u/anastasia3277

hello all!!

My mom and I will be in Florence for 6 nights this October (2-9) We don’t have any hotels booked and would like to not be in the direct city center that much- what are some other towns we could go to for a few nights? We have 2 nights in Siena on the back end, but we would love 2/3 nights in a few other places as well. We are open to anywhere around Tuscany or the coast as long as it makes sense with our Tuscany stay the last 2 days!! Thank you!!

Hi all- for easy reading the venue is Villa La Selva in Tuscany

We are going to be in Italy this month touring venues and Selva put a hold on us for our PERFECT dates and in my head i thought they were holding it until we tour but it expired yesterday and they already have a new inquiry 🤯 they gave us the option as a courtesy to still have these dates but we would need to sign the contract today…

pros:
we love the venue (from online photos and videos), it fits the perfect amount of guests, it has lots of activities we’re looking for onsite and nearby, our ideal dates (most other places already booked this weekend)

cons: might be easy for us to go above budget just since it’s relatively expensive as a base price (70k for the 3 day rent out) and trying to stay under 150k; heard two bad reviews from previous brides about their disorganization (that was mitigated with a planner but still); and we haven’t seen it and i feel soooo hesitant to book sight unseen especially when we’re going to be there in 2 weeks!!!

we were hoping to hire a planner this week then tour in person with the planner in 2 weeks before we decided but i guess today’s the day. no planner. just us.

does anyone have advice?? TIA!!!

Edit- I realize this isn’t the venues fault. I know I screwed up- I just would like some advice (:
Hi all,

My fiancée and I were looking at some different dates and wedding venues and we thought we found ~the one~! We didn’t put a deposit down right away since we wanted to tour a few more and make sure, so she put a hold on our date and told me to reach back out in late April. It was so beautiful and unique and felt so “right” and special and I was so excited… and only $10k for the entire venue (2 historic buildings with large waterfront lawns, 24 hours of venue use to set up and break down the day before and after…)!! (I know that is a lot for some but it luckily was within our budget for venue). I should have put the deposit down.

So… late April comes around and I email her to put the deposit down- she informs me that she no longer does weddings but other events at the venue and there is a new dedicated wedding team… okay great. So I start working with the new wedding team and they inform me that the venue cost is now $20k, is only the hours 12-11pm, and is only the one building. holy SHIT. i literally sobbed… im so devastated. I have worked with her and she was able to “offer me” the use of the second building and one extra hour at no charge… but it’s still $10k more than it was and that is a significant increase. It would still be “doable” within our budget…. but it would definitely squeeze everything and we would have to make some cuts to things like tent/ decor/ guest list etc.

I am so conflicted. I love this venue so much and it feels so right and perfect and when I have been looking at other venues as alternatives I just feel so sad… but swallowing that extra 10k is extremely difficult and disappointing and will make the wedding planning and budgeting much harder.

Any advice would be so appreciated!!

Edit- I realize this isn’t the venues fault. I know I screwed up- I just would like some advice (:

Hi all,

My fiancée and I were looking at some different dates and wedding venues and we thought we found ~the one~! We didn’t put a deposit down right away since we wanted to tour a few more and make sure, so she put a hold on our date and told me to reach back out in late April. It was so beautiful and unique and felt so “right” and special and I was so excited… and only $10k for the entire venue (2 historic buildings with large waterfront lawns, 24 hours of venue use to set up and break down the day before and after…)!! (I know that is a lot for some but it luckily was within our budget for venue). I should have put the deposit down.

So… late April comes around and I email her to put the deposit down- she informs me that she no longer does weddings but other events at the venue and there is a new dedicated wedding team… okay great. So I start working with the new wedding team and they inform me that the venue cost is now $20k, is only the hours 12-11pm, and is only the one building. holy SHIT. i literally sobbed… im so devastated. I have worked with her and she was able to “offer me” the use of the second building and one extra hour at no charge… but it’s still $10k more than it was and that is a significant increase. It would still be “doable” within our budget…. but it would definitely squeeze everything and we would have to make some cuts to things like tent/ decor/ guest list etc.

I am so conflicted. I love this venue so much and it feels so right and perfect and when I have been looking at other venues as alternatives I just feel so sad… but swallowing that extra 10k is extremely difficult and disappointing and will make the wedding planning and budgeting much harder.

Any advice would be so appreciated!!