Dear Janie, Bill, Lucia and Emma,

We wanted to share with you just how pleased we are with our experience using Slow Dreams to plan our destination wedding.

We left all of our wedding plans in your hands and could not have had a more pleasant, memorable and relaxed experience. From the beginning, when we contacted you only 6 months from our desired wedding date to the end when we said our vows, we could not have been happier.  Our ceremony went off without a hitch and Lucia and Emma were so helpful.  They were pleasant to work with and their demeanor made it seem as if we had two friends there with us.  The civil service at the town hall was handled beautifully as well as the romantic sunset ceremony at the Villa and we are lucky enough to have wonderful pictures and video of the event that perfectly captured our experience.  The photographers that you chose from TTL Photo, Silvia and Luigi, were so professional and nice that we ended up having drinks with them the day after our wedding.

Villa Cheta was absolutely fabulous with breathtaking views of the countryside, mountains and ocean.  The staff was superb and the food was simply perfect.   Every evening there was a pleasure.  As a matter of fact, our experience in Maratea was so wonderful that we decided to cancel the rest of our trip which was going to be in Capri and remain at Villa Cheta for an extra 5 days!

All in all, we couldn’t be happier with the planning; right from the translator, Mr. Waddington in Naples (personal guide to take couples to the American consulate) to the Maitre’D, Biaggio at the Villa we had an incredible time.

Again, thanks so much for your help and we will most certainly recommend your services to any one of our friends looking to do a destination wedding in the future.

Sincerely,

Naomi and Frank Licari

Bill, Janie & Lucia with Slow-Dreams made planning our wedding effortless from the moment we sent off our first email through the wedding dinner. The entire experience was stress free (with the exception of driving in Naples and our parents being inconvenienced by a train strike) and virtually seamless. We planned every detail by email and fax and just showed up! Everything from the planning, the accommodations, the site of the wedding, the food and wine, the Italian civil ceremony and the photographers was handled beautifully, professionally, and with unparalleled excellence.

John Waddington, our navigator through the legalities in Naples, escorted us from our hotel to the American Consulate and then to the Italian government office, where his assistant, Marta, was already waiting with the necessary stamps and a number that placed us at the front of the line. John was delightful and made what could have been a chaotic & frustrating process easy.   

Our Slow-Dreams event manager, Alessandra at the Villa Sirio, coordinated everything beautifully. The accommodations were beautiful. We and all of our guests had rooms with views and the sounds of the sea. Alessandra eased us through all of the paperwork, escorted us to the town hall several times and provided translations beyond what we would have expected. She arranged mini buses to take groups to Paestum and Pompeii and arranged transportation to the train station for our guests. Her husband even drove a guest to the hospital in the middle of the night after a fall, and Alessandra met us at the hospital the next morning to assist with communicating with the doctors. She is a truly amazing!

Thanks to everybody at Slow-Dreams for a truly wonderful experience.

Vivian & Todd Harrington

Winchester, Virginia

When we decided to have a destination wedding, the first thing we had to come to terms with, was that we couldn't get upset if the flowers, cake, ceremony, etc. was not exactly what we wanted.  Instead of picking the vendors yourself, tasting the cake and food yourself, you are basically trusting someone else to do all of this for you.  Someone who doesn't know anything about your personality or preferences.  It was a little scary, but we decided that hopefully the destination that we chose, would be so great that it overshadowed any shortcomings that could have evolved from having a stranger do everything for you.

We chose Italy first and then chose Slow-Dreams because when the gorgeous pictures came up on the internet, we felt like there was no other place in Italy to get married.  We began emailing Slow-Dreams to get information...From that point on, everything was handled so professionally. No question was left unanswered, no request was made unattainable.  Over a year and a half's time, we were in communication with Slow-Dreams at least a few times a week if not more. They took the time to really get to know us and our personalities.
They were so accommodating at every turn.  No matter what it was we asked, they made it happened.

Over time, we sent them pictures that we found in a bridal magazine of the flowers we would like. In the bouquet there were these unripened raspberries that added a touch of greenery.  It was so beautiful.  Our expectation was hopefully the colors would at least be the same as the ones in the magazine (because all those brides out there who like to be in control, it's a scary things to relinquish it).  We discussed what we wanted in the cake, and again we tried not to expect too much because they do wedding cakes very differently in Italy than they do in the U.S.  Also, not being able to do the cake tasting yourself, anything could happen, right?

