Wedding Rentals at Lake Como: Styled Shoot at Relais Villa Vittoria

Relais Villa Vittoria is in Laglio on the western shore of Lake Como in Lombardy, Via Vecchia Regina 62, about ten kilometres north of the city of Como. The estate stands directly on the water, with its own lake access and a view of the eastern shore.

A boutique hotel in a historic villa that was once the summer home of a noble Milanese family. In the 19th century silkworms were raised in its mulberry garden for Como’s silk industry. Today there are rooms and suites, a heated infinity pool on the shore, lake gardens under a pergola, a lobby with a grand piano and a wine cellar in the rock grotto.

According to the hotel there are 19 rooms in the main house, including the Lake View Suite with four-poster bed and the Prestige Lake View Suite with Jacuzzi, plus further rooms and suites in Casa Cecilia, an annex a few minutes’ walk above the villa, and a cottage room with its own terrace.

Yes, and for weddings in the season from April to October it is actually required: the whole house with all rooms is booked, with a minimum stay of one to three nights depending on the date. In return the villa with pool, gardens and pier is yours.

The lake terrace right on the water for ceremonies up to about 30 guests, the lake gardens under the rain-proof wooden pergola for up to 60 guests, the Piazzetta on the second level for small ceremonies, the lobby with grand piano and the veranda as indoor options, and the jasmine gazebo above the lake for ceremonies for two. Our ceremony in the shoot stood on the terrace by the pool.

The largest space is the lake gardens under the pergola: room for around 70 guests at round tables or at one long table, as in our shoot. The lobby with grand piano seats up to 68 guests for a sit-down dinner, the veranda with lake view around 30 at U-shaped or square tables. Dancing happens in the wine cellar with its bar in the rock grotto.

Weddings of up to about 70 guests. The villa is a venue for intimate and mid-sized weddings where all guests can stay in the house and in Casa Cecilia. For 100 guests and more, villas such as Villa Erba in Cernobbio or Villa Balbiano in Ossuccio are the better choice.

Yes. According to the venue the house is licensed for civil, legally binding ceremonies; a representative of the municipality of Laglio officiates on site. Symbolic ceremonies and blessings are also possible.

Yes. The heated infinity pool lies right on the shore and is the backdrop for aperitif and photos at weddings. The villa has its own access to the lake; boats are arranged through a local company, and the nearest public ferry pier is in Moltrasio, five minutes away. Guests can borrow kayaks free of charge.

According to the house the pergola in the lake gardens is rain-proof, and the veranda with lake view and the lobby with grand piano are available as indoor options. For our rentals that means linen, wooden chairs and tabletop can stay under the pergola, while the Lucy Wire chairs of the ceremony move into the lobby if needed.

Villa Vittoria lies on the Via Vecchia Regina and can be reached by truck, unlike many villas on the lake that are accessible only by boat. Unloading takes place from the road, and the way to the pergola and terrace is short. For our shoot we delivered one morning and collected the following day.

The two lake-view suites in the main house: the Lake View Suite has a balcony overlooking the lake, where the pictures of our bride in her robe were taken. The morning light comes from the lake, that is from the east, and is soft and bright.

Laglio is a village of around 900 inhabitants on the Via Regina, the old lakeside road on the western shore of Lake Como. It became famous through Villa Oleandra, George Clooney’s summer residence. The setting is quiet and village-like, Como is a quarter of an hour away, and the villas stand with their feet in the water.

Around ten kilometres, about 20 to 25 minutes by car along the winding lakeside road. The stations Como San Giovanni (long-distance trains from Zurich and Milan) and Como Lago (regional trains from Milan) are 20 minutes from Laglio by taxi or 30 minutes by bus.

Milan Malpensa, about 65 kilometres and roughly an hour’s drive. Milan Linate is about 80 kilometres away, Bergamo around 105 kilometres. From Switzerland, Lugano-Agno is also an option, just under 50 kilometres from Laglio.

The fastest route from the south-west runs via Basel, Lucerne, the Gotthard and Lugano to Como, just under 400 kilometres from Freiburg. From Munich you go via the Brenner and Bergamo, around 500 kilometres, or via the San Bernardino. You need a vignette for Switzerland, and in Italy you pay motorway tolls.

Most fly to Milan Malpensa and take a transfer, about an hour. From Switzerland and southern Germany the train to Como San Giovanni is worthwhile; from there you continue by taxi or chartered boat. Group transfers from the airport and station are standard at weddings on the lake.

