Hotel Cipriani Venice

From Jane Borden

If you get married in one of the most romantic cities in the world, Cipriani can deliver a reception to match — and you will be delivered to it in a private wedding gondolier. The property purchased and refurbished adjacent 19th-century granaries on the north side of Giudecca, facing San Marco. These spacious, high-ceilinged brick buildings can accommodate between 100 and 400 people for a sit-down dinner.

Prior to that, the hotel could host you and your guests for cocktails either on the outdoor terrace in front of the granaries, or in the hotel proper’s Casanova Garden. In fact, for a price I assume to be the combined equivalent of an upper and lower limb, a couple could commandeer the entire hotel for an indeterminate amount of time.

If you do not descend from royalty, you still have options. Fortuny can host smaller dinners, including a cake; Cip’s Club could be reserved for a private luncheon catering up to 70. And if you’d like to forgo transportation woes getting to and from Venice proper, small civil ceremonies may be tastefully conducted in Cipriani’s Casanova Garden.

The bride and groom will want to match the beauty of their celebration, and Cipriani is happy to offer stylists, hair and makeup artists, and spa packages at its wellness center.