Dear Janie, Lucia, Rosa & Bill

We just wanted to email you to thank you for everything you did with organising our wedding in Maratea.  We could not have asked for a better wedding and cannot imagine anything more perfect!  You made the whole experience stress free which meant that we did not have to worry about anything and instead were able to just enjoy the whole experience.  Everyone had a fantastic time and many of our guests said it was the best wedding they had ever been to!!!
 
Your efforts really did contribute to making it the best day of our lives and gave us memories that will last a life time.  We certainly will be recommending Slow Dreams to anyone who is thinking about having a wedding abroad and Maratea as the perfect wedding and holiday location.  We will certainly be back!
 
Attached are some pictures of the special day.
 
Thank you for everything.  Slow Dreams really did do an amazing job of making our wedding perfect and better than anything we could have expected.
 
Take care and all the best.
 
Leisha & Damian

Dear Janie and The Slow Dreams Team:

Jen and I are very pleased with the service you provided us; our wedding was both beautiful and stress free.  And so on behalf of both Jen and me, I am writing to thank you and your team for a wonderful time in Santa Maria Di Castellabate.

First, thank you for planning our wedding.  We could not be happier with your professionalism, warmth, and attention to details.  From our interactions with John in Naples--he was wonderful--to helping us find a dry cleaner, everyone from Slow Dreams made our wedding extremely pleasurable.   

We really enjoyed just having some quality time together.  Jen and I both have busy lives at home, and so we had a great time just relaxing together. 

Janie, again, thank you for such a wonderful experience.  And please send our regards to all of your staff.

With sincere appreciation,

Jess Cisco and Jennifer Gudaz,

Lucia & Janie,

Just wanted to drop you a note of thanks on behalf of my “wife and I”….!

We had a wonderful time in Maratea, it’s a very special place, fantastic food and stunning scenery. Everyone had a great time at the wedding and during the time they were there. I have already recommended the Santavenere to some friends it truly is a magical hotel, very attentive staff who did everything to make our stay as enjoyable as possible. Upgrading us to a suite for 2 nights was incredible. The only feedback I could offer would be a few more toys for the little ones to play with !

Your help, attention to detail and the sensitivity with which you handled all our requirements was absolutely first class and both Claire and I are really glad we made the effort to do something different. I have a feeling we may be coming back again.

Thanks and best wishes.

Simon Speak

Hi Janie

We had a brilliant brilliant time.  Everything was just as I imagined it would be and more!  Alessandra  (Hotel Villa Sirio) was great to work with and she had a very easy-going and calming effect on me & joe.  The whole family sat on the beach on the morning of the wedding and all saying that this is the way to do it…. No problems, no hassle, nothing to worry about except getting dressed and arriving on time.  It was a truly magical experience.  The staff at the hotel were all so good.  The head waiter ( I didn’t get his name) was just so professional and had everything set up with military precision and everything flowed along because of him.  The food was divine.  I cannot fault one thing about any of the wedding/honeymoon.  The area of Castellabate was beautiful and scenic, with very few tourists so we got a real taste of Italian life.  Thanks so much Janie for working so hard in the background and getting it all booked and sorted.  I wouldn’t be surprised if you get quite a few bookings from Ireland as I have been constantly singing your praises.  I really cant thank you enough!  I will of course send a photo.  I am still on a complete high and already thinking of going back for a visit.  I would do it all again (or rather ask you to sort it out again!) in a heartbeat.

Best Wishes

Yvonne & Joe

 

Hello Bill, Janie, & Lucia,

Working with everybody at Team Slow Dreams was a great experience.  Making arrangements for a wedding is complicated enough, but the idea of planning it overseas was very intimidating.  We initially were only joking with each other about having our wedding in Italy (versus somewhere nearer to home in the United States).  We browsed the internet, though, and found our way to the Slow Dreams website.  Once there, we were hooked.  We loved the different options (financial, location, and level of the team's involvement in planning), and the pictures of the region looked amazing.

It was surprisingly easy to get more information, have questions answered, and decide on all the details via e-mail with all of you.  We decided on the Hotel Pisacane, in Sapri, because we definitely wanted a seaside wedding, the hotel looked perfect in the pictures, and it was surprisingly affordable.  It's been over a month since we left, and we're still talking about what a great choice that was!  The hotel was even better than it looked on the website, the rooms were spacious and comfortable, and the staff members were kind and very accommodating.  Sapri itself is such a lovely town, we're definitely planning on going back there for an anniversary in the future.  With the mountains and the sea, it is an amazing view in Sapri.  There are plenty of fun shops around the town to visit, and we're still having pleasant dreams about all the delicious food (mmm...gelato).  We even made friends with the owners of a Sicilian bakery there - they were the ones to give us our first wedding present!

