A Tuscan-Themed Wedding
Tuscany, a hilly region near the middle of Italy, is renowned for its red wines, magnificent scenery, and simply sophisticated cuisine ... not to mention the medieval charm of its walled towns, castles and fortresses.
Then, there are the olive groves, vineyards and rambling farmhouses, and that dreamy blue sky.
If you or your fiancé have Italian ties, a Tuscan theme wedding is a great way to celebrate them. And even if you don't, the Tuscan or Italian country theme is a great way to make the most of any outdoor setting.
The cornerstone of the Tuscan theme is simple elegance. Often, this theme shows up in vineyards, country clubs, and manicured gardens. It's also a good choice for Italian-theme banquet rooms or restaurants (especially those with arches, columns or warmly-colored stucco).
Decorating for your Tuscan-Theme Wedding
Start with the signature colors of Tuscany: gold and a color actually known as Tuscan red, which leans toward brick. Olive makes a great (and traditional) accent. But you can choose any color combination you want.
After that, simply think about what makes a vineyard romantic. Hanging lanterns let your reception linger into the evening. Parasols give your bridal party a graceful, old-world look. Tiered fountains add gallons of ambiance.
How you go about the nuts and bolts from here really depends on your tastes. For a relaxed look, draw on the graphics of vintage Italian wine posters, or old-world maps. Scan in your favorites and use these to turn out one-of-a-kind table cards or invitations. Display your table cards over wine bottles topped with a slotted cork.
You could also create (or buy) rustic cork placecard holders. For whimsical look, light up key tables and focal points with grape cluster string lights.
Ivy (real or faux) will give any glass canister instant vineyard flair. More laid-back ideas for table decorations: pitchers filled with bread sticks in appealing spiral shapes, mason jars filled with miniature sunflowers, Gerber daisies and the occasional rose, or bowls or urns heaped with gilded fruit.
The cake is the biggest focal point of any reception after the bride, so many brides like to take this uptown even if the reception's more relaxed. A Tuscan-themed cake is a wonderful chance to dabble in the forefront of cake artistry, like texture (such as Venetian lace), gold leaf (think elaborate gold medallions), or even a painted-on rendition of a gorgeous Tuscan china pattern. But if you want to keep things simple, three clean tiers banded by gold and red ribbons will look just as beautiful. Set off your cake table with the traditional cake letters, but spell "AMORE" instead of "I DO."
A Taste of Tuscany
Many caterers will have a good idea where to start if you ask for a Tuscan buffet, a Tuscan food station or even an all-over Tuscan menu.
Tuscan cuisine prides itself on presenting simple food that just knocks you out with its excellence. Any Tuscan menu is going to highlight unpretentious but perfectly-done combinations of peasant breads, soft cheeses, tomatoes, beans, olive oils and wine. Typically appearing the menu are starters like antipasto, bread sticks, and Tuscan white bean bean paté on crostini.
You also might find a selection of the finest olives (and tasty derivatives like tapenade), fruit compotes, and delicious cured meats like Tuscan ham and salami. Or in the European tradition, golden pears poached in a flavorful red wine, then knocked over the top with goat cheese and honey. A Tuscan ravioli filled with grilled eggplant, spinach and a variety of cheeses would draw raves as a main course.
For beverages, serve San Pellegrino to whet your guests' whistles, and Prosecco for toasts (its sweeter flavor makes it the perfect pairing for cakes everywhere). When it's time to dish up the cake, make it even more enjoyable by bringing out the barista and offering espresso and cappuccinos.
Also, keep in mind that no theme offers a better excuse to entertain your guests during cocktail hour with a wine tasting. Hire a local expert to help bring out the nuances of your wines and really make things memorable.
The Sweet Sounds of Amore
Music is indispensable to any Italian wedding. But a vineyard wedding calls for intimacy: a classical guitarist or a string quartet, say. Alternately, a small operatic choir will have your guests leaping from their seats (and searching for tissues). As the night goes on, an traditional Italian band will get your guests stamping to the strains of the Tarantella.
Gifting Your Guests
There's so many possibilities for favors at your Tuscan theme wedding. Let's start with the food: consider bottles of imported, herbed olive oil ... or real balsamic vinegar, or Italian truffles. Also popular are bottles of hearty Tuscan wine, personalized with wine labels bearing the couple's wedding date. The favor market's bursting with appealing wine accessories, such as
wine stopper favors and
wine charms. Of course, Jordan almonds are never out of place at any Italian wedding.
A Final Note
The elegant country theme has universal appeal, whether it's the rustic sophistication of Provence or the old-world simplicity of Tuscany. If you're lucky enough to have some Italian in your background or a beautiful vineyard nearby, the Tuscan theme is a great way to celebrate close to the heart.
