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Italian Country Theme
Wedding
By Wenona
Napolitano
If you or your fiancé are of Italian descent, an Italian
theme wedding is an excellent way to pay homage to your Italian heritage. Tuscany is a region in the middle of Italy and one of the most beautiful areas in Italy. It is world renown for its food, wine and magnificent scenery. Vineyards, olive
groves, fields of sunflowers, farm houses and villas grace the land and green
mountainsides. Even if you are not descended from the Tuscan region, a Tuscan
theme or Italian Country theme is a very beautiful way to decorate for your
wedding. Tuscan style is simple yet elegant and Tuscan themes incorporate food
and nature. An Italian Country theme can turn your wedding into a very
beautifully decorated event.
An Italian Country theme wedding can be held in a garden, a
vineyard, an Italian restaurant, or anywhere if decorated appropriately. Think
grapes and wine, incorporate shades of greens and purples into your color
scheme. For centerpieces you can use wine glasses or wine bottles, bowls of
fruit, candles shaped like grapes, votive cups with grape designs, or glass
bottles filled with oils, vinegars, and herbs. For other decorations you can
have topiaries incorporating grape vines and grapes or sunflowers.
Visit an import store or a store that specializes in Italian
foods and try to purchase wines, olive oils, marmalades, jams, even cheeses
from Italian regions. You can use these as accents for your tables or you can
serve the specialties to your guests.
Food is very important to the Italians and the wedding feast
is no exception. Traditional wedding feasts are multi course dinners. Appetizers
could be trays of cheese and fruit or bread with dipping oils and herbs. Next
on the menu is antipasto salad or panzanella, which is a salad made with
bread soaked in olive oil. For dinner serve Italian foods, including bruschetta
with tomatoes, garlic and basil. Roasted chicken or pork with a variety of
pastas are other options. You could even have a variety of gourmet style pizzas
to please your pizza loving guests. For dessert you could serve traditional
Italian desserts such as biscotti, cannoli, cheesecake, truffles,
or spumoni in addition to your wedding cake and a symbolic Italian wedding
dessert of twisted dough covered in powdered sugar (wanda). Traditional
Italian candy is also usually served. And don’t forget to serve a variety of
coffees and espressos.
To enhance the feel of your Italian theme wedding you could
have Italian music playing in the background. You can also include some
traditional Italian customs into your wedding: have the bride and groom shatter
a glass at the end of the wedding day, the number of pieces the glass shatters
into symbolize the number of happy years the couple will have together; the groom
should carry a piece of iron in his pocket (Toc Ferro) on the wedding
day to ward off the evil eye (mal’occhio) and any other bad luck that
might come along; the bride should carry a satin bag (la borsa) at the
reception in which guests place envelopes of money. This bag could also be used
during the modern dollar dance to collect the money; have candy covered
almonds, also called confetti (bomboniera), tied in mesh bags and tossed
at the couple instead of rice or birdseed. Traditionally this was to ward off
childlessness and symbolize the union of bitter and sweet. The number of
confetti in each bag is very important. It should never be an even number
because that is bad luck. It should always be an odd number, preferably 5 or 7
which are each good luck numbers. A modern take on the confetti would be to
give the bags away as favors. A little bag could be placed at each table
setting.
Planning an Italian Country theme wedding is a wonderful way
to have a beautiful, romantic and meaningful wedding day. If you love Italian
culture and the simple elegance of Tuscan style this wedding is perfect for
you.
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