Bill, Janie, and Lucia, thank you for your flexibility as we changed our plans throughout the entire year-and-a-half of planning.  We kept you on your toes, but you managed to take care of everything and there was never a problem making the changes.  Also, thanks for your patience when we were indecisive, waiting to hear from other people before settling on details, or otherwise delayed in providing you with information.  We never felt rushed or pressured - working with you to plan our wedding was a very positive experience, and it was a pleasure to communicate with you during the process.

Lucia, you did a great job handling the on-site details and making arrangements with the priest.  The church was beautiful, and the ceremony was perfect.  Thanks for all you did on our wedding day, and for meeting with us prior to the ceremony to go over the details.  It was so nice to meet you!

We all feel like you are one of the family now!

Meeting with John in Naples really helped us complete our paperwork and took a lot of the stress away.  Luigi and Sylvia were great photographers, they were never too directive or in-the-way, and they got great shots of us preparing for the ceremony, the ceremony itself, the walk through town afterwards (which we loved doing), and in the beautiful area near the restaurant we ate at afterwards.

Our families and friend are still talking about the great time they had there and they can't believe we arranged it all over the internet!  Everyone had a blast and we are now all talking about making a trip back there to the same town and even the same hotel. We never thought it was possible to please everyone at once, but with your help we did it.

Overall, we were very impressed at how smooth the planning was, at how stress-free we were in Naples and in Sapri, and at what a great time we and our families had for our wedding in Italy.  Thank you for helping to make our wedding so special, fun, and memorable.

We are so confident in your company and your services that if any of your future clients would like to hear more feel free to have them email either of us.  We really mean it.  You all made this a most memorable event and we have no regrets about anything.  It all surpassed our expectations and even our dreams.  Thank you, thank you, thank you for making it possible, we couldn't have done it without you!

Cheers,

Jon & Yen

 

Dear Bill, Janie, Lucia, John and Dino,

 

We would like to thank you all for the most beautiful wedding.  It was

beyond our wildest expectations, sincerely.  We had never even heard

of a place called Maratea, and we will now never forget it.  It will

be forever etched in our memories as "a very special place."

 

Bill and Janie, we were so thankful to have been referred to you. 

You made planning our wedding so easy and stress-free.  All of the places

that you recommend on slow dreams look gorgeous, but we can't imagine

any place more wonderful to stay than the Meraviglie, or a more

perfect venue for a wedding than the Santavenere.  Thank you for

answering all of our questions promptly and making us feel at ease.

 

When we first arrived in Italy, pre-wedding, we met a number of

wonderful people. Without John we would probably still be wandering

around Naples hopelessly trying to find the American Consulate.  He

was a great guide, thoroughly entertaining, and we will always have

wonderful memories of the morning we spent with him.  We would like to

thank both John and his wife for fighting their way through the crowds

to get us the documents we needed.  Having John was absolutely

invaluable and we would recommend his services to any couples who are

using slow dreams.

 

We arranged to take a taxi from Naples to Maratea.  We knew the

journey would be beautiful, but what we didn't know was that we'd have

an amazing guide.  Dino, our driver, went so above and beyond our

expectations.  We had the most wonderful time taking pictures at

scenic stops and learning about the towns we passed through.  We even

stopped at a buffalo mozzarella farm where we sampled yogurt and had a

unique and unexpected experience.  Dino was a wonderfully friendly man

and we will never forget having met him.  Thank you Dino!

 

We met with Lucia the night before our wedding.  We were already

comfortable with the fact that our wedding would be special, but Lucia

put us all the more at ease.  Everything was planned with precision.

Our first ceremony at Town Hall went without a hitch.  Lucia drove us

to the Santavenere to take a look, and it was so wonderful seeing

where we'd be married together... she made the day from beginning to

end work seamlessly and added to the magic of the occasion.  We wanted

to thank Lucia very much for everything that she did for us.  She too

went above and beyond anything that we could ever have expected.

 

For any couples trying to decide on a wedding venue, we would strongly

recommend the Santavenere.  Our experience there was nothing short of

perfect.  From the stunningly beautiful and private setting, to the

intimate ceremony and exquisite dinner, it's hard to find any adequate

superlative to describe the happiest day of our lives.

