A Destination Wedding Weekend at Country Relais & Spa Le Capanne | Tuscan Destination Wedding Photography

I had the privilege to photograph a destination weekend wedding in Volterra, Tuscany, amidst the most jaw-dropping rolling hills I have ever seen. It felt as if I were in a fantasy land, except when I pinched myself I was, in fact, not dreaming. When it comes to choosing a location to be the backdrop of your photos, it doesn’t get better than this. This three-day event included a welcome dinner barbecue, a vineyard tour & wine tasting, a bridal brunch, and of course, the wedding day—during which I documented every moment, little and big, between the couple and their closest family and friends. Here are all the details of L&D’s destination wedding weekend in Tuscany!

Country Relais & Spa Le Capanne

Picture this: you are being shuttled from Florence to a hilltop villa in the midst of the Tuscan countryside and along your journey you can’t help but notice the way the golden sunset hits the rolling hills just right. This is the perfect backdrop for your big day.

This was our experience at Country Relais & Spa Le Capanne in Volterra, Tuscany. We stayed with L&D at the Villa with their closest family and friends from the night that they arrived to the morning after their wedding day—which let us capture every beautiful moment of their experience.

There is often a lot of buzz about backdrop variety if your wedding weekend happens in one place. With the Villa, this is nothing to worry about. There are so many beautiful spots to take photos: indoors and outdoors, by the pool or surrounded by rolling hills, under the billowing tree with a tree swing or even in the gorgeous olive tree orchard. There is truly no angle on this property that would be a bad backdrop for a photo.

Pre-Wedding Events

The Welcome Dinner

The staff were already preparing for the first night’s festivities when we arrived at Villa Le Capanne; a delicious, authentic Italian wedding welcome dinner. L&D were greeted by the most vibrant, orange sunset as they shared a toast, thanking each and every one of their loved ones for joining them for this memorable trip and once-in-a-lifetime experience. L&D couldn’t have asked for a better first night to welcome them to the venue & kick off this unforgettable trip.

My second photographer & I took a documentary photography approach, observing all of the excited interactions upon arrival and loving glances shared between L&D during their wedding welcome dinner. The tender moments spoke for themselves, leaving us to simply capture them.

The Winery Tour & Tasting

A huge benefit of your destination wedding weekend is getting to see the local area through a fun little excursion! Villa Le Capanne offered L&D a shuttle service to a local winery to do a tour and wine tasting, so of course they couldn’t pass that up! The following morning, we all hopped on the shuttle and went over to Monterosola. We were greeted and taken through the whole facility, seeing how and where they make their wine. My second photographer & I made sure to document candid moments during this experience, giving L&D memories to remember this part of the trip. The tour ended in the tasting room where they provided 12 wines for us to taste, paired with charcuterie.

Once the tasting ended, we took some portraits around the property. I snagged L&D for some private time to get photos of just them surrounded by Tuscan pines. They said these were photos they would cherish forever.

The Rehearsal Dinner

Pizza night in Italy?! There’s nothing better than that imo.

L&D and their guests gathered in the dining room of Villa Le Capanne for their rehearsal dinner; wood-fired pizza. The couple shared so many laughs with their loved ones while telling stories from their childhood & reminiscing over their entire relationship. The wine flowed & pizza after pizza was brought out. This gave us yet another opportunity to be fly-on-the-wall photographers and capture all of the candid moments that were shared.

Rehearsal dinner coverage is so important, as it gives the wedding party time to get comfortable with the photographers as well as allowing the photographers to get a feel for the group. A destination weekend wedding builds on this even further with how much time you get to spend with your photographer.

The Wedding Day

Bridal Brunch

Pop the champagne, it’s wedding day! L&D began their wedding day with a spread of meat, cheese, pastries & bottomless espresso! They then took the party outside for mimosas & rolling hill pictures. We also took advantage of the morning sun to get some portraits of L&D on the tree swing by what was soon to be the ceremony site. Once brunch was over, the couple had the privilege to begin their wedding day leisurely, giving my second photographer and me a lot of flexibility and time to capture what we needed in a very documentary way.

Details & Getting Ready

When I think of Italy, I think of lemon trees, and it just so happened that Villa Le Capanne has their own lemon trees on the back patio. So—when building out the wedding detail flat lay—I just knew I needed to incorporate lemons in some way. The cut up lemon wedges truly tied together the whole flat lay and were an important story piece to this destination wedding in Tuscany.