Melinda T,
Hello! Thanks for the “shout out!” I thought I would just let you know that we didn’t use lights inside the bottles. What I don’t have a very good picture of (and it unfortunately doesn’t show in the photo but hopefully shows in the one I will try to attach), is the fact that we found some amazing, inexpensive glasses which had vines on them – they reminded me of something you might find in your grandma’s house! We put candles in them and put oodles on the table so, at night, it made that amazing lighting affect! Just letting you know, in case you can’t find something to drop down inside the bottles! Congratulations on your engagment and I’m sure your wedding will be beautiful!
warmest regards,
mishka
For my Tuscan vineyard wedding this May ’08, I’m using Wine Jellies as favors. Wine Jellies are used to dip cheese into or you could spread it on a cracker. I’m putting the little jar of jelly into a small box, wrapping a silk ribbon around it, and sliding a little tiny plastic spoon in the ribbon knot. It cost $7 each but it’s so classy and different. If you don’t like wine jelly you could do honey. By the way, I love the ideas on this site..it really helped me get a start in the right direction. I was truly inspired!!!!!!
Hi guys, we are doing an outdoor wedding at sunset, and I am using wine bottles two ways for decor.
First is, we are starting with empty chianti bottles with the pretty wooden wrap around the base, putting in ceramic wicks (these are cheap, 20 for about $25), and then putting glass flame protectors over those (like miniature hurricane lamps). if you look you can find the flame protectors for about $6.
The other idea is from this beautiful table (pic is from incredible designer http://www.mishkadesignspv.com). I don’t have this completely worked out yet but I need to find submersible LEDs small enough to fit down the neck of the bottles, then fill the bottles with water and insert a single white rose as shown in the picture, I am in love with that look.
Well, hope that helps someone!
Where did you find the glass flame protectors?
I love both the ideas! I am trying to find out how to cut the bottom out of the bottles so that we can put a candle inside the bottles.
Amanda,
I work at a country club and vineyard and we made some awesome center pieces for our wine tasting dinners. We purchased plain wreaths then hot glued about 40 or so wine corks around until you couldn’t see the wreath. Then we used it around hurricanes with candles. I even found wine candles in the scents of merlot, chardonnay and sangria. You could ask a local restaraunt to save corks for you for a couple of weeks. If you are crafty you could break different colored wine bottles and mosaic the hurricanes. The green, and yellow glass would cast a beautiful glow.
did you use straw or vine wreaths?
Absolutely. The colors are burgandy, ivory, gold, and olive green. We are going to have frames with the town names. Each table will have a centerpiece with our colors and grapes draping throughout. We are having passed wine at the cocktail hour and poured wine at dinner. The welcome baskets will include wine glasses, and a bottle of wine with a few treats. Please continue sharing ideas so much fuN!
Is it the custom for female guests to wear suits at a wedding in Tuscany?
Sunflower & olives wedding cake! Love this.
Okay what are the ingredients in this beautful display. i see all the colors I want for my wedding event.
Hi Amanda,
That is such a great idea about having tables set as Tuscan towns! May I ask how you are doing that?? Also, what are your colors??
I handmade all of my tuscan themed wedding decor for my Oct 07 wedding. I am now selling my Tuscan decor… please check it out ladies!!! http://cspham07.googlepages.com/home
Hey all ~ great ideas. We are getting married 9/26/08 and having a Tuscan Themed wedding. We are really playing up the wine theme and will have tables set as Tuscan Towns and different wines with images. We are having passed wine and wine poured at each table. SUch a great way to celebrate!
Hi everyone, I am putting together a tuscan wedding for august,. Here are some pics of what I am using, the colors are sage, brown and wine…Wish me luck as I am doing all the flowers myself, even floating pool wreaths!!!!! Yikes. Good luck to all of you and enjoy……….Diann
I am having a Tuscan themed wedding as well, but mine will be in October! I absolutely LOVE your wine bottle centerpiece! It’s amazing. You are very talented! Good luck!
Here is the most beautiful Tuscan wedding I have ever seen, in a vineyard. A beautiful palette of mocha and brown with touches of peach and pear … not to mention a truly gorgeous couple. Check out the chocolate figs, the escort cards pinned over grape leaves, the bride’s lovely cameo, the delicate peonies, the table numbers casually propped into personalized wine glasses … NOT to miss.
Click here to see the full montage or go here to see a slideshow of everything.
We are getting married September 28, 2008, we are both of Italian descent as well, I would love to have an Italian poem that can be read in Italian, as well as translated to English at the reception.
here are pics of the centerpieces i made…u can use different coloured grapes…i am going to be painting the pots a brownish/black and brushing them with gold…if anyone wants to know how i made these…email me!! good luck everyone!!
Dear Lynne Gioia,
I’m unsure of the saying that you’re referring to, but another fun quote is “Love and Wine, Better with Time”
We got married at Bella Sera in Canonsburg PA and went crazy with the Tuscan theme… check out my bio for tons of pictures and ideas. I am selling ALL of my handmade Tuscan centerpieces, arch swag, matching flower baskets.. etc.. email me for prices. We also did yummy olive oil favors which were a HUGE hit! I found parchment paper wedding invitations at Carlson Craft. I am in the midst of scrapbooking my pictures and locating Tuscan items. If anyone wants more info.. email me! Have fun planning ladies!
