The plans start coming along...
The wedding will be celebrated in Tuscany, Italy, in the area of Civitella Marittima. The village is located between Siena and Grosseto, in a very beautiful area.
We will get married in the afternoon, at 4:00 p.m., in a church. The church that we have chosen is called Pieve di Santa Maria a Lamula, and it is a medieval church near Castel del Piano, on Mount Amiata. We are still waiting for a definitive answer from our priest, but it should be confirmed.
The church is almost 1 hour away from the location of the reception, but it is a very scenic drive through "postcard Tuscany". Besides we really hope that, in case it was very hot, its location in a chestnut grove at 600m a.s.l. will give us some relief!
The church (8th century) is build in a very simple and clean Romanesque style and houses a beautiful wooden statue of the Virgin and Child, probably sculpted by some artist of the Sienese school of Jacopo della Quercia.
It is known to most people as "Pieve della Mula", literally "the parish church of the mule", because the legend says that, unable to reach an agreement on the location of a new church, the locals decided to build it in the exact spot where a mule would stop. The mule stopped here, and the two little holes still visible in the time-worn stone threshold by the main gate are said to be the marks left by the mule's knees.
Those who are curious can find a link about the Pieve on our links page and some photos of the church are available in the photogallery. See also a Google Map of the venue.
The reception will follow the religious ceremony, and at the Castle of Grotti.
As yet, we still need to discuss the details. Marcel's only certainty is that he wants an open bar...
Actually, we have a pretty clear idea of what we want at this point. We are thinking of a stand-up "aperitivo" and "antipasto", either in a different part of the garden where we will have dinner or in a completely different area of the castle. We need to discuss logistics with the caterers. A seated dinner will follow in the garden (weather permitting) and then the cut of the cake and the after dinner (open bar and music) will be in the garden or in the Limonaia. If it rains (...) we will do everything in the hall with the columns and in the limonaia. But let's hope that it will be a nice sunny and dry day!
Those who are curious can find a link to the Castle's website on our links page and some photos of the castle are available in the photogallery. See also a Google Map of the venue.
We will also have two smaller informal receptions for friends and family members who will not be at the wedding dinner, one in the village area and one in Pisa. They will both be after the wedding, even though the local Tuscan tradition is to have this "rinfresco" the week before the wedding.
The "rinfresco" near Civitella will be on Sunday, June 29th at Podere Santa Maria. It will be in the late afternoon, a sort of buffet dinner with afterdinner, until Elena, the owner, kicks us out!
We are aware that June 29 is the day of the UEFA Euro2008 Final and we promise a screen to watch the game...!
Those who are curious can find a link to the agriturismo website on our links page and some photos of the countryside villa are available in the photogallery. See also a Google Map of the venue.
We will also have a small thing in Pisa, maybe just a small cocktail party at a bar, to celebrate with our friends from there who will not attend the wedding. We haven't planned anything specific yet, but we are thinking of having this small party on the 25th, something extremely simple. Maybe we will also have a small dinner party at our place in the evening with the friends who are at work in the morning. We still need to think this through.
And for all our friends and family members who will not be able to celebrate with us in Italy, we are having another semi-formal reception in Ottawa. It will be a dinner reception on Saturday, August 16th at the Chimo Hotel. Thank you Colin and Marjorie for organizing this!
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