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:

1. Vaux le Vicomte, Paris, France
2. Stapleford Park, Melton Mowbray, England
3. Skibo Castle, Dornoch, Scotland
4. The Palazzo Cavalli, Venice, Italy
5. Campidoglio, Rome, Italy
6. Blairquhan Castle, Ayrshire, Scotland
   
7. Torre Palazzone, Tuscany, Italy
8. Sopwell House, Hertfordshire, England
9. Luttrells Castle, Ireland
10. 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.

By 5 Star Weddings, all rights reserved

All offers are valid for stays from 7 January – 22 December 2013.  Located on a pristine horseshoe coral sand cove sand surrounded by turquoise waters and sugar cane fields, Shanti Maurice provides the perfect setting for an exotic wedding or romantic honeymoon. Sitting on arguably the best beach in the largely untouched south coast of Mauritius, Shanti Maurice is spread over 36 acres of tropical gardens, with 61 luxurious suites & villas, and an award-winning spa.

Couples getting married at Shanti Maurice are able to choose from numerous potential venues, from a wedding pavilion at the end of the jetty on the Indian Ocean, to the ancient Badamier tree beside the resort. True to Shanti Maurice’s connection with the environs outside of the resort, memorable wedding ceremonies can also be arranged in the village’s 18th-century chapel, complete with a Mauritian choir.

Whether celebrating a wedding or a honeymoon, the staff at Shanti Maurice are on hand to ensure a seamless experience; from organising post-ceremony champagne cocktails on the beach, to an ocean-side wedding dinner, or butler-drawn aromatherapy bubble bath to greet them on their wedding night.

The beachfront location of Shanti Maurice’s villas provides honeymooners with their own self-contained, secluded space. Designed to reflect the Indian, French and African fusion of Mauritian culture, each villa features a 54 sq. metre private swimming pool with Jacuzzi, private gardens and Salas for outdoor dining. Spacious bathrooms complete with walk-in showers and spa baths look on to lush walled courtyards with outdoor rain showers. Teak lounge beds overlooking the Indian Ocean complete a picture of effortless, relaxed luxury.

Couples can be pampered at the extensive 75,000 sq. foot Nira Spa, one of the most extensive in the Indian Ocean. The Nira Spa is built around an enchanting tea pavilion, surrounded by lily ponds and indigenous flower gardens. The 25 treatment rooms include an extensive spa suite, specifically designed for couples. Expert masseurs and spa therapists work alongside nutritionists, personal trainers and Ayurvedic Doctors to encourage optimum health and mental wellbeing.

The concierge at Shanti Maurice can organise a huge range of off-property experiences for couples who wish to explore Mauritius, from scuba diving on the reef to helicopter tours, parasailing and dolphin watching, as well as guided walks and private picnics amongst the lush nature and dramatic landscapes that surround the resort.

So ladies only have to wait a couple of days before they can pop the ‘Big’ question. If the time is right, you’ve discussed marriage at length and are both ready and committed, then why wait any longer for your man to propose?

Wedding planning experts Keep Calm and Marry On offer some perfect proposal tips and advice for those brave brides-to-be.

Owner, Ailish McDonnell, said: “Ladies love the romance of a proposal and spend hours dreaming of the perfect setting, so what better way to meet expectations than to plan it all, exactly as you want.

“But keep in mind that your partner must feel comfortable and relaxed.

“It’s also important to prepare in advance so that you are calm, confident and in control, so you can enjoy the experience too.

“And men, just because the lady in your life is popping the question, it doesn’t mean she won’t want a lovely sparkling diamond ring!”

Perfect Proposal tips to keep in mind:

1. Choosing the date won’t be hard, but the time and place is crucial if you don’t want to give the surprise away! Remember to choose a place that you’ll both enjoy.

2. You really don’t have to spend a fortune to make it romantic – perhaps make a nice candlelit dinner at home, with some champagne, chocolates and indulgent dessert…

3. You could write “Will you marry me?” on a piece of card and when the moment is right, pass the card to him and ask him to turn it over and read aloud to which you will reply, “Of course!”.

4. Think about how your partner likes to relax (apart from with you) and join him there to pop the question. This may be at a football, rugby or cricket match or down the pub, as long as he wouldn’t be embarrassed.

5. You don’t have to have a diamond ring for your future husband but maybe a token of your love, hopefully he will take you shopping for yours! Prepare what you’re going to say so that you don’t miss anything out.

6. Be prepared – the likelihood is that he will say “yes” but just in case he says “no” or “maybe” it’s always easier to respond if you have thought about it in advance.

7. And if he does say “no” then you can always fall back on an ancient law to rescue the situation and send your partner shopping! In the Middle Ages, a law passed by Queen Margaret of Scotland stated that if a woman proposed in a leap year and was turned down, the man must give her a kiss and a silk gown!

8. Wedding planners Keep Calm and Marry On have recently launched a “Perfect Proposal” package for busy men and ladies planning to pop the question but who struggle for time, need help in expressing their ideas and creativity, are looking for an original idea or haven’t a clue where to start.

9. Keep Calm and Marry On is a wedding planning and consultation service for civil partnerships and weddings, pre and post wedding parties, anniversaries, engagements and renewal of vows, for all denominations.