3 Days in Lake Iseo, Italy before our wedding!

This all started when Sophia mentioned that she wanted to get married on Lake Iseo, in Italy.

This is where she’d had her fondest childhood memories with her mother and she truly hoped to get married where she was baptized, that is, in a 5th Century church called Pieve di Sant’Andrea.

   

Check out this post on how to plan a wedding in Italy if you’re wondering how to do it yourself!

We left July 11th, a few days prior to the wedding…

We arrived in Milan and we’re picked up by a driver we hired to take us to our initial destination for the wedding – The Ambra Hotel.

 

The hotel offered us a great deal for all our guests who wanted something quaint, affordable, with a cute breakfast bar prepared each morning and within walking vicinity to the church. This is a hotel Sophia’s family has stayed at and travelled to in the past, including her parents back in the 8Os. While it may still be quite outdated from the outside, most rooms have been upgraded to suit everyone’s needs.

As it was my first time in the area, I didn’t truly understand why she wanted to get married in this specific location until I had the opportunity to spend a few days here. Lake Iseo is a beautiful spot in Lombardy, Italy (Northern Italy) that is charming with it’s small Italian town feel in its buildings, views, and cobbled streets.

At the same time, it has a fairly vibrant nightlife and stays true to its locals (a hidden gem)!

On July 13th, we trekked up to Sophia’s old childhood summer house just north of the town.

On our way, we stopped by her old neighbors (still alive and well) who invited us for some homemade Grappa! They use to get fresh eggs from this tiny adorable farm on their way to the villa.

Under new ownership, the owners of the house were gracious enough to let us go and take pictures. Unfortunately, they seldom use the beautiful estate that has since then been left in ruins, but it was nice to see part of her history.

We even had the chance to go with her sister Claudia and her friend Brett, who took the time to do a pre-wedding photo shoot for us (as we had had no time to do engagement pictures back in Canada).

While our day was super productive, our night was even greater than we could’ve anticipated!  We went to a local club where we drank and danced with some of our friends and family where we shared a “6 person gin and tonic drink”.

         

Then, we bar hopped a bit and finally had some late night post-dinner at the restaurant near our hotel.

While some of the three days leading up to the wedding were spent getting some final wedding preparations organized, much of our days were spent walking through the streets, eating gelato, drinking mint granita slush (Sophia’s all-time favorite), and just relaxing with friends and family that were coming to the wedding. Sophia and the girls also took charge of the last minute prep on the eve of the wedding (July 14th).

I got to enjoy one of the most memorable experiences of my life with my friend Darcy. He decided to rent a boat and took a bunch of us around the lake for the day.

It was great being able to see so much of the lake from our boat, and it was certainly one of the most breathtaking views, which everyone should try to experience once in their lifetime.

That evening, we had dinner with all 30+ family and friends that traveled to be with us for our special day. This included Canada, Switzerland, Hungary, England, and other parts of Italy.

We dined at Lido dei Platani and had a cornucopia of pizzas, meats and cheeses that we all shared. It was a such a great way to celebrate with our loved ones before the wedding.

I couldn’t think of a better way to spend the last 3-days of my bachelorhood then in Italy, with all my closest friends and family with me. I fell in love with Lake Iseo, and I’m so happy it’s just the beginning of the trip!