Kate and Trent Get Married in Tuscany

Kate McDonald and Trent Goodin were married on: September 26^th, 2021. Thank you so much to Alessandra Levi, WPICC of Lale Travel for this absolutely dreamy and romantic destination wedding submission. The photos and Kate’s description of the festivities took our breath away!

We knew from the beginning that we wanted to plan an intimate destination wedding in a place that felt important to us. We both studied for a semester abroad during college, and our romantic relationship grew. Rome has always been a special place for us, so it made sense that we plan something there. Our friends and family love to travel and we envisioned our wedding as a time to celebrate and have new experiences with our loved ones.

An acquaintance from my hometown introduced us to Alessandra in May 2019, and we started working with her to plan a wedding for the following May. Our plan was to have a welcome party the night before, get married at Saint Paul within the Walls Church, have a decadent reception lunch afterwards, and later rent a bar for celebrating in the evening. We also wanted to plan a short trip to Tuscany afterwards for our close friends that attended.

We really enjoyed the planning process with Alessandra that fall, but became so excited about our wedding when we went to Italy over Thanksgiving to confirm some plans in Rome. After a few days of confirming wedding details, Alessandra organized a stay for us in Tuscany that was nothing short of incredible. Little did we know, that would be the last trip we took for some time, and that we would end up getting married in Tuscany!

As most 2020 couples experienced, our wedding was postponed due to COVID-19. Alessandra was fantastic and understanding during the whole postponement process as she navigated extending contracts, getting in contact with restaurants and venues, etc. We also were in the process of moving so Trent could begin work as a doctor, and we relied heavily on Alessandra’s organization to keep everything together. We kept in close contact during 2020 and decided to postpone the wedding until May 2021.

In late 2020, we met with Alessandra to discuss what the possibility of a May 2021 wedding in Italy. We were navigating a new venue for our wedding lunch, as the restaurant we had booked closed due to COVID-19. She suggested to postpone until Fall 2021 and, most importantly, that we consider moving our wedding to Laticastelli, the location we had booked for our after-wedding vacation with friends. This location change ended up being what we think made our wedding so memorable and enjoyable for us as a couple.

Alessandra worked with Laticastelli to get exclusivity of the property for the three days for our wedding. She also managed to get the team from our welcome dinner location, Rimessa Roscioli, to agree to come from Rome for the night to do an eight-course wine tasting dinner. Changing locations from Rome to a medieval-village-turned-hotel in Tuscany also meant that we were able to rethink some of our initial ideas about the experience we had with our guests. Originally, we imagined ourselves going from place to place in Rome, seeing smaller groups of people and having a fun, but busy experience. At Laticastelli and in Tuscany, we would be staying with everyone that attended the wedding for an extended amount of time. Being able to see some of our closest friends and family over breakfast every morning, after over a year of isolation, was more special to us than we realized.

We completely changed course with our wedding day plans and decided to have a romantic evening wedding outside overlooking the Tuscan hills with a dinner in the garden to follow. Alessandra found a beautiful florist, Agriflor, that created lush, romantic florals for the ceremony and reception.

We worked with Laticastelli to get lights hung in the garden and planned to have an aperitivo hour in the cobblestone streets before the wedding dinner.

Alessandra was able to be with us for the wedding which made all the difference. We were so excited to have her with us, as we had been planning this Italian wedding together for over two years. She and the Laticastelli staff worked so well together and made the experience incredibly stress-free. We weren’t the only ones thrilled to have her with us – our families and friends loved getting to know her and spend time with her over the three days we were together.

Our welcome dinner was nothing short of incredible. We had a vintage 60s theme for the evening and had the most incredible food and wines from Rimessa Roscioli. We were all so thrilled to finally be together and the atmosphere was exuberant. A handful of guests (including us) even left as members of the Roscioli wine club.

The morning of the wedding looked like rain, but we weren’t bothered about it because Alessandra and Laticastelli staff handled it. We decided to move our aperitivo and dinner into the restaurant, which ended up being the right move because it began raining about 2 minutes after our outdoor ceremony ended. Like so many things about our wedding, this move was actually so lovely, and we couldn’t have imagined it any other way. The restaurant at Laticastelli is very simple and elegant, and the tables were covered with flowers and taper candles. Our dinner was beautiful and delicious, and the indoor celebration felt intimate.

We spent the rest of the evening dancing and celebrating with our guests.

Our wedding day was our favorite by default, but the day following was close enough to trump it. Alessandra organized a day-long vespa tour with VintageTours Toscana for our guests through the Tuscan countryside. It couldn’t have been a more beautiful day and we’ll never forget driving back to Laticastelli as the sun was setting. It was such a special moment.

Alessandra also organized our entire honeymoon in the Veneto. It could not have been a more perfect time. Working with Alessandra was so wonderful; she was organized, creative, and helped us remain flexible during an uncertain time. We loved getting to know her during the planning and felt privileged to have her as our planner.