Fodor's Travel Talk Forums - Wedding and Honeymoon in Italy

In the hopes of bestowing upon fodorites the same useful information I received pre-trip, I want to quickly run through where we stayed and what we did, in case you too are planning a wedding or honeymoon in Italy. (mind you, I did not travel all over Italy...just Tuscany and Cinque Terre).

Pre-wedding, our friends and family (started at 16 and grew to 30 by the day before the wedding) stayed at Villa Mucellena in Colle Val D'Elsa. (www.mucellena.com). It was the PERFECT villa for the amount of people we had. It included a WONDERFUL staff (Roberto made cappuccinos each morning - 2 euros), a pool ...it was all so fabulous. We rented the whole villa, but the rooms can be rented separately according to how many people you have in your group. It's not the easiest place to get to without specific instructions...but after we weathered the driving in Italy bit...we still got lost, but eventually found it again.
For paperwork and our last night in Florence, we stayed at two places. First was Tourist Hotel Ghiberti - not many rooms, but oh so well located and gorgeous...it is filled with the work of the artist who used to live there and the staff is extremely helpful...includes a sauna, which we did not use, but was a selling point...so was the high speed internet, which was necessary to contact guest. And for the last night we stayed at Grand Hotel Baglioni...a gorgeous terrace and huge room. It's not the cheapest place to go...but the roof top terrace is well worth it and it is oh so close to the train station, for those, like us who didn't have a car at that point. (We got a great deal through venere.com)
Pre-ceremony, we visited Colle Val D'Elsa, San Gimignano and Siena...the location of the wedding.
We had a "rehearsal dinner" at Castillo di Verrazzano (sound familiar? See Rachel Ray $40 a day Tuscany). For a minimum of 30 people you get a tour of the winery plus a fabulous dinner...wine pairings with each course..and spectacular views. Everyone LOVED this bit and I recommend it highly for those who can do it. The winery is in Greve in Chianti and their website is www.verrazzano.com.
The wedding itself was beyond perfection and was held in the Museo Civico in Siena...Right in the Piazza. It could not have been better. Thanks to my friend Beth who was the first to be married in Italy and gave me the desire to follow suit. (No, I didn't plan ALL of this myself, I had the extraordinary help of a wedding coordinator)
The post-ceremony reception was held in Osteria Da Divo. (Again...Rachel Ray, but actually was a recommendation of the coordinator). Again...perfection. Like Rick Steves said (do I hear moaning ;-) ) the lamb goes "baaah" in your mouth everything is so fresh.
We honeymooned in the Cinque Terre. We based in Manarola at Airpau (SP?) It was a cute hotel, but we walked right past it several times before finding it. I think Manarola was a great base for us because it WAS quiet. Verrazzano WAS too touristy and Riomaggiore seemed more for the "young" crowd. But, if I had to do it again, I would stay in Levanto, just north of the CT. It's on the same train line, but the beach is huge and the town seemed cute and quiet.
The CT was the perfect place to spend our (3 day) honeymoon because all we had to do was hike and eat and relax. Just what I wanted. I have traveled many a time before and I didn't want to be exhausted from trying to do too much. It was such a perfect place to go for a short time when all you want to do is relax. I wouldn't recommend it, though if you're coming from America...probably a side trip from Tuscany is the perfect plan.

Well, I hope this helps some people with their plans. I am sure you'll have questions and I'd be happy to answer any of them. But, I had such an amazing experience I could not wait to share.