The Salone delle Feste at The St. Regis Florence seats 250 under frescoed walls and gilded mirrors, a ballroom that could belong to a private palace rather than a hotel. It stands on Piazza Ognissanti, on the north bank of the Arno, with the Ponte Vecchio within walking distance, and a wedding here moves between that ballroom, a glass-roofed Winter Garden and riverside terraces.
The palazzo has been a hotel since the nineteenth century. Country & Town House dates its opening as the Grand Hotel to 1866, and it became a St. Regis in 2011. The building keeps the proportions of a Florentine palace: high ceilings, chandeliers, frescoes and marble, with Ognissanti church in the same small square. A wedding here has Florence itself around it, with the river, the Ponte Vecchio and the city’s landmarks all within walking distance of the hotel.
A square with a church and a river
Piazza Ognissanti takes its name from the church beside the hotel, where Botticelli is buried and where his fresco of St Augustine can be seen. The Arno is across the road, and the Ponte Vecchio and the Uffizi lie along the embankment to the east. Guests arriving for a wedding step out into a part of Florence with its galleries and churches within reach on foot.
Ceremonies by the river
The riverside terraces look over the Arno towards the Renaissance skyline, and make an open-air setting for cocktails or for smaller ceremonies. The Winter Garden is also used for ceremonies at more intimate weddings. Larger ceremonies are arranged in nearby historic churches and city venues, coordinated with the couple’s wedding planner. Spring and summer are the most sought-after months, when the terraces come into their own.
The Salone delle Feste and the Winter Garden
The Salone delle Feste is the hotel’s wedding ballroom. Its walls are frescoed, its mirrors gilded and its chandeliers crystal, and the set-up is flexible: a seated dinner for up to 250 guests, or a standing reception for the same number. Winter weddings are held here and in the Winter Garden, by candlelight.
The Winter Garden is the second great room. A stained-glass ceiling rises over a restaurant and piano bar, with crystal chandeliers and gilded detail. It is used for rehearsal dinners before the wedding and, at more intimate weddings, for the ceremony itself.
Staying in the palazzo
The hotel has 80 rooms and 19 suites, many of them facing the Arno or the rooftops of Florence. Rooms follow three styles, Medici, Florentine and Renaissance, with four-poster or canopied beds, frescoed or coffered ceilings and marble bathrooms. The Royal Suite, once the residence of a Florentine aristocrat, keeps its original antiques. Higher categories, including the river-view rooms and every suite, come with a St. Regis butler, who unpacks and brings the morning coffee.
Dinner, wine and the bar
Catering is by the hotel’s culinary team, with menus from hors d’oeuvres and buffet receptions to a seated dinner. The restaurant, Winter Garden by Caino, cooks Tuscan and Italian dishes, and the Cantinetta wine cellar holds more than 300 wines from Italy and abroad. The St. Regis Bar keeps a nightly ritual: a bottle of champagne opened with a sabre. Private dining by the river can also be arranged, and farewell brunches by the Arno can close the weekend.
Planning your wedding
Florence airport is 15 to 20 minutes away by car, Pisa about an hour and a quarter, and Santa Maria Novella station a short walk or taxi ride. The hotel can arrange transfers from the airports and the station. The hotel’s wedding specialists and butlers help with flowers, décor and the timeline for the day.
The Salone delle Feste takes 250 guests for dinner or for a standing reception, so a longer guest list needs another plan.
A palace wedding in the city
The St. Regis Florence suits couples who want a city wedding with the dignity of a palace behind it: a frescoed ballroom for the dinner, a glass-roofed room for the party, a river for the photographs and a butler for the weekend. It is a hotel wedding rather than a private-house one, and the principal planning point is the 250-guest ceiling for the Salone delle Feste.
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