There are so many parts to a wedding that make it special but of course the way that you get to the ceremony and the reception is very important. This is the chance to carry out that lifelong wish of sitting in a beautiful, sleek vintage car and you'll find that all good planners are able to organise any kind of transport for you and your guests with the local contacts that they have, whether it be super-modern cars such as the latest Mercedes or vintage cars including a Bentley, Rolls Royce or shiny Alfa Romeo.
For the ultimate driving experience, you should try Drive In Style (right and opposite, visit www.driveinstyle.it) They offer the most romantic classic cars with, of course, the backdrop of the most romantic country in the world. They offer chauffeurdriven luxury limousines and self-drive sporty classic convertibles. There is a fleet of 16 incredible cars to choose from, from the 1930s up to the 1960s, that will literally take your breath away. You can rent a stunning bridal car for a memorable wedding day or spend your honeymoon in a sleek classic roadster to head off for that timeless journey through the Italian hills. You'll be given a beautifully handmade leather road book which includes all the information you could want including places to visit, great hotels and superb local restaurants.
RIDICULOUS TO THE SUBLIME
Other companies offering fabulous classic vehicles are Queen of the World (visit www.queenworldcar.com) they've got a whole range including a 1963 pearl white Vespa, a 1977 red Morgan and a cute green Mini Cooper. If you're looking for something fun to do on your honeymoon then Sprintage (visit www.sprintage.it) have put together an enormous range of exciting classic car tours including around Lake Garda, Lake Como, the Dolomites, Venice and the Veneto regions. They work closely with wedding planner Dream Academy (main image, opposite and above, visit www.dreamacademy.it) who also have a full range of really unusual wedding transport to hand. If the bride and her girlfriends fancy something different for the hen weekend then they should definitely opt for the wonderful little "noddy" train to take them out and about for a fabulous night. They won't stop laughing as it's great fun and they'll be getting a lot of attention as the locals wave as they pass. It is, of course, also a great way of getting guests to the reception - it would be a guaranteed way of getting all the people coming to your wedding in a party mood. Dream Academy can also arrange fabulous boats as transport or you could ride in a little "tuk tuk" Ape - it's the most glamorous one you'll see on the road, complete with flowers and other little surprises for the couple. It might be a squeeze if you've got a big dress on but what fun it is and it could certainly be one of your most exciting Italian experiences! Those who like the idea of something a little faster could opt for their Drive of a Lifetime package which, as they put it, is a day that "no self-respecting Ferrari lover should miss". ElisaZ wedding planner (visit www.elisaz.com) has also just begun to offer Ferrari "test drive" trips in Modena - other than the big day what could be more thrilling than driving round the same track that's had Schumacher as its guest?
GETTING HIGH
If your dream is to see Italy from high above, glancing at the sunny hills, green valleys and tops of cypress trees, then wedding planners such as Love and Lord (visit www.loveandlord.com) and ElisaZ are able to arrange for you to be taken up in a hot air balloon. Love and Lord can arrange early morning ballooning trips for members of your wedding party or if you as a couple would prefer a romantic "dusk adventure" then they'll organise that too. Ross Cook of ElisaZ says of their trips, "We organise trips specifically across Tuscany as we believe that it really is the most beautiful of landscapes". ElisaZ also organises "weird and wonderful" means of transport for happy couples and have even had a request for Harley Davidsons. As with all planners, they also arrange for guests to be collected from the airport and taken to and from the wedding ceremony, but in the rather more conventional minibus or coach.
Love and Lord (images, left) organise stunning weddings in Tuscany and Venice and James Lord says "At Love and Lord we realise that a gondola is a key part of any Venetian wedding. We've sourced the most experienced gondoliers including the first ever female one for our weddings." As well as floating on air with happiness, what could be more exciting than leaving the Venetian church or town hall together on water in an authentic gondola? They are made from nine different types of wood and take three months to make and for wedding ceremonies they look exquisite because they are decorated with flowers and covered with canopies.
WELCOME ABOARD
Boats, whether large yachts or glamorous speedboats, are also very popular for weddings taking place on the Italian coast. There are planners that can help you discover these places of beauty both by land and sea such as Amore Weddings (above - visit www.amoreweddings.ie) who cover the Amalfi, Cilento and Maratea coasts as well as coastal Tuscany and the Italian Riveria. Linda Gatto of Amalfi Wedding Planner (above - visit www.amalfi-wedding-planner.com) says, "Many couples decide to have their actual wedding ceremony on a boat but it is obviously just symbolic and not legally binding". She finds that the boats are mainly used for fabulous wedding photos or for the couple and guests to move from one coastal village to another. Linda says the typical boat used by the happy couple for the photos is "a very small and local boat called a gozzo". The most unusual venue for a wedding that she has been asked to arrange was on a helicopter. "The bride said that her dream was to get married in one between Capri and the coast so I did my very best of course to find the helicopter to make the bride's dream come true" she laughs. "We managed it along with two witnesses and a priest!"
So it would seem that the possibilities of arriving at or leaving from your dream Italian wedding or honeymoon are endless, it's just a matter of where your imagination takes you!
