While sitting in an Italian café two months after our engagement with our then, caterer, eating what I thought was the best Gnocchi I would ever eat, A DREAM WAS BORN! We were attempting to plan our wedding reception menu, and our initial plans of having a wedding in the very picturesque Santa Inez valley, in California, were ground to a halt when we discovered our caterer was unable to make the wedding date we had chosen! In a gasping attempt to make us feel better about not being able to be there for our big day, she light-heartedly said, “ unless the two of you want to get married in ITALY, I won’t be able to make your wedding!” Tonya and I looked at one another and smiled!

OUR DREAM WEDDING!

“You’re crazy”, was the typical response of all but a select few friends. A wedding in ITALY? Are you nuts? So we sat down and together decided what we wanted in a wedding. The answer: to get married outdoors, in a beautiful place, with close family and friends. Still present was the question of; “how are you going to plan a wedding in another country you have never set foot in?” I must admit the task seemed very daunting at first. Planning a wedding, as everyone knows, is extremely difficult, even without adding all of the other issues associated with a destination wedding. Well, most dreams need a touch of luck to bring to fruition. Ours came one day on the soccer pitch of all places! In a brief conversation one day with a man I have worked with for 10 yrs, I learned that our dream wedding was possible! That man was Al Mistri. In that moment, I knew our wedding would be beyond our wildest dreams, and even though I think Al thought we were a bit crazy too, initial plans were set in motion. Our second stroke of luck came when we had our first meeting to discuss some of the details. You see it was then we realized that Al was not only an expert on his native country of Italy, but that he was also married to a brilliant travel coordinator, Nicki, owner of the tour company, Tours to Boot. There we were, sitting in their home, sipping on our first taste of limoncello, planning our Italian wedding! It was apparent at that moment both Al and Nicki shared in our passion to make our dream come true, and vowed to help make this a wedding to remember forever!

There are no words to accurately convey the importance of having them with us every single step of the way. It was like having two wedding planners on staff to handle our every desire. After watching the movie Under a Tuscan Sun too many times to count, our vision of a small wedding began to take shape, first of all, by having access to one of the most picturesque towns my eyes have ever seen! The town of “ La Scola” was everything we dreamed it would be. To fully grasp its charms, you have to stand in the center of this 700-year-old town and feel its history. It’s as quaint as it is beautiful, with its cobblestone roads hand laid by the local stone workers of a time when quality of workmanship was the only job they knew, to the fresh flowers tended to every morning by the local residents. Cherry trees adorning the town with cherries you simply have to taste. La Scola holds a history that is three times older than the United States and a heritage that brings with it a sense that anything that comes from there will last forever! Truly a magical place. Words could never encompass all that is this village, a dream site for the beginning of our life together! Secured for us by our partnership with Al and Nicki, there is no doubt in my mind that without their connections, this site would be unobtainable. That was just the beginning!

There was no detail that went unnoticed in their quest to make this a beautiful day for us! They were there every step of the way, from our first step on Italian soil at the airport, to our first step as husband and wife. They procured the best of everything for our day. Everything they touched turned to gold! The three-day process of handmade lasagna for the rehearsal dinner was exquisite! The wedding reception was absolutely perfect. Unlike most wedding couples, we will remember all seven courses for the rest of our lives. The food was that memorable! This is to speak of just a few of the normal wedding details. Their involvement allowed us to bring a flare of the local Italian customs to our ceremony. From translations of Italian songs into English for our guests to understand the meaning, to the first toast as husband and wife held under a local resident’s pergola, to mention nothing of all of the work behind the scenes that would be nearly impossible without their help. From Al’s knowledge of the local dialect, to assist in managing the local municipality, to acquiring the highest local ranking official of the region to perform the ceremony, all feasible with the help of our two wedding planners! Food, transportation, currency conversion, even making sure the airlines did their job correctly when my mother’s luggage was lost 24 hrs before the wedding, which forced the luggage attendant to drive at midnight the night before the wedding to deliver the bags! Even daily defying the odds in a country where time has a different meaning and life’s pace is significantly slower. A place where accomplishing one task in a day is a real achievement, Nicki’s local knowledge of Florence and Bologna, and an unwavering quest to see our dreams come true, helped us accomplish tasks that even local residents would never believe had they not seen it with their own eyes! Suffice it to say; I know there were times when the two of them worried about the wedding more than the two of us! They both planned this wedding as if we were a part of the family, and every detail had to be exactly what we wanted.

From conception to execution, from wedding to honeymoon, everything and every thing we could have ever wanted for our dream day, came true! Even though you could never put a price on the memories we will have forever, I can honestly say that when comparing the costs to the typical American wedding, it was very affordable! All of it possible only with the unwavering help and support of Al and Nicki. Thank you both for creating a love affair with such a wonderful country. Until next time…….

Ciao,

Brent and Tonya

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