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Top 10 European Luxury Wedding Venues
When it comes to the top 10 European luxury wedding venues, there are some very sumptuous and luxurious locations if you can afford to spend the money. Although Italy is prominently featured in this list of top 10 European luxury wedding venues, it is hardly surprising since Italy has always been synonymous with romance! After eliminating several more than well-deserving venues, I finally came up with the following list:
- Vaux le Vicomte, Paris, France
- Stapleford Park, Melton Mowbray, England
- Skibo Castle, Dornoch, Scotland
- The Palazzo Cavalli, Venice, Italy
- Campidoglio, Rome, Italy
- Blairquhan Castle, Ayrshire, Scotland
- Torre Palazzone, Tuscany, Italy
- Sopwell House, Hertfordshire, England
- Luttrells Castle, Ireland
- Odelscalchi Castle, Lake Bracciano, Italy
Vaux le Vicomte, Paris, France
The price of the application is hardly surprising when hiring this opulent setting for your wedding. If you hire the castle exclusively for yourself and your wedding party, I daresay the sky’s the limit! There is room in the Grand Salon to seat up to 400 guests for dinner or provide cocktails for up to 800 guests. The elegant Salon de la Muses is sufficient for a more modest wedding breakfast or candlelit dinner, where up to 50 guests can be seated in opulent comfort. The Vaux le Vicomte chateau was the wedding location between Amit Bhatia and Vanisha Mittal. However, their wedding reception was held at another location, the Jardin des Tuileries in Paris.
Stapleford Park, Melton Mowbray, England
A wedding package at Stapleford Park is certainly likely to be a lavish affair which, in high season, is likely to set you back around £14,000, equivalent to about $20.000 USD, for the basic wedding package. It is certainly a spectacular setting, graceful and stately rather than the opulence you find amongst the French and Italian venues. Following a blessing at St Mary Magdalene Church located within the estate of Stapleford Park, the Grand Hall is available for reception, with plenty of space on the sweeping grounds for photographs to remember the special day.
Skibo Castle, Dornoch, Scotland
This much sought-after location is certainly one of the top 10 European luxury wedding venues, favoured by celebs such as Ashley Judd and Dario Franchitti, who celebrated their wedding here. Although their wedding blew the budget at $750,000, or £497,628.22, this did include designer gowns and jewellery as well as the cost of the actual ceremony! Madonna went one better and splashed out $1.5 million when her wedding was held at Skibo Castle! The beautiful Edwardian Dining Room is the location for the exchange of vows.
Exclusive use of this castle and the 7,500 acres of grounds will set you back £34,000 per night, or USD 51,231.54. This does, however, include the minister’s fee to marry the bride and groom and a full complement of staff to look after the guests’ needs. There is sufficient room to sleep up to 80 guests in exclusive splendour.
The Palazzo Cavalli, Venice, Italy
A particularly famous venue, the Palazzo Cavalli in Venice, belongs to the City of Venice and was purchased to be a location for civil wedding ceremonies. You can arrive at this former private palace in traditional Venetian style, in a genuine gondola and gaze at the historic setting of the Grand Canal and the Rialto Bridge whilst waiting to exchange your vows. The Palazzo is just 4 hours from Milan and 6 hours from Rome, but it is well worth the trip.
The opportunities for unique and spectacular photographs taken on the marble staircase or overlooking the arched entranceway will make your wedding day memorable. There is room for 60 guests, 30 of whom can be seated, although the other 30 would have to stand. Overall, the magic romance of Venice certainly makes this one of the top 10 European luxury wedding venues.
Campidoglio, Rome, Italy
This is a magical location for any wedding, set on the top of Capitoline Hill, with photo options at the Piazza di Venezia, the Coliseum or the Roman Forum. This is a very popular site for civil weddings to be held in Rome so, to avoid too many people being disappointed the ceremonies are kept to just 10 minutes each, with no chance of music or flowers although, to be quite honest, when you enter the Red Hall the opulence of red satin walls, chandeliers and rich brocade, flowers would pale into significance!
You can expect to pay around £1, 182.62, or $1,780.45 USD for these regal 10 minutes, although this does include £726.99, or USD 1,094.50 paid for the very necessary services of a wedding planner. This is just for the ceremony, however. In addition, you will have to meet the cost of the wedding reception for yourself and your guests.
Blairquhan Castle, Maybole, Scotland
This Regency Castle, in Ayrshire, Scotland, was built in the 1800s, nestling amongst sweeping parklands and beautifully kept gardens. There is room for 26 guests to sleep overnight and accommodate 100 guests at the ceremony and reception. The fee for the exclusive use of the castle for your wedding is in the region of £1,900, equivalent to USD 2,861.37, although the exact price is available on request.
Torre Palazzone, Tuscany, Italy
This medieval setting is perfect for inclusion as one of the top 10 European luxury wedding venues with its hot tub, private pool and gourmet cuisine. Torre Palazzone can be found near Siena, where there is plenty for guests to find out. Exclusive use of this fortified chateau, which can sleep up to 22 guests, will cost £8,000 a week. Today’s exchange rate is USD 12,052.43.
Sopwell House, Hertfordshire, England
Sopwell House, situated amongst the English countryside, will provide you with a complimentary room in one of their Junior Suites for your wedding night for those couples who book their wedding reception or the ceremony in the elegant surroundings of Sopwell House. This is a beautiful location where the party can relax and enjoy the wedding day. It is surrounded by sweeping parkland and carefully laid-out gardens, providing an ideal location for the most memorable photographs.
Luttrells Castle, Ireland
Victoria and David Beckham celebrated their wedding at Luttrells Castle, hiring exclusive use of the property for their wedding day. The total cost of their wedding was $800,000, although that indulgent sum included a Vera Wang wedding gown for $100,000 and jewellery for the sum of $160,000. In total, they spent $100,000 on accommodation costs. Dinner can accommodate up to 140 guests, while there is sufficient room for up to 250 guests if just cocktails are served.
For guests of more modest means, the Millennium Suite is an ideal location for the wedding reception. It looks out towards the water feature, which is illuminated as it gets dark. Costs are not advertised, so it would seem that the price is the price on an application—although you are not likely to have to pay the whopping sum of $100,000 unless you intend to hire the whole venue.
Odelscalchi Castle, Lake Bracciano, Italy
If you thought the cost of the Beckham’s wedding was steep, it pales into total insignificance when you consider what Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes spent on their wedding held in Italy at Odelscalchi Castle. Their wedding at the end of 2006 cost them $2 million, of which $750,000 went to the cost of exclusive use of the Odelscalchi Castle. The Armani gown cost Katie $45,000, Tom Cruise’s tuxedo, also by Armani, cost $3,000, and they spent $180,000 on champagne and other wines.
It is hardly surprising that this medieval castle is such a favourite with celebs getting married. Whether you decide to splash out and hire the whole castle or make do with the Hall of Caesars, the Ancient Tower and the Secret Garden, you will still enjoy a fairytale wedding and a memorable wedding day.
