Yesterday Cart, my friend Alessandra and I went to Roma Sposa to have a look see. Roma Sposa is a wedding fair with about 350 different booths and wedding representatives. Although Cart and I are already married, it’s nice to observe the trends here in Italy.
Being already Autumn, it was quite a chilly day already when we reached Palazzo Dei Congressi. Temperatures are already dropping to 18 degrees Celsius here in Rome and I’ve already started to wear my boots, turtlenecks, wooly jackets and whatnots.
The fair was was easy to spot because of the huge banner at the front of the Palazzo. There were so many promoters outside, hawking around with their sharp eyes.
The entry was free and it was very crowded the time when we reached there.
When we entered the palazzo proper to see the exhibitions, there were so many things to see such as the brides’ dresses. There were so many varieties! There were the traditional white ones, some lacy ones, some of a mixture of denim, some very embellished outfits.
I prefer simple but elegant looking ones like this one
I adore the bead-works around this dress, as well as the beautiful soft gold all around it.
There was also a wedding fashion catwalk.
That’s one the designer walking out after her models showed off her collection.
I also saw a couple of booths showcasing their art of cosmetics and hair.
I like the design of the invite cards. These ones above remind me of the traditional hand-made paper from Bevagna.
We also saw wedding favours for guests to keep home. Personally for me, I prefer gifts that are functional.
Like this adorable salt and pepper shaker and a container to keep the toothpick in.
And these are stationary sets you could use for writing notes.
There is also another interesting custom in Italy where you give these small round sweets to your guests.
In Italy, this is called Confetti. Not to be confused with the white paper things that we throw during parties. Inside is a sugared almond and covered with any flavours ranging from Banana, Strawberry, Caramel to Whiskey, ricotta and pears. It can range from different colours symbolising the type of anniversary with white being the most common for weddings.
And it will be placed into these containers called the Bomboniere for guests. Commonly, there will be 5 pieces in each to symbolise health, wealth, happiness, fertility and long life.
I saw several displays for the table setting which was created especially for a wedding lunch or dinner. They looked very intricate with the special cutlery, and bowls and decorations. Some ranging from the classic and some modern.
Most of them look very opulent. And apart from table decorations, there will sure to be flower decoration and food artwork.
These fruit carvings were incredibly intricate!
And not to mention, the wedding cake. While I prefer my cakes to be simpler, this display is a work of art in my opinion. I particularly like the Piazza Spagna cake display.
This was the Castel Sant’Angelo.
And this is Piazza San Pietro.
No wedding would be complete without the photographers and the videographers.
After going around the exhibitions, on average, the package deal is 1.7 k Euro here in Rome. Many of them were quite talented, and I looked through the different styles that they showcased. Some of them quirky, some of them quite retro looking.
And who can forget the DJ’s and music.
And to get to your wedding lunch or dinner in style, you could rent a stylish car, modern or classic or a limousine.
But lets not forget that no weddings would be complete without the wedding rings
It was interesting to see that the wedding rings are probably the most simple styled of all. Just a simple band :p
So lets see, according to the prices from fair, to get a wedding celebration in Italy :
- Wedding outfits = 1000 x 2 people x 2 events = 4000 Euro
- Photography + Video = 1.700 Euro
- Makeup + Hair = 300 Euro
- Deejay + Music = 300 Euro
- Wedding Dinner in a nice restaurant = 50 x 300 guests = 15.000 Euro
- Table Decoration + Flowers = 200
- Gifts for the guests = 20 x 300 guets = 6.000 Euro
- Wedding Cake = 200 Euro
- Wedding Rings = 200 x 2 People = 400 Euro
- Limousine rental = 300 Euro
Grand estimate = 28400 Euro!
That’s quite expensive to get married. Nevertheless, it was an interesting and enlightening afternoon at the Roma Sposa wedding fair. I quite enjoyed myself.
The only thing is, going around from booths to booths, we were all shoved with pamphlets, books, and stuff whether we wanted it or not. And it was so heavy! Such a waste of paper.
If you liked this post, you might be interested in our wedding ceremony :
- Part 1 – The ROMM Interview
- Part 2 – The Marriage Guidance Course
- Part 3 – The Solemnization
- Part 4 – The Wedding Dinner
- Part 5 – Bersanding
Or the other fair’s that I’ve visited :
You can recycle the pamphlets! I have that bad habit too, just taking all brochures and pamphlets given by salespeople. And then I hoard it in my bag. Haha.
I like the cakes!!
The cakes are cool aren’t they? They are made of marzipan!
And how do I recycle the pamphlet? I’ve no idea what to do with it, apart from chucking them in the white paper recycling bin :p
well yea, recycle bin.. Haha. Or you can use them to wrap herbs/spices..
I love the cakes! So awesome! Singapore should have an esplanade cake! 😛
Hey! That could be an idea! Hehehe 🙂
I wonder if anyone would think to do that!
OMG I love the last 2 dresses pliz…!! ANd the toy scooter figurines, too cute!
I was very tempted to get the toy scooters myself!
I want get married in Rome! Much Love!