By Lisa Light

Everyone knows that destination weddings are all the rage. Some brides can only imagine the sand between their toes, but many others prefer the excitement of a European city and the old world elegance of a chateau or villa.

Italy has been a long standing favorite especially since foreigners can actually have a legal ceremony there. France, however, has always captured the starry-eyed imagination of many couples planning destination weddings. What's not to like? Haute cuisine, art deco and luxury hotels, couture fashion, the best wines and champagnes, world class perfume, vineyards, castles, villas, farms, some of the most dramatic mountains in the world, pastoral valleys, riverboats, lakes, beaches, luxury yachts and off shore islands such as Mont St. Michel and Corsica.

I recently became acquainted with a company that specializes in weddings in France and Italy...Chateau and Villa Weddings. The name says it all. If a chateau or villa wedding is what you want, this is who you need to call. The company was founded by a very dynamic group of women who are passionate about weddings and have been planning them for a multitude of years. They currently offer chateau and villa weddings in Italy and France for clients primarily originating from the U.S. and the U.K. Marianne Perez is based in New York, Elena Piemonte is in Venice, Caroline Berthe is in Paris. They are completely multilingual and multicultural, skills which have proven to be invaluable in planning destination weddings. Each one truly represents the marriage of the Anglo-Saxon and Franco-Italian cultures.

They created the company in 2005 and have since done more than 100 weddings in several regions of France and Italy. Each planner generally does not take on more than 20 weddings in a given year, which allows them to give all of their clients the attention they deserve.

Caroline Berthe is actually both French and American. She was raised in New York and attended the French-American School of New York where she met one of her partners, Marianne Perez. She is passionate not only about weddings but feels most satisfied being able to share all of the wonders of France with visitors from afar. She also mentions that the love and appreciation she gets when the wedding is complete is very rewarding. "It is the most satisfying feeling in the world!" says Caroline. Before opening the company, she worked as a wedding planner for a destination wedding planning company so she is not new to the business.

She finds that the Loire Valley and Paris are their most popular French destinations, however, there are many beautiful castles in the Champagne Region, which is not only lovely but close to Paris as well. One of Caroline's most memorable weddings took place on the island of Corsica. She had to hire a luxury yacht to transport the guests from Nice to Corsica, approximately a 45 minute trip. When they arrived they congregated in a Catholic church for the ceremony, followed by a lovely reception on a private terrace overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. Corsica is known for its breathtaking views of jagged peaks contrasting with the turquoise Mediterranean. It also combines the best of French and Italian cuisine, for some of the most savory dishes.

One of Caroline's proudest moments includes the wedding they produced for the Style Network's Married Away program. They had a month to plan a wedding in Paris for an American couple for television. Thirty guests flew in from the U.S. They had the ceremony in a secret garden, atop Montmartre, the highest point in Paris, which affords a spectacular view of the City of Lights below. The reception was held in a private mansion in the center of Paris. When asked about other popular Parisian options, Caroline suggests a brunch at the Eiffel Tower and/or a welcome dinner on a river boat cruising down the Seine. It is especially spectacular to see the City of Lights by water as so many of the best sites are along the shores of the Seine including the Cathedral of Notre Dame.

Caroline also fondly remembers helping a Chinese couple plan an elopement. They traveled to Paris on vacation and spontaneously decided to get married. They called Caroline on Monday and were married on Wednesday! Caroline was also honored to assist with a wedding photo shoot for Allan Reider for Wedding Sites and Services Magazine.

Elena Piemonte has been planning weddings for eleven years. Before opening the company she worked for another wedding planning company in Italy. She studied in the US and worked her entire life with American companies. She says that most of her weddings take place in Tuscany and the Amalfi Coast with some interest in the Lake District and of course Venice, one of the most romantic cities in the world .

Her most memorable weddings include a marvelous Protestant wedding in one of the most beautiful villas of the Tuscan countryside. The wedding reception opened with a cocktail hour in the Italian garden with a view of Florence. The couple and guests that had not seen the villa ahead of time and were astonished by the marvelous surprise of the breathtaking landscape and the quality of the services rendered.

Elena's proudest moments include the organizing of a Catholic wedding in the crypt of San Marco Cathedral in Venice for a couple with less than one month notice. It was a run against bureaucracy which in Italy can be very challenging. But everything fell seamlessly into place in the end. Another amazing experience was the wedding she organized for a couple from Israel in a luxurious castle outside of Rome.

Elena has organized many weddings in Venice. Whether for a civil, Catholic, or Protestant wedding, this amazing city always has the best to offer. And the Gondola ride after the wedding ceremony gives couples some of the most unique and romantic moments that cannot be experienced anywhere else in the world.

Chateau and Villa Weddings charges a flat fee for full-service based on the approximate number of guests ranging from 1950-6000 Euros ($2,500 - 9,000 US Dollars). Most of the castles and villas they can recommend range in price from 2500-5000 Euros ($3,500 -7,500 US Dollars) for the day. (chateau and villa photos) Some have catering and others do not, which necessitates bringing in a caterer. They say that from beginning to end most of their weddings cost from 20-30,000 Euro with an average of 60 guests attending including an intimate rehearsal dinner and brunch the next day. They of course work around your budget and are accustomed to working with any size budget.

For more information about marriage requirements in France and Italy or Chateau and Villa Weddings, go to www.chateauandvillaweddings.com or www.yourdestinationwedding.com.