, to top class restaurants at sunset, spa treatments, watersports and winery visits. Maybe you want to hire a private boat? You’re investing in your wellbeing, memories and future so don’t short change yourselves.

YOU DESERVE THE WORLD ❤️

Oh, and who said you have to go to the other side of the world? Italy has it all, really. Let me show you!

Your honeymoon is the perfect time to spend uninterrupted time together, so why not start as you mean to go on, exploring, making memories?  Learning about one another is like a journey: you have to see past the initial facade, see the good, bad and the ugly (because we all have them!)  It is just like when you step into a new place: look around the corners, open the unfamiliar doors, and you will uncover the less obvious stories of the village, many breathtakingly beautiful.

Unveiling these lesser discovered, quieter corners of Italy is what LUCCIOLA does best.  Feel the moment, you and your better half at one with the world, doing whatever it is you love.  

Think outside the box…

Relaxing on the coast of Puglia, losing yourself in the undulating hills of Tuscany, walking the wine road in Veneto, maybe a yoga retreat in Umbria, or skiing in Piedmont…  The opportunities are endless, but while you enjoy your holiday, is you being there positively impacting the surrounding community and environment?  

The guidebooks’ favourites, typically Italian cities, are becoming saturated by tourists, or have reached ‘at risk’ status like Venice, a well documented case in the press.  Exploring alternative places or changing the approach to those incredibly iconic places will reduce contribution to this rising issue of overtourism, and also help even out the economic benefits of tourism across Italy.

Considering the local environment and Italian people does not have to compromise your pleasure.  In fact, they can come at one with one another.

LUCCIOLA is here to support you on this transition, to ignite hope, inspiration and confidence in travelling to those places you have had in mind (or ones you didn’t know you need to see). By focusing on the hidden gems in spaces you can breathe, choosing small hotels, country houses and farm stays (agritourism), you will be warmly welcomed by locals, who will thus offer the best quality experience for you.

How about agritourism?

🏞️ This is a way you can support local families and enterprises, promote and learn about local culture, and relax into some of the most stunning rural landscapes.

🍷You will enjoy the best quality food and wine, sourced on the estate or locally. If tranquility is what you’re after, the capacity of guests at any one time is approximately 10-30% of the average hotel size more closely associated with mass tourism hotel / destinations. Each establishment is unique – we can choose the right option for you depending how much peace you’re seeking

🏡 You will be so warmly welcomed by the host during your stay on their vineyard / estate. They will know the best places to go in the area, and they will make the effort to get to know you, and your fellow guests, personally. These make for the most memorable moments and connections for life.

Thrive off the city buzz?

Make that city escape, but consider staying in a beautiful abode, hosted by those authentically Italian, in the side streets within walking distance of the action.

You help the community when you book with LUCCIOLA.  How? 

People are central to my passion for this business – LUCCIOLA supports locals and tourists alike, with sustainability and mental health. As we have not ignored the pandemic, we cannot ignore the mental health pandemic on the horizon as a result – that’s why 10% of all commission from your travel bookings will be donated to MIND, the mental health charity. 

LUCCIOLA promotes my recommended way of seeing Italy, though there are no limits to the accommodation and destinations I can book, so I have exciting solutions for anyone looking to get away ASAP, or simply seeking inspiration for next year.  

One piece of advice: 

DO NOT make your honeymoon an afterthought – you deserve the world.

It is a huge task getting married, the honeymoon, so delegate – no shame in reaching out for help.

Stay tuned for lessons from previous brides and grooms, and inspiration for how we will give you an unregrettably fantastic honeymoon.

To find out more and how best to reach out, check out www.lucciola.uk – I’m always here for a chat, business or otherwise.

Guest Blog courtesy of Becky at LUCCIOLA. If you’d love some help with your honeymoon plans in Italy or even your travel to Italy for the wedding please feel free to reach out to Becky [email protected]