Laglio itself has a few small hotels and holiday apartments; Cernobbio, Moltrasio and Como have more choice. Many couples book guests into Como and arrange shuttles or a boat to the villa.

Parking is scarce along the whole western shore, and the lakeside road is narrow. Plan shuttles and do not let guests come by car. For our delivery we agree stopping times with the venue.

Yes. Water taxis and charter boats run from Laglio to Como, Cernobbio, Bellagio or Nesso. For couple photos on the water, as with our flower boat, a classic wooden boat with skipper is the most beautiful option.

A boat trip to Bellagio and Varenna, a visit to Villa del Balbianello in Lenno or Villa Carlotta in Tremezzo, the silk museums in Como, the funicular to Brunate above Como or an aperitivo in Cernobbio. Walkers take the Greenway del Lago di Como between Colonno and Griante.

Italian. English is widespread in hotels and among wedding vendors, German less so. We communicate with venues at Lake Como in English and Italian.

With around 146 square kilometres, Lago di Como is Italy’s third-largest lake after Lake Garda and Lake Maggiore, about 46 kilometres long and up to 410 metres deep, making it one of the deepest lakes in Europe. Its shape resembles an inverted Y: at the southern end it splits into the Como branch and the Lecco branch, with Bellagio at the tip in between.

On the western shore Cernobbio, Laglio, Lenno and Tremezzo with their villas, in the middle of the lake Bellagio, on the eastern shore Varenna. Como itself has Villa Olmo and Villa Geno, Lecco the branch with mountain views. Nesso, Torno and Blevio are small villages booked mainly as photo backdrops.

By boat: Navigazione Laghi runs ferries and hydrofoils between Como, Cernobbio, Laglio, Lenno, Bellagio, Varenna and Menaggio. The car ferry shuttles between Cadenabbia, Bellagio, Varenna and Menaggio. By car the lakeside roads are narrow and busy in season; for weddings, chartered boats are the most relaxed solution.

About two hours by regular ferry with stops, around 45 minutes by hydrofoil, and about 30 to 40 minutes by private motorboat from Laglio.

Mild with a Mediterranean touch. In March and April daytime highs are 12 to 18 degrees, in May and June 20 to 26, in July and August around 28, in September about 23 again. Afternoon thunderstorms are part of the summer months; the rainiest months are May, June and October.

Two reliable thermal winds: the Tivano blows from the north in the morning, the Breva up the lake from the south from midday. For lakeside ceremonies that means securing light chiffon runners, stationery and candles and weighting chair covers. Our Lucy Wire chairs are light but stand firmly thanks to their metal construction; in wind we tie the seat cushions on with ribbons.

In Laglio the lake lies to the east. In the morning the light comes off the water; in the late afternoon the sun stands behind the villa and bathes the mountains on the opposite shore in gold, exactly as in our pictures. In June the sun sets around 9 pm, in September around 7:30 pm, in March around 6:30 pm. Plan couple photos for the hour before.

Yes, from June the water is warm enough, around 24 degrees in high summer. For wedding guests with a pool, as at Villa Vittoria, that is usually the more comfortable option; the lake has stony shores in many places.

Three days are ideal: arrival and welcome aperitivo on the first day, ceremony and party on the second, boat trip or brunch on the third. Many villas require a minimum booking of two to three nights anyway.

Lake Como is considered Italy’s most expensive wedding destination, mainly because of the villas and the logistics by boat. Lake Garda and Tuscany are usually cheaper for venue and catering. For rentals from our warehouse little changes: rental prices are the same, only transport is calculated by distance.

Yes. Italy recognises civil weddings of foreigners. Many villas at Lake Como, including Relais Villa Vittoria, are licensed for civil ceremonies; otherwise you marry at the town hall of the municipality or in a registry hall such as the one at Villa Olmo in Como.

According to the Italian consulate, German couples usually need a birth certificate, an extended registration certificate, a certificate of no impediment from the registry office of their place of residence and a valid ID, plus the relevant proof for divorced or widowed partners. Documents not issued on the international multilingual form must be translated into Italian by a sworn translator and apostilled. Citizens of other countries need the equivalent “nulla osta” from their embassy or consulate. Ask your registry office early about the multilingual forms, it saves translations.

The “pubblicazioni di matrimonio”: the registry office or consulate posts the intended marriage publicly for eight days, after which a few more days pass before clearance. Allow at least two to three months for the whole paperwork, more if translations and apostilles are needed.