 

Thank you all, for your very hard work, professionalism, and above all

else, for making our wedding a dream come true.

 

Colm and Julia Flanagan

Dear Lucia, Janie and Bill,

Thank you so much for everything you have done for us.  Our wedding was fantastic and couldn't have been more perfect.  Villa Miranda was stunning and definitely had the wow factor. Many of our guests said that it was the best wedding they had ever been to and they were all crying at the ceremony because it was so beautiful.  Janie and Bill organised us brilliantly before the wedding and Lucia was amazing while we were in Italy.  We would highly recommend Slow Dreams to anyone thinking of getting married abroad.  We had a wonderful wedding in Scario and we are looking forward to coming back to the area in the future.

Thank you again for making our wedding so special.

Rose and Matt.

 

"When my fiancé and I decided to do a wedding overseas we were a bit nervous about allowing so much of the planning to be in the hands of others.  Never fear with Slow Dreams!  Our wedding was perfection and every detail was handled beautifully.

Bill and Janie are wonderful at answering all of your questions (and trust me, I e-mailed them a lot!).  I felt so confident with their assistance that the wedding would be wonderful and I was right.

Castellabate was more beautiful that we imagined and our wedding took place in a castle on a cliff that overlooked the ocean  - the pictures were amazing!  Alessandra and Lucia were wonderful - basically all we had to do was show up - everything was taken care of in advance - flowers, music, hair/make up appointments.  Slow Dreams made it incredibly easy to get married in Italy - from help with the paperwork to getting our wedding clothes steamed before the ceremony.

I would highly recommend Slow Dreams to anyone wanting to get married in Southern Italy.  This area is largely unknown to foreigners and everyone is friendly and warm.  Our favorite memory from our wedding attests to the attitude of the region.  During our photos in Santa Maria di Castellabate we walked across a beach with about 600 people on it.  As we walked all of these people stood up and started shouting their congratulations and applauding - it was so amazing to have all of these people we did not know be so happy for us.  If we could do it all over again we would...and we know everything would go smoothly because of Slow Dreams!"

Thanks again!

Traci

 

 

Dear Janie,

When Ryan and I decided to get married in Italy, I was a little nervous about how we were actually going to pull it off.  But then I found Slow Dreams!  Bill answered every question no matter how ridiculous it was.  Then when Janie took over after the initial contract was signed, it was a breeze.  I loved how her first emails to me outlined everything that needed to be decided before the wedding took place.  That was exactly what I needed so there were no surprises along the way… and it was so nice because we didn’t have to worry if the date we wanted would be booked up or any of the other nonsense that you have to deal with when you have weddings in California.

Santa Marie di Castellabate was more beautiful than we imagined.  And the hotel (Grand hotel Santa Maria- which is were we and all of our guests stayed and where the wedding took place) couldn’t have been more amazing.  Alessandra was wonderful and so easy to work with.  Everything was decided and taken care of in advance – flowers (more amazing then I had dreamed of, wow, wow, wow!!!), music (solo violinist on the beach), and hair/make up appointments.  Grand Hotel Santa Maria seems to prides itself on excellent customer service and they did not fail us.  The gentleman at the front desk (sorry his name escapes me right now) was top notch and planned everything for us… down to hiring a bus with driver to drive us and all of our guests to Rome to start the next leg of our honeymoon.  They always seemed to go above and beyond what they needed to do.  The day of the wedding they even rushed ordered a wedding cake.  Ryan and I hadn’t wanted a traditional wedding and opted against a wedding cake, but the hotel insisted we have one… we were so glad they did because it was the best cake we have ever had (It was a 1 layer Cuban style cake, amazing) Slow Dreams made it incredibly easy to get married in Italy – almost to the point where it seemed too easy.  It was such a blessing to have found this website!

I would highly recommend Slow Dreams to anyone wanting to get married in Italy.  We loved how we were practically the only “tourist” there.  The town really opened their arms to us, and I do think we took over.  Our favorite memory from our wedding was the ceremony itself.  We had our ceremony on the beach in front of the hotel.  It seemed that all of Santa Maria di Castellabate was there on the beach watching the whole ceremony.  As I was walking down the path to get to the ceremony with my father there was so much cheering and applause it was hard to hear our violinist playing, we started laughing.  It was so much fun… and the pictures show it.  Although, I should mentioned that right after the ceremony it started to rain (hard) and the reception had to be moved inside at the last minute… which the hotel handled like a pro.  Our guests had no idea that the reception wasn’t suppose to be inside all along.

