Our truly perfect day
The team at Fattoria Terranova made our wedding a truly perfect day! We are a german couple but wanted to marry with an italian country side / ocean view scenery. I searched the internet for venues and came across Fattoria Terranova. We booked the venue (restaurant and ceremony location) for our day and flew there with 25 guests, never having seen the property itself before. We thought if it is just half as great as it looks from the pictures, the food just half as good as the ratings and the planning working out just half as easy as we were hoping, the wedding will just be wonderful. All our expectations were more than fulfilled.
Location: Everything ist EXACTLY as in the pictures with just sooo many more details and views to discover. The flower arch and decoration at the ceremony was beautifully made and perfectly fitting my dress. The restaurant is exactly as you expect it from the pictures - rustic country side style and with a lot of plants and all kinds of herbs, flowers, vegetables and fruits hanging from the ceiling. The table was decorated just as we agreed on and again just beautiful and without us having anything to do anything or control. I could see the ocean while eating my wedding dinner. The only thing is that the ocean always seems so far down, since the Fattoria is up on the hill. But that is something we knew before. Since the whole place is build alongside a steep hill, make sure to tell the guests before and maybe talk to the Fattoria before if you have elderley guests. They will find a solution to transport everybody somehow - but in the small town of Sant'Agata there are not many taxis (especially in the night time). So plan better than we did how the guest get home. Luckily the Terranova Team is so helpful, they even found solutions to our last minute transport problems. A small remark only on the restrooms - they are rather rustic too :-). And it was only two, so no problem for our small group but just mentioning.
The Peninsula of Sorrento has stunning views, and it is not too far from the Airport in Naples (even though the drive there and the traffic is rather nerv wrecking and slow).
Planning: We were not really thinking that it may work out to have a real civil wedding in Italy without hiring a wedding planner to organise everything with the town hall etc. But with Rossella at Fattoria Terranova it feels you have a wedding planner "included". She arranged everything without the slightest problems or effort! Including someone (thanks so much lovely Caterina) to help with the paperwork, translation and making the appointment with the townhall. We just had to literally pick a time and date and organise some legal documents. It felt easier than marrying in Germany. The people from the town hall only speak italian but were so excited to have us and are really friendly and relaxed - and everything is very italian :-). The further organisation of the wedding day was equally easy: We talked through everything via skype and literally just had to pick things from catalogues and pics and make some decisions about cake flavour, drink packages etc. and everything was arranged when we got there. Just get dressed, stay relaxed and trust it will be great! No checking of tables or controling arangements necessary. I almost forgot about my bridal bouquet - but when I got to the premise the team was already waiting for me to hand it over and checking back that everything is ready to go, at the same time making sure I wait in a place where my husband could not see me. The special thing is, that the team makes one feel very special, as if it was so special to organise OUR wedding - even though they are extremely busy.
Food: Oh the food!!! The food in the restaurant is very good and it is a lot! I heard afterwards, that "if you plan an event for 25 (german) people in Italy it will probably be enough to order food for 15". And it probably would have been. We almost felt embarrassed that so much was left over. But the Canapés at the reception before the dinner were so delicious (while being "simple") that everyone was almost stuffed already when we started to bake Pizza. Yes - we baked Pizza with everyone in their evening dress - bride and groom in wedding clothes. That's why I can also unfortunately not tell about the wedding menus. We had a Pizza class and then a selection of "Starters" on the table which included cheeses, ham, arrancini, vegetebles, and I cannot even recall what else - it was a lot and it was delicious. Rossella and her team actually also never made a Pizza Class as the dinner on a wedding itself - it is usually a pre- or post wedding event offer. BUT they were so flexible making it happen and even reacted and improvised greatly, when we had to change little things on the spot. Great Job, and I would recommend it to everyone. So much fun! The cake and dessert was very tasty too, and the cake decorated perfectly.
Drinks and party: after the Dinner we had booked open bar for 4-5 five hours and had some DJ equipment hired (we brought our own DJ). At first we thought the drinks are a little bit pricy, but got offered a fair drink package. So all good. Drinks were ok. All guests happy. The only thing that may bother some people is that the Cocktails from the little bar, that was set up just for the party, were served in plastic cups. We and our guests did not care too much about it, since we had an awesome day and who would care about such a detail if the party is great :-). Unfortunately, since, the place is also a hotel, there was no open end possible so we had to close around 1:30 am. However, since we were only a small wedding, and the day started at 9 in the morning for bride and groom, it was just fine for us. We sang the last song, took the rest of the beer and whoever was not sleeping in the Hotel Terranova started walking towards the town having post parties in their own accomodations and we as a couple could enjoy some time on our own and ocean night views :-).
Accomodation: That's propably the only thing we would give a slight minus, but only by having seen 2-3 rooms of some friends who stayed on the premise. We as a couple had booked another villa with the whole family, so cannot rate the Hotel rooms first hand. The rooms, however, seem ok and clean, but not "great", since the hotel is a little "older".
Prices and Date: Value for money is just right. We payed exactly what was agreed on - and even if of course everything adds up - it was a fair total. We married in early June before the high season starts and it gets too hot. I can recommend this time of the year since it is not yet too busy and not too hot but warm enough.
All in all - if you look for a "long to remember" countryside wedding with ocean views, great food, a loveley and passionate team that welcomes everyone as if it is the first and last wedding they have ever organised, and if you need all of that to be affordable, you should get in touch with Fattoria Terranova. Also leave "stiffness" at home and just relax, enjoy the sun, the "italian way" and the privilige to marry that way!