In celebration of our Issimo Wedding Collection, discover the enduring nuptial customs beloved by Italians
Winemaking and weddings. Both have their traditions. In the heart of the Prosecco-producing region Veneto, La Reggenza is a winery that celebrates time-honoured methods, from pruning grape vines to harvesting the fruit by hand. Fitting, therefore, that its Conegliano Valdobiadenne Prosecco Superiore is part of the Issimo Wedding Collection.
Traditions are also intricately woven in the fabric of authentic Italian weddings, with age-old customs passed down the generations.
In the South of the country, the length of the veil should reflect the length of the engagement with every year represented through one metre of fabric. In the North, such as in Liguria, never let the bride wear pearls or marry in September, but a coin in a shoe guarantees the wealth of the betrothed.
Throughout Italy, wedding favours known as bomboniere are given to wedding guests. Historically this would take the form of sugared almonds in a small organza bag, but nowadays couples are choosing more personalised forms of bomboniere, whether that be a small bottle of wine from the family’s vineyard or hand-painted ceramics.
After the wedding ceremony, the couple break a glass vase, with the number of broken fragments indicating the number of married years ahead. The bride’s garter used to be torn into pieces by the husband and donated to guests with the proceeds contributing to the wedding expenses. Today this tradition has been replaced by the cutting of the groom’s tie.
Viva l’amore!