I am not sure the words to truly express my gratitude. We will definitely recommend slow dreams and Santa Maria di Castellabate to everyone we meet.  I can’t wait to go back and stay at that amazing hotel again. 

All the best,

Genette

 

Thank you for a wonderful wedding! Not even in our dreams did we ever imagine we'd have such a unique, special and unforgettable wedding! ☺ And as stress free as it can be!

We were so happy and blissful, that when it started to rain we had fun as we hurried into the San Diego ballroom. ☺ We have a mix of romantic pictures with postcard views and funny pictures of all our family and friends under the huge umbrella. ☺

-     You guys prepared and followed up on everything so well, we depended on you with a mind at ease.  We would have loved to meet Bill and Janie in person. Maybe when we renew our vows ;)

-     Thank you for following up on our papers with the embassy.

-     San Diego Hotel has a splendid outdoor area perfect for a wedding ceremony. We were surprised at how nice their indoor ballroom is!   The food at their restaurant is very good! Their rooms are minimal but very clean and with superb views. Please thank them for their hospitality.    Their pool is marvellous! I think we'll visit the area again just to get a chance of swimming in it. (It was a bit chilly end of September  (note from Slow Dreams: -   October has been wonderful). 

-     Maratea is one of the most amazing locations in Italy. Very authentic, tourist free, with breathtaking "national geographic" views!   The restaurants you advised us to eat at have great chefs. We mostly liked the restaurant facing the Maratea municipality. Forgot its name…

-     The transport for all our 21 guests was worry free. The cab company was very professional.

It is one of those days that you wish you could relive. All our friends and family had a great time. ☺

Lucia, thank you so much for everything!

Sincerely,

Walid and Astrid Abdel-Baki

Dear Janie, Lucia, Alida & Bill,

We just wanted to say thank you so much to everyone involved in making our wedding so special. All our family and friends had a fantastic time and thought the setting and the service at Il Carrubo and the Santavenere Hotel were second to none. 

Janie and Bill - You did an amazing job of organising things for us, showing us around so many venues, and generally keeping us informed of every little detail. It was great to know that we didn’t have to worry about anything. Your help was great – we would have been lost without you!

Lucia and Alida - Your enthusiasm right from the first time we met you was infectious and we knew we had left the organising of the wedding in the right hands.  You went above and beyond the call of duty: right from decorating the venue perfectly with all of our butterflies and helping us choose flowers, cake etc, to providing tissues for the criers on the day, right down to making sure lost guests arrived in one piece! 

The San Diego Hotel was a perfect base for everyone for the week: the staff are really friendly and sweet and the pool is amazing – we’ll definitely come back again. 

Silvia & Luigi the photographers were such good fun and got some really beautiful and special shots that we never would have thought of!  We especially love the shots taken in Maratea town; it’s been really hard whittling the pictures down from over 500… 

We would definitely recommend Slow Dreams to anyone considering getting married abroad, as we were made to feel like royalty for the whole week! 

Thanks again, Rachel & Ciaran Dowling xxx

Dear Janie, Lucia, Alida & Bill,

We just wanted to say thank you so much to everyone involved in making our wedding so special. All our family and friends had a fantastic time and thought the setting and the service at Il Carrubo and the Santavenere Hotel were second to none. 

Janie and Bill - You did an amazing job of organising things for us, showing us around so many venues, and generally keeping us informed of every little detail. It was great to know that we didn’t have to worry about anything. Your help was great – we would have been lost without you!

Lucia and Alida - Your enthusiasm right from the first time we met you was infectious and we knew we had left the organising of the wedding in the right hands.  You went above and beyond the call of duty: right from decorating the venue perfectly with all of our butterflies and helping us choose flowers, cake etc, to providing tissues for the criers on the day, right down to making sure lost guests arrived in one piece! 

The San Diego Hotel was a perfect base for everyone for the week: the staff are really friendly and sweet and the pool is amazing – we’ll definitely come back again. 

Silvia & Luigi the photographers were such good fun and got some really beautiful and special shots that we never would have thought of!  We especially love the shots taken in Maratea town; it’s been really hard whittling the pictures down from over 500… 

We would definitely recommend Slow Dreams to anyone considering getting married abroad, as we were made to feel like royalty for the whole week! 

Thanks again, Rachel & Ciaran Dowling xxx

Dear Bill, Janie, Lucia and Rosa,

We don't know where to start in thanking you for our wonderful wedding day, and week of total relaxation in beautiful Maratea. When we first came across your website we were very excited as it contained everything we were looking for our wedding in Italy. It was definitely the best website we had come across as it provided so much information on the whole process.

