One of the many things that Luciana and Greg share in common is a great love affair with Italy. So, when it came to thinking about possible venues for a destination wedding, the choice of location was simple. Greg and Luciana have independently visited Italy many times before, especially the Tuscany region and have always enjoyed all that this part of the country has to offer. But now, together as one, they have decided to make Italy more a part of their lives and host their ceremonial wedding there. They have chosen the small Italian Hilltown of Cortona, situated in eastern Tuscany to serve as the center point and hub of their wedding activities. Cortona is a beautiful, quintessential Italian Hilltown that was founded by the Etruscan civilization in 800BC that has deep roots in Italian history. It is conveniently geographically positioned to allow easy access to many of the major cities and towns such as Florence, Siena, Assisi, Pienza, San Gimignano, Volterra, Lucca, Arezzo, and Montepulciano just to name a few, and is a short two hour drive north from the Rome (FCO) airport.

The details for this Italian ceremony celebration are still in development but in general, our thoughts are to have a series of different Italian cultural themed events for our guests that would take place several days before the wedding. We want people to enjoy themselves when they are in Italy as much as possible and thought that hosting these private group events would be a nice way to have our guests engage with one another, learn something about the Italian culture and of course indulge in the food and drink. Some of the ideas that we have considered would include a private tour of a winery with tastings and review of the production facilities, an olive oil and pecorino cheese farm tour, a private group Italian food cooking class, or other similar local cultural experience. Our hope is that we would begin the activities on the Wednesday before the Saturday wedding, with three days of different activities that guests could elect to participate in. They could choose to participate in any or all of the activities. The details of these events is still in development and will be shared here on this website once they have been finalized.

As for the wedding ceremony, it will take place in one of Cortona’s many beautiful churches with a reception to follow. At this point, we are thinking that this will occur in September of 2025, with the exact dates to be determined. We welcome your thoughts, questions, and comments. Please feel free to email us at any time at: gchianis@chianisanderson.com or lucivca@gmail.com and we will be happy to answer your questions. Please check back soon for more updated information.