An Italian Wedding!

I must admit that I have always been a sucker for foreign weddings. I still tell stories about the Persian wedding that Anna took me to about fifteen years ago that ended at 4:00 in the morning! My experience has been that all other cultures do weddings in a much more interesting way than we do, so when we were invited to our friends Chiara and Massimo’s special day in early June, we jumped at the chance to experience our first Italian wedding!

The event was held at an old villa in the hills of Fiesole overlooking the city of Florence. The villa itself was worth the visit. With amazing views of the city and a grand garden, the villa which was built in the 1600’s made for a perfect setting for a night of celebration.

I’ve always felt that weddings were nothing more than a strange swap of gifts, with the guests going out and buying items off the registry and the bride and groom buying the guests dinner with alcohol and entertainment. In Italy, this arrangement is exactly the same, but where things differ is in the quality of food served! This was truly an amazing spread, not the usual choice of chicken or salmon that you get at the local Marriott banquet room here in the States!

When the guests arrived from the church, they were greeted with glasses of prosecco (An Italian sparking wine that is much sweeter than Champagne and frequently enjoyed before appetizers.)

Next came the finger foods, nothing really special here, just the same old stuff.

Following finger foods, the buffet tables were opened and damn were they good! There were literally seven or eight different types of fresh carved meats (Three types of prociutto, three types of salami, carved turkey, mortadella the list went on). Huge grills had been set up for grilling prawns, fresh fish brochettes and huge t-bone steaks and grilled veggies. There was a pasta station with three types of pasta, risotto, fresh tomatoes that tasted like candy and buffalo mozzarella for caprese salad.

By the time deserts rolled around, I was stuffed like a pig at a luau and ready to take a nap!

So in summary, Weddings in Italy aren’t much different than those in the US, with the exception of course the food, which in the end is the most important thing about a wedding as far as I’m concerned!