Firstly, I would like to thank Bill for his quick responses to all my questions and for his suggestions, especially about having our champagne reception at Il Clubbino. It was a really nice touch, and all the guests really enjoyed their drinks while looking out at the beautiful views across the port.

Janie, thank you so much for everything you did for us and for making the process so easy and stress free. Your hard work in making our wedding day so special was much appreciated and didn't go unnoticed. Your knowledge of the area and experience in wedding planning proved invaluable to us.

Having travelled throughout Italy in the past we can honestly say that Maratea is definitely its most beautiful area. You get a real feel for Italy at its best, with lovely quaint villages, fantastic scenery, great food, and friendly people. Remaining untouched by mass tourism, it really is Italy's last hideaway. We couldn't have thought of a more stunning setting for our wedding.

The hotel Meraviglie was more than we could have hoped for, with sloping mountains on one side, and beautiful blue seas on the other. The staff at the hotel are wonderful and go out of their way to make everyone feel welcome. We have fond memories of relaxing by the pool or down by the water at the hotels own private beach.

When Lucia and Rosa took us to see the hotel Santavenere we knew we had made the perfect choice for our wedding reception. It is absolutely fabulous, unfortunately on the day of the wedding itself we got a bit of bad weather and had to move the reception from the beach restaurant to a terrace in  the main hotel, but, this was equally, as beautiful, as we ate our exquisite meal overlooking the lovely Tyrrhenian sea. The staff were very friendly and couldn't have been more attentive.

On meeting Lucia and Rosa I was struck by how professional, friendly and efficient they both were. They immediately put us at ease and we were confident that everything would run smoothly, and it did!

Lucia went above and beyond her call of duty by attending to our every need  she even tried to find a bar that was broadcasting the All Ireland football final on television so that we could watch it on the day the guests arrived!

Thank you so much for giving us the wedding of our dreams. We are delighted that we chose Slow Dreams to organise our wedding as the level of service is second to none. We will definitely be returning to Maratea again in the near future.

Kind regards,

Marie and Adrian.

From Ireland/Norway (and the rest of the world)

To Lucia, Janie and Bill

We just want to thank you from the bottom of our hearts for our fantastic wedding.  How many times can you say thank you to someone?  It was all down to the three of you.  We never thought our wedding could be what it was.  Words cannot describe the happiness you brought to us on our wedding day.  You thought of things we wouldn’t have even considered.  We travel so much that we didn’t have time to plan our own wedding – all we knew was that we wanted to get married in Italy.  A friend recommended you and from the moment I emailed your company I knew that we had reached out to a unique organisation.  All of you were so patient with our indecisions and delays.  Nothing was a problem for you.

We had a small wedding but you allowed us to cater for everything (including the last minute changes… Lucia is amazing; we had absolutely nothing to worry about when we got to Pisciotta.  (For anyone reading this, you have no idea how stress free our wedding was, we were on vacation!).  The town of Pisciotta turned out for our wedding.  We have never seen such generosity for the four days we were there; you would have to be there to believe it.

We cannot recommend highly enough Slow Dreams… we procrastinated, delayed and had literally last minute requests.  Lucia, without saying anything looked after all us (especially me). 

Our family and friends are all still raving about the truly amazing time we had – we all want to go back in 10 year for the anniversary (do you do anniversaries?)

Once again thank you for everything (a mere thank you seems feeble)

Emily O'Sullivan

Dear Bill, Janie & Lucia

Gaining trust, reassurance and confidence was top of our agenda when approaching Slow Dreams to arrange the most important day of our lives.

Bill and Janie, not only did you achieve this, but you demonstrated help and guidance during the 18 months of planning with pure professionalism and flexibility.

The weather was absolutely beautiful from the day we arrived, relaxing around the quaint Villa de Meraviglie with almost 60 guests who travelled from all over the world, enjoying some beautiful Italian pizza, buffalo mozzarella and soaking up the scenic views that you can only imagine in your wildest dreams until you have been here!!

If only words could sum up what happen on 30^th May 2009 in Maratea, we would have to describe it as a “Disney Fairy Tail”

The guests enjoyed every minute of the wedding, tears of happiness and celebration filled the day with comments from our guests: “ This is the most amazing, beautiful  wedding we have ever been to”

A special thank you to Lucia who calmed our nerves down by absorbing all the stress into her own arms and ensuring everyone could fully enjoy this amazing day. The organization, pro-activeness and determination of Lucia to make this day spectacular as it was, we would simply have to sum it up … 1^st class.