As the girls began to get ready, we looked for spots to hang the wedding dress for photos & captured details of the villa itself. L & her bridesmaids helped each other with hair and makeup, listening to music and sharing a bottle of wine. When it was time for L to get in her dress, she did a first look with her bridesmaids … and they were stunned. We then grabbed some solo portraits of her by the window in her suite as she excitedly waited for the first look with D.

Meanwhile, D & his groomsmen hung out by the pool in their tan tweed suits & sunglasses, smoking some cigars and enjoying the sun before the ceremony started.

Ceremony

L’s maid of honor officiated this short, intimate wedding ceremony in front of the bride and grooms’ closest friends and family. It felt very special as she shared her first memories of L&D getting together. Having already eloped in Acadia National Park, this was their friends & family’s chance to join in on the celebration.

The couple couldn’t have lucked out with better weather as the sun shined brightly down on them and their 17 guests, leaving behind a gorgeous glow on the rolling hills that were their backdrop.

Cocktail Hour & Formal Portraits

Cheers to the married couple! Cocktail hour was filled with so many different meats, cheeses & crackers and if you haven’t caught on yet—wine! The guests mingled while I took L&D around the property to get more formal photos, and we found the sweetest stray cat along the way. We took advantage of how beautiful the venue was, making sure to add as much variety in the backdrops of their photographs as possible.

Reception

The weather lasted long enough to get us through couples portraits & then began to rain as it was time for the reception. Because of this, the reception was held inside in the dining room which made for a cozy candle-lit dinner. The dinner was 4 courses, leaving plenty of time to document so many candid moments. The wine & conversation was flowing, bookended by emotionally-touching speeches made by the parents of the couple, maid of honor & best man.

& then it was party time!! Everyone hit the dance floor, and the energy was electric! The bride changed into her reception outfit; a white, long sleeve cowl neck top covered in pearls, white dress pants paired with a sparkly silver belt & white heels. She looked STUNNING!

Later in the night, Villa Le Cappane brought out the late night snack; homemade cannolis. This really was the cherry-on-top of the whole experience. The only thing left for L&D to do was dance the night away, savouring the last night of their dream-come-true destination wedding weekend.

Millefoglie: An Italian Wedding Cake Tradition

The most unique part of this whole experience? Partaking in the Italian Wedding Cake Tradition, Millefoglie. L&D “show-cooked” their own millefoglie wedding cake, which was all made by the catering team at Dolceria Del Corseo Catering & Country Relais & Spa Le Cappane. How many people do you know who can say they made their own wedding cake in front of all their guests & have photos to prove it? This was hands down one of the most memorable experiences for not only the couple but for me as a wedding photographer as well.

and by the way, it was absolutely DELICIOUS!

This destination weekend wedding in Tuscany was a huge bucket list moment for me. It has always been a dream to travel and experience so many different places and cultures, and now being able to do it while doing what I love makes it all the more worth it.

What I loved most about this experience is that I was there from the beginning of the wedding weekend to the end & captured every moment/memory for L&D. I was able to photograph them at their leisure, while experiencing some of the most memorable moments of their lives and provided them with a full extensive gallery to relive it all. Being there from the start of the experience meant I got to know the friends and family closest to the couple, which created enough comfortability for candid moments in front of my lens. And because we woke up on site the morning of the wedding, it meant that this day could be truly documentary, leaving so much room to breathe and capture things as they come rather than rush through one of the most important days of a couple’s life. The results—a beautiful destination wedding that no one will ever forget, captured authentically thanks to the comfort of full-time, on-site photography. Thank you L&D for loving and trusting my vision enough to fly me to Italy so I could document this unforgettable experience for you.

Engaged couples planning a destination wedding, this is your sign to consider Tuscany as the location for your own destination wedding and hire me to document every moment of it!

We want you to photograph our destination wedding!

VENDORS

Venue: Country Relais & Spa Le Capanne
Planner: GVE Weddings
Photographer: Jess Biancardi Photography
Catering & Cake: Dolceria Del Corso Catering
Florist: Laura Castellaci at Flo Bloom Lab
Dress: 125 Bridal Boutique
Bridesmaids Dresses: Birdy Grey
Suits: Giblees