Joanna & James at Tenuta San Masseo

Destination Wedding in Assisi - 15th September 2023

Joanna & James
Joanna & James

Videography by Light & Dreams studio

Why Italy?

We both love to travel and, therefore, always knew we wanted to get married abroad. When we started our search, we considered France, Greece, and Italy. We always thought it might end up being France because we both used to go on holiday there a lot throughout our childhood.

Joanna & James
Joanna & James – Tenuta San Masseo

However, when we started our search, we fell in love with the idea of getting married in Italy. The people, the food and wine, and the way the wedding day ran was just exactly what we wanted! We’re so glad we made the decision. We have fallen in love with Italy, and it’s not our favourite place.

Joanna & James
Joanna & James – Tenuta San Masseo

Why Tenuta San Masseo?

Once we had made the decision to get married in Italy, we shortlisted four venues and planned a trip. The venues were all over Italy – our trip started in Ancona and ended in Pisa. As we travelled through the country we happened to drive through Assisi and we both just looked at each other and said, ‘this is it, it has to be here.’ We’d never seen a place like this, and we instantly felt a connection.

Joanna & James
Joanna & James – Tenuta San Masseo

When we got home from our trip, I started to narrow down the search to focus on Assisi. I found Tenuta San Masseo really quickly and enquired straight away. The property was so lovely that I didn’t think it

Joanna & James
Joanna & James – Tenuta San Masseo

would be in our budget, and when it was, we knew that was it! It was perfect because it’s a boutique hotel that we could have exclusively for ourselves. We took over the property from Friday to Monday, and not only did we host the wedding there, but we also hosted the pool party the day after. There was lots of accommodation nearby for guests, and it’s only 15 minutes from the airport. We couldn’t believe our luck!!

Joanna & James
Joanna & James – Tenuta San Masseo

We did a video call with Iuliia to speak with her and check if we liked it, and we booked a flight that weekend to go and see it. When we arrived, we knew it was the perfect place, so we said yes there and then. We couldn’t be more grateful for our experience at Tenuta San Masseo and all the people we have met along the way.

What did we love most about the wedding?

We genuinely loved everything about the wedding, which makes it really hard to choose, but we would have to say having all our friends and family there to celebrate with us – there is no feeling like it.

Joanna & James
Joanna & James – Tenuta San Masseo

Mainly because they all made the effort (and spent the money) to travel to be there. So many of them made holidays out of it, and they all fell in love with Assisi. It’s such an overwhelming feeling and now it’s a special place we can all share.

Joanna & James
Joanna & James – Tenuta San Masseo
Joanna & James
Joanna & James – Tenuta San Masseo
Joanna & James
Joanna & James – Tenuta San Masseo

The Story of the Pony

Joanna had always loved the idea of having alpacas at the wedding, ideally one dressed as a bride and one dressed as a groom. As the wedding drew closer, she decided to enquire with the venue about the possibility of making this happen as a surprise to James.

When she asked the venue, they said they weren’t aware of any local alpaca farms but that on-site, there was a Shetland Pony… how could she refuse?

Joanna & James
Joanna & James – Tenuta San Masseo

She kept the pony as a surprise, and then he made a grand entrance during the Aperitivo. James was certainly shocked, to say the least!!! The guests loved it, and he was such a talking point both during and after the wedding. It’s so important to inject your personality into the wedding, which sums us up quite nicely.

Tenuta San Masseoe

+393490990238

via Francesca 24 Assisi, Perugia, Umbria 06081, Italy

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