Thank you once more again, for this unforgettable dream…

Best Regards

Nick and Ellen

Dear Bill, Janie, Lucia & Rosa
 
We just wanted to say a big thank you for organising the best wedding ever!  If anyone is reading this and deciding whether to get married abroad then look no further, it will be the best decision you have ever made! :)
 
We first fell in love with Maratea 3 years ago when we were guests at a wedding which slow dreams organised. The area is so unspoilt we decided we had to get married there. We contacted Bill and took his advice to  have our wedding at The Santavenere even though we hadn't actually been to that venue. 

Slow dreams made the wedding planning so easy.  We were a little concerned as it was all done via email but every time we had any questions Janie would be back with answers within 24 hrs.  It was pretty much all done for us.  We could choose exactly what we wanted, I even emailed pictures of bouquets which I liked, and they then took them to the florist to copy for us!

A few months before the wedding Lucia took over with all the finer details and again she was always back to us within 24 hours.  I must have driven you mad with all my questions but nothing was ever too much trouble

We arrived a week before so that we could relax and get a tan first. We met Lucia & Rosa on the Monday and they took us to visit The Santavenere.  We were totally blown away.  It was stunning in fact I almost cried!!

Lucia went out of her way to help; she booked us restaurants, spa treatments and even took me to my make up trial to make sure I got there ok.  During the week we checked the weather and it was forecast that it may rain on our wedding day which really worried me but as soon as I told Lucia my concerns she took me back to the Santavenere and showed me plan B just in case it rained and it was just as stunning as Plan A so I stopped worrying and enjoyed my week in the sun! 

The San Diego was a fantastic base for the week and Francesca was great fun.  All our friends and family really enjoyed it there and got into the party mood!  Please send our thanks on to all the staff at the San Diego, they made us feel so special all week!

The day of the wedding was wonderful.  We were so impressed with how well things were handled.  Just as I was about to walk out for the ceremony is started to rain.  Lucia was so professional and quickly got our guests seated for plan B.  The shower did not spoil a thing and we loved everything about the whole evening.  All our guests commented on how romantic the venue was and have not stopped going on about how first class the food was.  Some said it was the best food they had ever had at a function!  We all loved the dancing outside on the terrace until the early hours with the statue of Redentore looking over us!

If you are looking for an elegant wedding with spectacular views and first class service then I would definitely recommend getting married at the Santavenere through Slow Dreams!

Thank you once again for all your help.  We will be visiting again very soon!

Love Paula & Carl

Hi Janie,

What can i say only thank you`s so so so so so so sooooooo much.

When we booked the San Michele we really did not realize the type of hotel we were going to.

Honestly we have never had such service in our lives. From Ornella herself (an absolute gem of a lady) to Andre in the bar (a saint in the making) to the restaurant manager, the waiters, the receptionists & cleaning staff.

Everyone was absolutely fantastic.

Lucia, is such a lovely lady, the first day we met i had sunstroke so was not well at all & then the day of the wedding i was so bloody nervous before the church i was not much of a laugh either (or in her words " a pooper" ).

When booking with yourselves i really did not know what was going to happen as i do not do really any type of booking over the internet never mind my wedding but my God did you & your company come up trumps.

Again, we can not thank Slow dreams enough for making it all happen & so easy. If I am ever asked if I know if a wedding planner i can guarantee your company will be recommended.

It is depressing to think we wont be mailing each other anymore.

Lots & lots & lots of thanks,

Denis & Sinead.

It’s hard to know where to start, to express our gratitude to Slow Dreams, for organizing our perfect wedding.  After trawling through website after website, Slow Dreams stood out a mile as being a friendly, efficient organization, with weddings based in a quieter part of Italy than the Amalfi coast for example.  All these factors appealed.  Bill and Janie were wonderfully quick, accurate and patient with the hoards of questions I flooded them with over an eighteen month period.  They couldn’t have been kinder or more helpful. 

When we got to Italy, the hotel was exactly as pictured and described on the Slow Dreams website.  Ornella, our liaison there, was amazing – so friendly, warm and approachable, but also efficient and knowledgeable.  The hotel staff were all incredibly friendly and helpful, and most spoke English.  The hotel was so laid back about the location of the wedding and reception, and after showing us all the options, left us to decide over a few days. 