A civil wedding in Italy requires two adult witnesses. If the couple does not speak Italian, most municipalities require an interpreter at the ceremony; your planner usually arranges this.

Yes, and it is the most common form for couples from abroad: the legal wedding at home, the ceremony by the lake symbolic with your own celebrant. Symbolic ceremonies can take place on terraces, in gardens, on piers or on a boat, with no formalities with the municipality.

Catholic weddings are possible in the parish churches on the lake, for example San Giacomo in Bellagio or San Giorgio in Varenna, and are legally valid in Italy. You need the consent of your home parish and several months’ lead time. Protestant and ecumenical weddings are usually celebrated as a symbolic ceremony with a pastor.

Yes. You receive a multilingual extract from the marriage register that you can present to your home registry office for registration. Ask for several copies straight away.

Yes. Many municipalities on the lake limit outdoor music to 11 pm or midnight; after that the party continues indoors, at Villa Vittoria in the wine cellar. Live music and DJs in Italy incur the SIAE fee, fireworks require a permit and are often banned in dry periods. Ask your venue about the rules of its municipality.

May, June and September are considered the best months: warm but not too hot, gardens in bloom, soft light. July and August are hot and busy, April and October quieter and cheaper, and in winter many villas close. Our shoot took place in spring, when the mountains still carry snow and the lake is calm.

For Saturdays in high season, 12 to 24 months in advance. Weekdays and the shoulder season can be booked at shorter notice and are often cheaper. At the same time you should secure photographer, florist and rentals; the good addresses are booked up just as early.

It depends on villa, guest count and season. Industry guides quote villa rentals from about €5,000 to well over €100,000 per day, catering at €200 to €300 per person, total budgets of about €30,000 to €70,000 for a wedding with 30 to 80 guests, and from about €150,000 for 100 to 200 guests. The rentals from our shop, by contrast, are easy to plan: a Wishbone chair costs from €11.90 per day, a Lucy Wire chair from €9.90, a linen tablecloth from €55.

The villa does not publish package prices; the cost is made up of the exclusive booking of all rooms for one to three nights and the services for the celebration. Enquire directly and ask for ceremony, dinner and accommodation to be itemised separately.

It is not compulsory but strongly recommended. A local planner knows the villas, the paperwork, boats, catering and the language and usually charges 10 to 20 percent of the budget or a fixed fee. For this shoot Lisa Giolo of Italian Lux Events assembled the team and coordinated the logistics.

Most weddings on the lake have between 30 and 80 guests, because the villas and the logistics by boat make larger parties expensive. For 100 guests and more only a few houses remain, such as Villa Erba, Villa Balbiano or Villa d’Este in Cernobbio.

Every good villa has an indoor option, but not every one has enough space for the whole party. Clarify in advance where ceremony and dinner take place in rain, whether a marquee is allowed and who handles the changeover. We plan rentals so that they work in both versions and bring extra chairs for plan B on request.

Anything that picks up the lake and the villas: white, cream and offwhite with gold and smoked glass for a classic table, pastels such as rosé, lilac and pale blue for flowers on the water, apricot and terracotta for the ceremony. Dark wood suits the historic villas, pale wood like the Wishbone chair suits pergolas and gardens. Lemons, stripes and dolce vita motifs are less typical of Lake Como than of the Amalfi Coast.

A styled shoot is a staged wedding shoot without a real couple. Vendors develop a concept together to show new ideas. For couples it is inspiration for what a wedding at a place can look like before they book, and for us the chance to show our rentals at a venue like Villa Vittoria.

Concept, planning and styling come from Lisa Giolo (Italian Lux Events), the florals from Florals & Co, the photos from nagi.graphy, video and drone from Samir Tahiri. The rentals came from us, vonRock Events. All other vendors are listed at the end of the post.

Villa del Balbianello in Lenno, Villa Balbiano in Ossuccio, Villa Erba and Villa d’Este in Cernobbio, Villa Pizzo in Cernobbio, Villa Serbelloni in Bellagio, Villa Cipressi and Villa Monastero in Varenna and Villa Olmo in Como. Then there are smaller houses such as Relais Villa Vittoria in Laglio that can be booked exclusively.

Yes. The villa belongs to the Italian heritage trust FAI and is licensed for civil ceremonies. The ceremony takes place in the Loggia Durini above the lake, with room for up to 80 guests, dinner for around 50 in the Loggia Segré or for up to 150 on the lake terrace. The villa can only be reached by boat; private events are possible on Mondays, Wednesdays or after 6 pm, until 2 am at the latest, and there is no accommodation. Industry guides quote rentals from about €16,000.

