melissarynn
28. Mai 2023
We first visited Relais L’antico Convento in 2019 on a hunt for the perfect wedding venue. Arranging everything ourselves from the slightly cooler climes of Scotland, we’d started our search with a view to marrying in Tuscany; visiting countless villas across the region (including a good few of the ‘conveyor belt’ options, where one wedding party needs to leave before 11am to allow the next one to enter). However, a late-night Google threw light on Umbria – and helped us find this special medieval convent in the Apennine Mountains. We visited to get a feel and instantly fell in love with the setting, building and space. The right balance between stylish and rustic, it met our brief perfectly - allowing us to host most of our 28 guests as well as our reception itself. However, we knew it was the one when the manager, Antonietta, nailed one simple question we asked each venue – where we should eat after our tour. It might sound like a small ask, but it helped us show who really got the brief and who didn’t. Over the next three years (it was meant to be two, but we all know what happened in 2020 and 2021…), the Relais became a home away from home. Antonietta helped us recruit our wedding planner, Aruna, and the two of them became good friends to us, as well as the key drivers of our special day – sourcing the very best suppliers including catering, flowers, wine, lighting, transport, sound, hair and make-up. We visited in peak season, out of season, and rainy seasons during planning – and had the same beautiful experience. By the time the big day, in July 2022, came around, we’d truly found a home. We booked out the entire Relais for five days around the wedding; with 24 of our 28 guests staying with us. Our ceremony was in Montone, a short drive away. For our reception, we’d planned for a long table dinner in the beautiful Relais courtyard to soak the July sun in all its glory. In irony Alanais Morisette could only dream of, we had rain on the wedding day (as the Italians say sposa bagata, sposa forunata) but the ‘plan b’ we thought we’d never need came into action without a hitch. The Relais quickly adjusted, and we were able to host our reception under the covered terrace of the owner’s cottage, keeping us safe from any downpours while still in the middle of the beautiful hills that surrounded us. In fact, plan b ended up working even better than our original – leaving the courtyard free as a dance floor later on that evening. We had the perfect wedding, and our only regret is that it can’t happen all over again. Antonietta and Aruna are now good friends and the Relais is our home away from home. If you want a venue that connects with nature, is truly unique and, most importantly, values your big day as much as you – the Relais should be your first choice. Whether you want to host the wedding from start to finish; to use it for your reception and a base for all your guests to stay for a few days (like us); or something completely di
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