Thank you for returning for part 2 of our Italian adventure touring Puglia and seeing some of the lovely venues that Southern Italy has to offer. For those who haven’t read part 1, our amazing study trip to Italy was organised by Isabelle Smith, of Isabel Smith Wedding Design, along with Bertrando, our Italian tour guide. The trip was organised for members of the UK Alliance of Wedding Planners (UKAWP). The UKAWP is the leading industry body for Wedding Planners in the UK, promoting professionalism and providing support to independent planners across the UK, organising various training workshops, events and study trips.

Part 2 of our trip to Italy continues our story of the venues we saw and what we got up to as we arrived in the lovely city of Lecce.

Torre Del Parco

Torre del Parco (Turris Prati Magni) was our first stop in Lecce. This beautiful venue was built in 1419 in the heart of Lecce and is a real historic symbol of the City. The Tower has some amazing space for various functions and is at least 30 meters (approx 98ft) high and surrounded by a deep moat. This venue offers some stunning outdoor space including a roof top area and an additional outdoor terrace with lots of greenery on the ground floor which would be perfect for a drinks reception, a seated dinner or a buffet style reception. The indoor space is so rich in history and the main function room would make the perfect backdrop for a traditional, luxurious Italian wedding.

Images Courtesy of Torre Del Parco

Hotel Risorgimento

This 5* Hotel  was the final stop on our scheduled trip with Bertrando. At the end of day two he organised a B2B ‘speed dating’ session where we got to meet lots of lovely local wedding suppliers such as Italian Wedding Planners, Caterers and Photographers. We were treated to a delicious 7 course meal within the hotel; we honestly thought we were going to burst by this point as everyone had been so generous in looking after us on our trip. Hotel Risorgimento would be great for accommodation for wedding guests or for any corporate events. The hotel offers space for smaller events; private dining, corporate conferences and has a luxurious spa and beautiful roof terrace bar.

Images courtesy of Hotel Risorgimento 

‘Lezioni di Cucina Salentina’

After our stay in Hotel Risorgimento, we waved goodbye to our fellow planners as Dominique and I had decided to stay on for a couple of extra days and make the most of being in Italy. Bertrando, who had been guiding us through our tour over the last few days arranged for us to attend an Italian cooking class at ‘Lezioni di Cucina Salentina’ which translates to ‘Cooking Lessons in Salento’. The lovely Gianna and Sara taught us how to cook ‘Salento Style’ making fresh pasta dishes from scratch! Gianna Greco is a very talented chef and sommelier with a real passion for food and wine. We had such an enjoyable evening learning about the food and wine of the region. Gianna and Sara were so welcoming and fun and they really made our trip to Lecce.

We would like to say a HUGE thank you to Gianna and Sara for such a lovely evening and to Bertrando for organising everything. We had a fantastic evening and we would highly recommend this experience to anyone travelling to Lecce!

We would also like to thank Isabelle Smith for organising such a wonderful trip, we had a great time and are itching to get back to Italy and hopefully take some clients with us!

And finally, a big thanks to all the fellow UKAWP members who attended the trip, we had a great time!

From the left; Dominique Douglas (Stylish Events), Bernadette Chapman (Dream Occasions), Melanie Helen (Cranberry Blue), Isabelle Smith (Isabel Smith Wedding Design), Becca Cole (Stylish Events) and Andri Benson (Always Andri)