Houses such as Villa Vittoria or Villa Balbiano are booked with accommodation: you have the estate for several days and nobody has to be taken back by boat at night. Pure event villas such as Villa del Balbianello or Villa Pizzo rent only for the celebration; you need hotels and transfers, but the gardens are often more spectacular.

Villa del Balbianello exclusively, and in practice some private villas on the western shore, because the access road is too narrow for trucks. For rentals that means everything is reloaded onto a cargo boat, which adds time and cost. Villa Vittoria, Villa Erba and Villa Balbiano can be reached by truck.

Yes: restaurants and lidos right on the lake, small agriturismi in the hills above Como, gardens such as those of Villa Cipressi in Varenna, which according to guides offers a ceremony in its gazebo from about €4,000, or boutique hotels like Villa Vittoria that you book exclusively, combining the venue with the accommodation.

A symbolic ceremony yes, a civil one no. For couple photos, aperitif and the journey to the venue a classic wooden boat is the classic choice; for groups there are charter boats from Como and Bellagio. Our flower boat shows how much floral work such a boat can carry.

Yes. For this shoot we delivered from our southern warehouse near Freiburg to Laglio. We travel to Italy regularly, to Lake Como, Lake Maggiore, Lake Garda, Tuscany and the Amalfi Coast, with delivery, set-up and collection.

Transport is calculated by distance, vehicle size and effort on site; for Laglio we reckon with just under 400 kilometres each way from our southern warehouse. From a certain order size our own truck is worthwhile; for small quantities such as table linens or tabletop we also ship by parcel. Transport appears as its own line in the quote.

Everything on our packing list: Wishbone chairs (Skandi chair in wood), Lucy Wire chairs in white, linen tablecloths in offwhite and macchiato beige, chiffon table runners, linen napkins, gold cutlery in shine, matt and white & gold, plates in eggshell beige and with gold rims, and glasses and champagne coupes with gold rims, clear and in smoky grey.

The Wishbone chair costs from €11.90 per day, the Lucy Wire chair from €9.90, a linen tablecloth 410 × 250 cm from €55, a chiffon table runner from €9, linen napkins from €2.50, a gold cutlery set from €4.50, plates from €2.50 and glasses with gold rims from €2. All prices are up to date in the rental shop; transport to Italy is calculated individually.

For weddings between May and September we recommend six to twelve months’ lead time, especially for large chair quantities and linen in specific colours. A reservation in the shop is non-binding and secures your dates.

We reckon with a rental period covering delivery, wedding and collection, usually three to four days. The daily prices in the shop apply to the event; longer periods are calculated with multi-day factors, not the full daily rate.

On request, yes: we set the chairs, dress the tables with linen and runners and lay the place settings to your plan. Florals and candles are then added by your florist. Alternatively we deliver only and your planner’s or venue’s team handles the set-up.

No. Italy is an EU member, and rental furniture travels without customs formalities. For the journey through Switzerland we carry the goods as transit goods; you do not notice any of it.

Normal signs of use are included in the rental price. For breakage, wax stains that will not come out or missing parts we charge the replacement values set out in our rental terms. For glasses and plates a small reserve on the order is worthwhile.

No. Cleaning is included. Linen and chiffon come back just as they are taken off the table; please only roughly clear china and glasses of leftovers and pack them into the boxes provided.

Light, stackable chairs that step back in front of the panorama: our Lucy Wire chair in white or gold, transparent acrylic chairs or, for a natural look, the Cross Back chair. On uneven terraces and lawns, carpets or runners help, like our beige carpet in the shoot.

Pale wooden chairs such as the Wishbone chair or the Louis chair in washed look suit pergolas and gardens; Chiavari chairs in gold or Bentwood chairs in black suit historic salons. In our guide “Find your perfect wedding chair” we go through all the models.

Our linen tablecloths come rectangular in 350 × 250 and 410 × 250 cm and round up to 360 cm in diameter, plus chiffon and linen runners. For long tables like the one at Villa Vittoria we lay several cloths overlapping; you cannot see it in the pictures.

Yes. In our showroom near Freiburg you can combine chairs, linen, china and glasses and set your table as a trial. Book an appointment online.

Yes. We deliver for planners, florists and venues in Italy just as we do for couples directly. On request we send packing lists and floor plans in English and coordinate times directly with the team on site, as we did for this shoot with Italian Lux Events.