BE INSPIRED
Forget the Coast: Why Emilia-Romagna Is Italy's New "I Do"
BE INSPIRED
Forget the Coast: Why Emilia-Romagna Is Italy's New "I Do"
The Invite A two-day trip to the region of Bologna - for one.
I’ve never been to Bologna, but I'm always partial to a luxury wedding estate with a spa, for obvious reasons. With "immersive" and "experience" now the buzzwords driving wedding planning, worldwide luxury destinations are adding everything they can to their celebratory offerings from private wedding islands to, the yacht that delivers them there. I’ve heard this venue has a passion for guest and wedding experiences and I’m eager to find out more.
The Region While Tuscany and the Amalfi Coast hog the wedding spotlight, the Bolognese hills, it seems are quietly staging a takeover. This is, after all, the land of Parmigiano-Reggiano, Prosciutto di Parma and Sangiovese di Romagna- a food-first alternative just 25km from Bologna, where the view is olive groves instead of beaches. Lush green landscapes as far as the eye can see envelop this immaculate resort - a different kind of picture-perfect proposal altogether, but equally inviting.
The Estate
Palazzo di Varignana is an 18th-century palazzo reborn as a 900-hectare agricultural estate with 450 hectares of olive groves, 57 of vineyards and a garden ranked among Italy's 100 most beautiful. It's less a hotel, more a self-contained world: 150 rooms and suites, six restored villas, and a scale that only reveals itself in daylight, as became obvious to me after landing at 1am.
Where to Marry
Every wedding style has a stage here. A medieval chapel inside Villa Santa Maria Maddalena for tradition lovers. A sleek modern reception in the conference centre for the fashion forward. An intimate gathering in one of six villas. Or the showstopper: Treno Reale, a 1920s royal train carriage restored for seven-course dinners and hireable for intimate ceremonies.
The Food
The estate boasts five restaurants, farm-to-table by design: Michelin-listed Il Grifone, relaxed Trattoria Le Marzoline, healthy and vibrant Gingko Longevity Restaurant (my favourite) olive-oil-driven Aurevo, and the theatrical Treno Reale every plate sourced from the estate's own gardens and groves.
AS A FOODIE THIS RESORT TICKS ALL OF THE BOXES FOR ME AND SHOULD BE ON ANYONES VISIT-LIST IF PLANNING AND ITALIAN WEDDING. 
KAREN BELL, EDITOR
The Numbers
For couples planning around Villa Amagioia (one of a few at the resort!) the venue holds up to 30 guests for both cocktail hour and dinner, front villa included. The traditional menu runs €150 per adult, with a minimum stay of three nights in May and October, rising to four nights June through September. A wedding-day setup fee applies, starting from €2,000.
For bigger celebrations, the conference centre's Rio Rosso Hall and Belvedere Suite scale from 70 up to 220 guests across different spaces around the main building, including the outdoor Pergolato dell'Arte, while Piazzale Bentivoglio offers three intimate spaces catering for up to 30, alongside lush outdoor areas made for cocktails and canapés.
All in all, there's an incredible space, suite, marquee or experience to suit at a great price.
The Menu, In Motion
Part of our experience was dining at the inimitable Treno Reale: seven courses, each one an Italian city. A chef's amuse-bouche aroused our palates before the menu moved through Varignana (cuttlefish gently opened with Varignana EVO oil, peas and ham broth with Villa Amagioia sparkling wine), Naples (a melt in the mouth octopus ravioli in tomato water and capers), Rome ( Fermented cacio e pepe artichoke), Milan (roasted Grigio Alpina beef, whipped egg yolk and lemon), a pink grapefruit pre-dessert enveloped in lemon balm between Milan and Turin. Turin was a symphony of gianduia and raspberry. If dinner is theatre, this certainly brought the drama.
The Wellness
A 4,000 sqm spa built around the Acquaviva Method means guests arrive for a ceremony and leave recalibrated, rejuvenated and wonderfully educated.
Our Experience
Luxury accommodation with a view over the olive groves made a refreshing change from a seascape. Beautiful poolsides and indulgent menus. I loved our Japanese Tea Ritual and Turkish Hammam in the spa, the five-course menu in the Treno Reale, an excursion to a local Parmigiano cheese factory, and a tasting experience in the Ginkgo restaurant. All individually incredible experiences that can be added to any wedding to further enhance the celebrations.
I took the Japanese Tea Ritual in one of the spa suites featuring shoji-style sliding screens within a washitsu-inspired room - a slow, ceremonial reset that felt worlds away from the Bolognese hills outside the window, followed by a face yoga session. Toning, lifting and relaxing, this was the perfect pre-wedding girly pamper ritual (it's also slightly hilarious watching other peoples odd expressions!)
Two days wasn't enough. This is a wedding estate built for experiences: olive oil tastings, bike rides through vineyards, wedding wellness packages, culinary theatre, cooking school and bespoke weddings that are built to savour. Emilia-Romagna's moment has arrived.
www.palazzodivarignana.com
Tel +39 051 19938300
