A couple had a $14,000 micro-wedding in Lake Como, Italy, which included a private chef and a luxury villa stay

April 10, 2023 Stan

Savannah Wilkinson and her husband Jeff Gilbert had their dream wedding in Lake Como, Italy, in September 2022.

The newlyweds found themselves cruising down Lake Como, Italy, an hour after their marriage ceremony, Wilkinson told Insider.

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The water was glassy and the weather was perfect, Wilkinson said. Enormous green mountains, Champagne, and music provided the perfect backdrop to their Italian micro-wedding.

The newlyweds, who live in Austin, Texas, grew up in the same town in Washington State but didn’t hang out, she said. Once they both moved to California in their twenties, they reconnected on social media and began dating in November 2019.

Wilkinson, a 29-year-old closing specialist, loved how kind and vulnerable Gilbert was, and it helped that he made her laugh, she said.

After two years and a month of dating, Gilbert, a 35-year-old dentist, proposed to her on her birthday, December 3, 2021.

They set the wedding date for September 14, 2022, she said.

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Their Italian wedding cost $14,150, Wilkinson said. Keeping the guest list small was one of the main things that helped them stick to their budget.

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The budget included a $2,000 dress, a $600 hour-long boat ride with Champagne, a $1,000 private chef, and a $5,850 three-night stay at Villa Confalonieri in Mandello del Lario, a small town in Lake Como.

Their choice of venue limited them to a very small guest list — they had 13 people in attendance, mostly consisting of family members and their partners.

Even though they spent a little over $14,000, it was still quite affordable compared to a wedding in the US, Wilkinson said.

Italian wedding planner Roberta Sabbatini told Insider that Lake Como is an incredibly expensive place. $9,000 is just enough to breathe the air there, Sabbatini added.

Wilkinson always knew she didn’t want a big wedding. “I don’t like eyes on me, I don’t like all the attention,” she said.

Wilkinson also wanted an opportunity to travel, but she didn’t have a specific idea in mind as she never dreamed about her wedding being a certain way, she told Insider.

The villa could only accommodate 15 people, but she wanted a small guest list anyway. “Some people were hurt, obviously, but I think most people were just excited for us and thought it was a great idea,” she added.

The 13 guests present on their big day included their parents, siblings, and their siblings’ partners, she said.

She said she spent a year and three months planning her wedding, and based a lot of the decisions, such as the venue, cake, and chef, on an article she’d read.

Wilkinson said she came across a 2017 Brides article about a couple’s affordable elopement in Lake Como and became inspired.

She said she had often heard of Lake Como, but thought it was a ritzy, expensive place. She loved the couple in the article’s wedding, particularly the villa, their photos, and their small guest list.

“In the article, they linked the villa,” she told Insider. The article also linked the catering chef, floral designer, and photographer.

Despite becoming engaged nine months before her wedding date, she said she knew they were going to get married and actually booked the villa a year before the wedding.

The couple set their budget to $15,000. Savannah said she doesn’t count their $2,400 flights as part of the cost of the wedding day as they also spent three weeks in Italy vacationing at the same time.

Their ceremony in the town of Mandello del Lario, Lake Como, was symbolic, as they legally married in a Texan courthouse on August 25, 2022.

“The process of actually legally getting married in Italy was a thing I did not want to try to do,” she said.

The ceremony was held at Villa Confalonieri, which was the same hotel they were staying at. They also got a $600-a-night discount as they booked in the off-season, she told Insider.

Wilkinson wore a $2,000 strapless form-fitting dress from The Label. She originally wanted to buy a cheap dress from Etsy, she said, but fell in love with that one and didn’t want to go through the hassle of buying online.

Originally, she said had a specific idea of what kind of dress she wanted — and it being strapless was not one of them.

“In the end, I ended up going with the one I didn’t think I’d want at all,” she said. She loved how classical and simple, yet beautiful the design was. “I felt really beautiful,” she told Insider.

She spent $300 on a veil and add-on blouse sleeves, and $500 on alterations. She said she didn’t want two dresses as that seemed excessive and too expensive.

In the end, she wore a long cathedral-length veil and strapless dress during her ceremony, and took off the veil and added the sleeves after the ceremony. “It was kind of like an outfit change,” she said.

Her husband wore a custom $500 suit from Jos. A. Bank.

The start of their wedding day felt a little stressful because the weather report predicted rain and all of their activities were outside, Wilkinson told Insider.

The boat company said they would cancel if it got too windy, she added.

She spent the early afternoon getting ready and did her hair and makeup herself. She didn’t have a first look with her husband, but instead with her parents, she said.

She walked down the stairs with her parents’ back turned to her, while “Going to the Chapel” was playing. They were all very emotional and cried, she said.

They then had a 30-minute-long ceremony filled with tears. They were meant to read their vows out loud to each other, but they couldn’t even get through the first sentence without choking up, she said.

“It was really just everything I had hoped for, and it was just so us,” she said.

After the ceremony, which cost them $600 for the officiant, they had a 50-minute photo session with Fabrizio Viganó, which cost them $2,200, Wilkinson said.

Once they were finished, the newlyweds and guests walked through the beautiful town to the docks. As they were dressed up, locals realized it was a wedding and cheered them on, she said.

Thankfully, it hadn’t rained and the boat ride was still on. The vibe was perfect and it was a really fun ride, she said.

After the boat ride, they had a private catered dinner by chef Maria Antonietta Puggioni, who Wilkinson also found through the Brides article she’d read.

The dinner, which was $1,000 in total, included four courses. They bought alcohol at the grocery store, which was really affordable, and then the chef whipped up Hugo spritzes for them, she added.

They had a $150 chocolate cake decorated with florals. According to a TikTok Savannah shared on January 20, which has over 130,000 views, they spent $200 on table details. This included linens, candles, menu printouts, and a runner.

She said she had a colorful bouquet with hints of purple and a boutonniére for $150 and thought it was plenty. They also used the bouquet and trimmings from the villa for table decorations.

Wilkinson’s favorite part of the wedding was the end, when everything worked out and everyone was dancing — she wasn’t stressed anymore, she said.

For anyone thinking of having an Italian wedding, she said she’d recommend giving yourself plenty of time to plan.

Communication is mostly through email, and there is often a language barrier. “It took longer to plan things, and I think it took Italians a little longer to get back to me,” she said.

As long as you do it a year in advance, you’re probably fine, she added.

Wilkinson and Gilbert ended their wedding night on a high. “After we all ate, we all got out of our fancy clothes and changed into swimsuits and went swimming in the pool. It was really fun,” she said.
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