When it came time to do the paperwork, Slow-Dreams stayed on top of us to make sure we completed everything we needed to on our end.  Everything you read about getting married in Italy, tells you  there is a lot of red tape.  Luckily for us, it seemed that Slow-Dreams absorbed most of that hassle and made the process very easy  for us.  They even had someone meet us in Naples to take us around to get our paperwork in Italy completed.  And my goodness!  We would have been so lost without their help in Naples! They took amazing care of us.  Thanks John and Marta!

Now for the week of the wedding...Slow-Dreams was incredibly accommodating, even to our guests.  Making sure we had transportation wherever we needed to go, suggesting the best places to eat (which there are MANY). They really just wanted to make sure that we were always happy.
The day of the wedding, it was pouring down rain!  Slow-Dreams was so comforting to me that day, and Lucia and Rosa worked with the hotel (The Santavenere) to make sure that plan B was  just as amazing as plan A would have been.  One thing I really appreciated was that while I was stressed out all day because of the rain, Lucia was behind the scenes talking constantly to the hotel about what we needed to do, without me even knowing or being bothered with it.  They really do everything they can to take all of the stress away from the bride. And not only did it turn out beautifully, but the sun came out and we even got a rainbow!  How is that for good luck?

As for the cake, food, and flowers...When they brought the flowers into my room,  I was in awe!  They bouquets were an EXACT replica of the flowers in the magazine.  The un-ripened raspberries were even in it!  The food was out of this world!  And usually, at many weddings, that is the most disappointing part!  Not at our wedding!  We can officially say that is was the best food any of our 25 guests had ever tasted at a wedding!
And the cake was beautiful!  It had fresh flowers that matched my bridesmaids bouquets and it tasted incredible and moist.  It was so perfect!

We began this experience feeling like we would possibly have to settle because we were letting other people take care of everything.  Now we realize that is the beauty of doing something like this.  Because as they bride, I'm so glad I didn't have to worry about every little detail.  Literally everything was handle for me, and I was just able to relax and enjoy the moment.  This also speaks to how important it is to choose a great company to plan your wedding. You want a company that is going to handle every little detail with the same care and importance, just as if it was their own wedding.  That is exactly what Slow-Dreams did for us.  Jason and I got very lucky finding Slow-Dreams.  Even some of our guests who had been to other destination weddings said how lucky we got with this company.  It was truly unbelievable!  We did not have to settle at all. In fact, it not only exceeded our expectations, it was the kind of wedding you think you can only dream about.

Bill, Janie, Lucia, and Rosa...our dear friends...thank you so much for making the most special day of our lives everything that it should have been.  We are so grateful for the special care you took to make sure that we had everything we wanted.  Maratea is a magical place, and you all are wonderful people.  Thank you.

Ashley & Jason DeFranco

Hi Janie!

We just got back last night, and it was amazing!  I don't think we could have picked a better time to be in Italy with the World Cup finals and ITALY WINNING!  The whole experience was unbelievable.  And the wedding...I'm sure you all are used to getting these gushing emails from all the weddings you do, but it too was unbelievable.  I'm sure you heard that I was stressed about the rain.  But you know what, as soon as it was time to put on my dress, I didn't have a care in the world. 

Lucia and Rosa were a godsend!  The flowers, I can't even tell you how happy I was with them.  And the food!  My only regret on the food was that I wished I could have eaten A LOT more but I didn't want to be busting out of my beautiful dress! :)

I cannot wait to see the photos!  They said they took 400 and I imagine we will upgrade our package.  I need to send you a list of songs for the video.  After discussing it with the videographer, I decided that it would be better to do so.  I will get those to you by tomorrow.

I cannot believe we have been talking for so long.  I'm sorry I didn't get to meet you.  Thank you so much for everything!  I'm sure you hear this from every wedding you do, but we loved it and we could not have wished for ANYTHING more.  In a few days, once I get settled, I will be sending a great testimonial for you to put on your website.  I just have to wait a few days to let my brain start functioning again.

Thanks again for EVERYTHING!  I will talk to you soon.

Ashley