Dear Slow Dreams Team, Ornella and All Staff at San Michele,

We would like to thank Ornella and All Staff at San Michele for their hospitality, advice, help and patience! Also a huge thank you to everyone at Slow Dreams – Janie, Bill: thanks for promptly answering thousands of my emails, Lucia : thank you so much for everything on our wedding day…your help, advise, translation service… not sure how we would do it without you!

We recommend the Grand Hotel San Michele to any couple looking for the perfect wedding… San Michele offers everything from amazing history, through stunning location, breathtaking views, fantastic cuisine, beautifully furnished rooms and finally the true Italian hospitality! From the minute we arrived we became the members of the San Michele family…Ornella's warm welcome followed by the tour of San Michele estate were outstanding!

All Staff were so friendly and helpful we couldn't have asked for more…in fact EVERYTHING we asked for was not only delivered on time and to requested specifications…no EVERYTHING was bigger and better…I still can't believe the size of our beautiful wedding cake, a true masterpiece!

The Italian Religious ceremony and the reception were excellent; our guests couldn't stop complementing the waiters and our Maitre De who was fantastic on the night and also did a great job with table arrangements and seating plan suggestions, THANK YOU!!!

When we were leaving Ornella asked me if we were planning to have children I said yes, then she smiled mysteriously and said "there is something special and magical about San Michele…good luck" well I can confirm the "magic" as I'm now 7 weeks pregnant and am the happiest wife and mum to be!

Thanks again and see you soon, we can't wait to visit San Michele again!

Patrycja & Gavin

Dear Bill, Janie and Lucia

 

Thank you ever so much for making are dream wedding come true. It was perfect and a day that we and all our friends and family will never forget.

The way we could do everything in our own way made it a different and original one of a kind wedding just for us.

The boat was really ideal as all of Sam's family are great boat lovers it went down really well. The beach is now a place that we will always love and want to go back to.

The reception was beautiful, really peaceful and relaxing everyone was so wonderful and took good care of us and our guests. The food was great and what a setting at Santojanni.

The magical part for us was the fact that the statue  was over looking everything and the weather was perfect.

We could not of asked for a more perfect day.

The weeks holiday before relaxed us both so we were not nervous at all just enjoying the beautiful scenery and having our friends and family around us it felt like Christmas everyday.

Any concerns or worries we did have Lucia was on the end of the phone line ready to help.

We were both pleased with the service that you gave us. It took the pressure off us so we could enjoy ourselves.

We just wish we could do it all again.

Many thanks.

 Sam and Melissa.

When we started planning our wedding, we had our hearts set on going abroad, but no idea where in the world we wanted to be for our special day. Then we found the Slow Dreams website and the decision was made. Not only did Maratea stand out as providing a beautiful setting for our special day, but Slow Dreams seemed to know exactly what we wanted.

We’re glad to say that we were proved to be absolutely right on both counts. What a special place, we honestly could not believe how beautiful it is, the website doesn’t do it justice really. As we drove south from Naples airport the scenery grew more and more breathtaking and we knew we had made the right choice.

Obviously us Brides have a few wobbles and niggles and I have to say that Lucia was brilliant. I needn’t have worried, and when I did, she knew exactly what was needed. All in all, I have to say that it was relatively stress free, any changes or additions to day were never too much trouble and dealt with straight away.

We arrived at Villa Cheta quite late in the evening, so it wasn’t until the following morning that we realised just how gorgeous the grounds and patios were. Everyone at the Villa was lovely, so excited for us and helpful. They really helped to make our day special and nothing was too much trouble. In fact, the Villa is one of the best places we have ever stayed and absolutely perfect for a wedding. The service was excellent, food lovely, and it had such a pleasant, calm atmosphere, everyone was smiling.

Our room was fantastic, we had our own terrace, which made life interesting on the day of the wedding. Mum, sister and myself all in various stages of make up and hair preparations, and hairdresser and beautician despairing of us as we tried to catch a few last rays of sun before the ceremony.

Lucia popped up all over the place, honestly, we never felt any anxiety, she gave us a phone to keep in touch, took us through everything on our first morning, made sure everything was going well at the beauticians and even told off the hairdresser for me! Our guests have also asked me to thank Lucia, they really appreciated her help from booking their nail appointments to helping my mum pin on her corsage.

All the guests stayed in the San Diego, which is actually right next door, very handy for keeping tabs on them and everyone getting to know each other. Many a happy hour was spent socialising in the bar and the pool is something else!

So, to the day itself, well, it had been a little chilly in the evenings for a few days and being British we decided that we would not let that deter us from holding our wedding breakfast on the terrace overlooking the bay. Luckily, we woke up on the morning to brilliant sunshine and an excellent weather forecast (I know it sounds insane, but we weren’t entirely sure Lucia hadn’t had a word!), which I think greatly relieved the owners, they had been quite sweet - worrying about us being cold.

The beautician and hairdresser were great, and our lack of Italian wasn’t a problem, we managed to have such fun. The flowers were wonderful they had recreated my ideas and added a touch of flair which really wowed everyone. The ceremony was wonderful, everyone at the Villa had put so much effort into creating a beautiful setting and making all our guests feel special, and the photo’s went brilliantly. Our photographer didn’t have that bossy wedding photographer thing going on, he was so laid back and fun, everyone just went with the flow.

We couldn’t have imagined that everything would go so well, and looking back we really wouldn’t change a thing. The wedding breakfast was superb, from the setting and the service, to the food and wine. People are still remarking on the meal and the staff, who we really didn’t thank enough. The whole occasion was so elegant and well managed and it was the people that made it so special.