I was reading everyones ideas and thought I might share what I am doing to see if it helped inspire anyone or if anyone could help inspire me. I am doing a garden wedding in an old inn- our jewish ceremony is outside and we are doing a sharing of the wine (anyone could do it). Our reception is under a large tent with lanterns and lots of funky flowers in warm yellow, orange, red and green tones with fiddleheads and eucliptis. We are having a few wine touches. For example wine cork seating cards, our table numbers will be bottles of wine with the number on a label to do it we are just covering the wine label with cardstock and double stick tape. For favors we are making a donation to the MS foundation for family reasons and our guest book is a ceramic vase with our intials for everyone to sign which is going in a wine crate with rice so guests can position the vase to sign it easier. I hope that helped someone. I am thinking what I should do for some of the small glass tables in our venue to incorporate the winecork or wine glass theme (I can have no open flames). Also what do you do for the gift table people sometimes have the bird cages for cards and I wanted something more to go with the wine theme – is a wooden wine crate too boring?? If you have any ideas feel free to share
Thanks
Please don’t forget we have a new Wine Country Wedding article here that also might help!
Tara would I be able to see your pictures? If anyone else has any pictures to share I would really appreciate it. I’m also planning a wine-themed wedding but I’m just starting to plan so I’m looking for ideas. Thanks!
I love these ideas – Please share images
Time to drool! Here’s some inspirational pics from a gorgeous, understated Tuscan-style wedding. The couple chose Tuscan-style architecture as the backdrop to their engagement photos, and for their venue.
The table decor was simple: lots of bottles of wine, and lots of rose petals.
For colors, they used purple, pink and pale green, but modernized the purple by going with a vivid aubergine. At the same time, the cream-colored roses in the cake and bride’s bouquet were utterly classic. Have you ever seen anything more beautiful than that cake?
Tara – I am doing a wine/Napa Valley theme for my wedding in December 2008. I would love to see some of your pictures!!!!!!
Tara,
I would love to see your centerpieces. I’ve got two ideas (wine glasses with candles, ivy and fake grapes OR giant champagne glasses filled with water, fake grapes, and floating candles), but they’re about $20 each, so I’d be curious to see yours!
pkremer1 at hotmail dot com
Hey Girls,
I am planning a wedding next october and our theme is wine/italian…for centerpieces i am making topiary type centerpieces with fake grapes and foliage…they stand at about 2 feet high and cost me about 10$ to make each…good old Dollarama!! i have some pics…anyone can post here and leave their email and i can send some…we are having our reception in a ballroom…i will be renting wicker balls from 6 inches in dia. to 30 or more inches in dia. with ivy and white christmas lights intertwined hanging at different lenghts on top of the dancefloor…my colours will be sage/chardonay/gold and creams…for table number i got cheap wooden frame at dollarrama and cut corks in half and glued them on frame…also using types of wine as table #’s intead of actual Numbers….here is a wicked site http://www.askginka.com/themes/grapestheme.htm
Toni ~ I think your home would be great for a tuscan wedding. The only problem would be the weather, that is if you are on the Northeast.
I would like to have a Tuscan wedding at our home outside. Would that be to odd for an April wedding?
Hi girls, I’m so excited about plannig all the cerimony
What do you think about this wonderful “Villa” http://www.poggiogolo.com? This will be the scenario for my wedding … next year.
can’t wait….
Hi Deb: try googling for “Alto Stripe Antique Gold,
WAVERLY BELLA TUSCANY COLLECTION”
I found some sites that sell it, but didn’t immediately find ones that ship overseas. You might have better luck! It may be discontinued, I wasn’t able to find information on it at Waverly itself, but some shops still apparently have stock.
Hello, I am trying to get hold of the green, gold and terracotta “Bella Tuscany” fabric as seen in the swatch above next to the balsamiv vinegar and corks on this page above. I live in Sydney Australia and bought some, but the shop has run out now. Please help? Thanks.
Deb Boyle
Okay, so we are getting married at a vineyard and the reception will be held outside. Our colors are ivory, gold, and cabernet/wine. The venue is very old world Tuscan inspired so we’re playing with the wrought iron thing. Some of our tables will have a high iron candle holder with flowers at the top and ivy wrapped around the stem. Others will have wine glasses with votive candles (some without stems to give it dimension). Our place card holders will be corks from the winery with a slit. For the favors, we’re growing Oregano and putting it in small pots. We’re going to Italy for our honeymoon so we’ve decided to name our tables after Italian provinces (Venice, Rome, Tuscany, etc.). We’re going to incorperate grapes into the floral designs on the tables and in the bouquets and our cake will have grapes on it as well. We’re also having an acoustic guitar playing during the ceremony (and our procession will be to Quello che sarà , sarà which is a family favorite of ours). We were thinking about printing our own labels for the wine glasses that will be at each tabel but we haven’t decided. Also, since ours is more of Italian than wine themed, we’ll be having an espresso cart. There will be a cheese display and we’ve worked with our caterer to have a complete Italian menu. Also, our guest book and favors will be on wine barrels.
I want to think of other small ideas and details but am lacking ideas. Hope this helps and if you guys have any other ideas, please share.
Oh, and this isn’t really wine themed, but we’ll be having a photo booth next to the guest book so guests can put a picture next to their message to us.