We hadn’t got any very specific ideas about what we wanted the wedding to look or be like, but what transpired exceeded any expectation we could possibly have had.  The ceremony was sweet and simple, and the flowers were exactly what I had hoped for.  We had our buffet reception meal on the terrace by the swimming pool, and the hotel had placed a large table (there were about 20 of us) in the centre, with flowers and candlesticks on the table.  This was Ornella’s idea, and not something I had thought about (I assumed a few smaller tables would be provided) but it was an excellent idea.  We ate the most amazing Italian buffet (many of the guests have since indicated this was some of the best food they’d ever had) and watched the sunset over what was a glorious day.

I can’t thank Slow Dreams enough for their wonderful service

Hi Janie,

We looked at so many wedding planners having made the decision to marry in Italy. From the beginning Slow Dreams were really prompt with every question we had. Their pricing system is clear and simple which allowed us to keep a definite track on our budget. Other companies we looked at just basically quoted up to our maximum budget with no clear indication or breakdown of exactly how much each thing cost and were nowhere near as prompt in replying to every single query we had.

The coast of Maratea and Sapri are so beautiful and a perfect setting for a wedding. All our guests were blown away by the stunning surroundings during their stay. Having Slow Dreams arrange all the guest accommodation, as well as answering guests questions also removed a lot of pressure for us in the run up.

We had our ceremony at the Santavenere Hotel. Unfortunately in rained (even though the rest of the week was really warm) however we truly believe this is lucky now! There were so many options for the ceremony, meal and party afterwards we were so happy with every location on the day and the guests were massively impressed with the beautiful views, fantastic food and amazing silver service. The staff at the Santavenere were thoroughly slick and professional, both meeting and exceeding our expectations! 

Having made the decision on the venue, we went to visit and were really happy with Lucia our planner. She remained warm and thoroughly organized, giving us every choice and option throughout and taking control to ensure smooth running and allowing us to just enjoy the day.

We are both so thankful to the whole Slow Dreams team for making our Special Day just that! We couldn't have asked for anything more and to us the day was literally perfect. Thank you so much again!

Hayley and Daniel Ellis

 

Slow Dreams melted all of my bridal worries away! Words cannot describe the precious memories we have taken away from this experience. Janie and Bill were professional, reliable, and very prompt.  We were virtually stress-free on the days leading up to the wedding. The team in Italy stayed true to Slow Dreams great reputation and made sure our dreams came true for this special occasion. The photographer and videographer are very talented and a million thank yous to Alessandra – my honorary maid of honor.

We played the wedding video for our guests at our reception in the U.S. The video took everyone’s breath away. Every time we watch our video we are mesmerized as if it were the first time we saw it. The video and photos will always take us back to this special time in our life.

Villa Sirio is a beautiful and romantic place which is run by very gracious hosts. The people of Santa Maria di Castellabate were the nicest and most helpful that we encountered throughout our entire trip around Italy.

We would not change one thing about our wedding planned by Slow Dreams. We thank Slow Dreams from the bottom of our hearts for taking the most important day of our lives and turning it into a dream come true.

Forever Newlyweds,

Emily & Jacob

Janie, Lucia and Bill,

Thank you all so very much for everything you did to make our wedding day go so smoothly.  From getting our guests booked in at the hotel to music and flowers and everything in between - it all went off without a hitch and we were so relaxed thanks to you all!  The staff at L'Approdo Hotel were so helpful, friendly and accommodating and the setting was beautiful.  It really was our dream day and we enjoyed every minute of it!!

We simply cannot thank you enough for all that you did.  Having a destination wedding can be cumbersome to organize but with Slow-Dreams expertise and organization it was just so easy!  You were all so friendly, patient with all the questions, and very quick to respond.  You really put us at ease with our decision to get married abroad.  The Maratea region is so beautiful and we can't wait to go back!  And Lucia, thanks for going the extra mile and rescheduling the excursion trip for our guests.  They really enjoyed it and were so appreciative that you did that for them!

We would highly recommend Slow-Dreams for anyone wishing to get married in Italy.  You were all so fabulous to work with and we are so glad we came across your website.  You guys are the best!!

Mille grazie,
Denae & Mark

Dear Janie, Lucia and Bill,

I would like to start by thanking everyone at Slow Dreams for making our wedding day better than we could ever have imagined.  From the first email that was sent back on a cold wet January night every exchange we had from then on was answered so promptly and thoroughly.  From my original endless email questions with Bill initially, then Janie and then Lucia closer to the day; it was as if everyone had so much experience that they could nearly pre-empt what I was going to ask next.  There was never any delay in response or compromise of answer.  No question too big and none too small, and they were many…   I think my decision was made within 2 days that Maratea was the place we wanted to get married and Slow Dreams the company we would use.