We have fantastic memories, not only of the day, but of our whole stay, as do our guests; Mark’s parents are determined to return to the Villa next year.

Thank you all at Slow Dreams and Villa Cheta.

 Dear Janie, Lucia & Bill,

What an AMAZING trio you are in the 'destination weddings' world!! We are so grateful to you for making our dream wedding a reality...Our guests thank you, as well! 

It all started for us 14 months prior to our wedding when I came across this great web site with incredible wedding destinations, and equally outstanding reviews of experiences of other couples with Slow-Dreams. So, I wrote a quick note to this Slow-Dreams web site I'd found on the Internet in the middle of the night...And, low and behold I got a very quick response from Bill...This was the beginning of a great working relationship with Bill, Janie and Lucia as they are all very fast in their replies and quite informative, too. I, like so many other brides did not have much time to wait on answers, and thankfully I never needed to wait more than 24 hours (even though I'm in the States, and they are in Europe!).

Throughout the months ahead I had lots (and lots) of questions as all brides do...None of my questions, needs, desires or concerns went unmet (or unnoticed) by Janie whom I quickly started to work with for coordinating all wedding preparations via e-mail. She was wonderfully enthusiastic and helpful.

Charming Lucia met with us when we arrived and orchestrated everything beautifully from that point on...We LOVED working with her as she was so upbeat and cheerful...Lucia wanted our wedding to go as fantastically as we did!! Moreover, she smoothed any and all small bumps along the way with her gracious personality and willingness to please all...Thank you, Lucia!

Regarding our wedding flowers: We sent pictures of how we wished our boutonnieres, bouquets, flowers for arch, etc. to look--and they turned out even more gorgeous than the pictures we'd sent, but the designs were exactly like our pictures!!! The florist was truly gifted and the flowers were so fresh and vibrant in color (all flowers are shipped to the florist in Maratea and southern Italy from elsewhere and are fabulous!).

Slow-Dreams uses a fantastic make-up artist, Anna-Maria whom is delightful to chat with while she does her magic with make-up (she also does pedicures and manicures at her shop in Maratea--by the way, we live in Southern California and I have never had a French pedicure last so long or look so good! Thank you, Anna-Maria!!). Additionally, I'd asked for a more natural look to the make-up application (I did not want to appear so made up), and Anna-Maria was so good with this request--her technique would match the best of the best!! She could work in Hollywood!!!:)

As for the hairstylist, he is a little testy, but pretty good--loves his hairspray and pins!!!! (Ouch!) But, overall he tried to follow the pictures I brought of the hairstyle I wanted.

Upon our request, Janie made arrangements at Castello Praja in Praia A Mare for our wedding and an 8 day stay (with 14 of our guests). Castello Praja is a FABULOUS 12th-13th Century Castle in the region of Calabria...

Our stay and our wedding in this gorgeous castle was nothing less than a dream come true for us and our guests! We were met by the owners of the castle with open arms!! They treated us like royalty, and made us all (guests included) feel that we were a part of their family! Our guests enjoyed a cooking lesson with the great Filomena whom has worked at the castle for the past 50+ years! We all ate together around the large table in the castle kitchen for breakfast every morning, and for several dinners...This was amazing, too! We cannot say enough about these tremendously dear and wonderful people whom share their castle as if it is an honor to have you as their guests...Their family name is of royalty, and yet they treated us as if we were!!

The photographers, Luigi & Silvia are fabulously creative, professional, easy to work with, and willing to do some fun/silly and beautiful pictures...They are so gifted... They, too could work in Hollywood!! We really loved working with them...Although, we have not received our album or DVD, yet, we have seen the demo. of our album and proofs--and, they are FANTASTIC!!! We are so looking forward to showing our family and friends the album and DVD at our reception when they arrive!
Also, we would HIGHLY recommend couples (and their guests) marrying at Castello Praja or other areas near Praia A Mare drive the short distance to the village of Aieta which is perched on a hillside and has a palace and wonderfully charming local people whom love to be involved in pictures and making you and your guests feel welcome in their village...It is closer to the castle than Maratea and the local town's people are much more inviting and lovely! Again, we highly recommend this to all!!

We have and will continue to praise the Slow-Dreams trio to all family, friends and acquaintances abroad and at home in the States! 

A huge THANK YOU to the great 'Trio' of Slow-Dreams: Janie, Lucia and Bill whom amazingly go out of their way to make dreams come true!

Marianne & Chris Lister

Dear Janie, Bill, Lucia, Ornella and all at the San Michele,

Bill, Janie & Lucia

We would like to thank you for organising the most perfect wedding we could have ever dreamed of, we couldn’t have asked for a more stunning location than the Hotel Grand San Michele.  We would like to especially thank Ornella (owner of the hotel) and her staff who made sure all our guests felt welcome with their exceptional service.  The wedding itself was no less than perfect from the amazing view on the terrace to the delicious five course wedding meal, everything met our expectations and beyond.   

The hotel staff even managed to help Billy when he forgot to bring his wedding trousers which we discovered the night before the wedding.  They found a matching pair of trousers and even had them tailored on the morning of the wedding itself, I think without the help of the staff we wouldn’t be married today! 

We had the most fabulous wedding with many special memories to last a lifetime.  Some of our guests commented they enjoyed our wedding so much they were thinking of doing the same, which I think says it all.

 

All our love

Billy and Gina xx