We decided on the venue of the Ave Maria church at the port in Maratea and Il Carrubo at The Santavenere for the reception.  All planning was done over email and we took a chance having never visited this area of Italy before.  We were not disappointed. 

We debated over where we would stay and we were so glad we pushed the boat out and stayed at the Santavenere for the week.  We along with our 1 year old daughter pretty much had the hotel to ourselves and the family and staff couldn’t have been more welcoming.  The hotel has an old style charm and the service is great, especially on the day of the wedding.  Our families stayed at the Meraviglie and thoroughly enjoyed it.  Everyone loved the lush gardens with beautiful walks to the sea.  

We met with Lucia and Alida 2 days before the wedding and they took us down to Il Carrubo and we worked out logistics for day.  This is where the pressure was lifted from us and 9 months of planning fell into place.  We also met with Silvia and Luigi and casually discussed what type of photographs we would like.  Meetings likes this can happen months in advance when planning a wedding; arranging tables, favours,  PA and DJ system, meal requirements, order of the day etc but even meeting with everyone for the first time 2 days before the wedding did not compromise anything.

From the first time I saw Il Carrubo I was blown away, the photos to do not do the place justice.  It is intimate, yet spacious with wonderful views of the sea and completely private; the most amazing outside wedding venue. 

On the morning of the wedding everything went seamlessly and this is where Lucia came into her own.  Lucia was wonderful and with Alidas help, nothing was left to chance she kept everything running smoothly making it look effortless.  The flowers were beautiful – exactly the same as the picture I had sent.  The hairdressers (whom we had never met) did a wonderful job, with our pigeon Italian and help with translation.  Silvia and Luigi the photographers were great, so relaxed.  We asked for as laid back and natural as possible and that’s exactly what we got.  The proofs look great so look forward to receiving the album.  We didn’t realise how long they would be there so we were pleasantly surprised to still see them both late into the night taking snaps of the dancing… 

The church service at the Ave Maria church at the port was beautiful.  The mass was in Italian with Lucia translating.  Our priest Don Giuseppe Addolorato went out of his way to make the mass personal to us even though the first time we met him was at the altar.  The singers during the mass were also wonderful.  We chose to have a prosecco toast at Il Clubbino in the port which was great for the photos and added a relaxed atmosphere.

The night before the wedding there was a storm and parts of Italy were badly flooded and as the winds were still very high we couldn’t have the dinner in Il Carrubo (I think everyone was afraid to tell me). At first I was really disappointed but as an Irish person I know you can never depend on the weather.  It meant having the dinner in the dining room at the main hotel.  This really worked out to our advantage as it allowed our guests to see the elegance of the hotel which they wouldn’t have seen had the meal been at Il Carrubo.  The food was beautiful with wonderful service and spectacular views from the dining room. Adding to the romance of the day there was an original lost Leonardo Da Vinci portrait on display in the hotel which some of the guests, as were we, truly impressed with.   During the meal the hotel manager approached us and said the weather had calmed down greatly and asked if we wanted to go to Il Carrubo to have the dancing.  We really got the best of both worlds having been able to eat comfortably in the hotel dining room, make the speeches and then go down to the sea and dance until very early in the morning, without anyone looking over our shoulders pointing to the clock... 

I cannot recommend Slow Dreams enough.  Along with everything they did organising the wedding including following up on paper work, arranging the flowers, music, photographers, dealing with the hotel, local transport, airport transfers, room bookings for family and friends, a nail party, numerous hair bookings the day of the wedding and even picking up candles to use during the mass per an Irish candle lighting tradition – nothing was a problem.  Lucia also helped us arrange book a restaurant for a party our parents threw the night after the wedding.  Some of my guests couldn’t believe that all arrangements for the wedding were made just over email. 

Lucia was attentive but yet discreet the day of the wedding and left us to work away for the rest of the night once the meal was being served.  I really enjoyed planning the wedding and most of that is down to my confidence that everything would work out as it did because of Slow Dreams; nothing is left to chance.  Maratea is a special place with breath-taking sea views, wooded hillsides and steep mountains that run to the sea with cliff top views at every opportunity and an ideal place to have a wedding.   All of the guests were gobsmacked when they first saw Maratea and then the location for wedding, many of whom said it was the best wedding they were ever at.  We can’t wait to go back to visit to relive the memories.  

Ruth and Will

September 2009