A cardinal's villa on the western shore of Lake Como, restored by Jacques Garcia and made famous by House of Gucci. Three ways to marry here, and the real numbers for each.Prices updated October 2026 · by Katerina
Budget level: €150,000 and aboveBudget level · elopement from €23,000
Up to 200Guests
One day or weekendFormat
Lake ComoLake
The villa you saw in House of Gucci, on the western shore of Lake Como, with its gardens running straight down to the water. Three ways to marry here, and the honest number for each.
Most couples who search for a Villa Balbiano wedding start with a photograph and no price. We would rather give you both. For the two of you, Balbiano is within reach: a private ceremony and portraits in the gardens and the house, all-inclusive, from €23,000. For a wedding that takes the whole villa, the honest starting point is half a million euros. In between, there is a third way, and it is the one we planned here this summer.
capacity
Three ways to marry at Balbiano
Balbiano for two
The villa is yours for two hours, with nobody else in the garden. You get ready at your hotel and arrive ready for the ceremony, by the water or in the garden. Then we use every minute: portraits along the avenue, by the pond, at the dock and inside the house itself, among the silk and the frescoes.
All-inclusive from €23,000, with the villa, your planner who writes and leads your ceremony, a fine-art photographer for five hours, ceremony flowers and bouquet, hair and makeup, live music, a private boat on the lake with prosecco, aperitivo for two and private transfers. The elopement slot is for the two of you only.
An intimate wedding with your family
This is the format we planned here in August: a small group of family and friends from several countries, a ceremony on the terrace above the lake surrounded by white flowers, aperitivo in the garden, dinner, and an evening that went on late. It also rained. We moved the ceremony time, rearranged the plan around the weather, and the photographs of the two of them under a clear umbrella in the doorway of the villa are some of our favourites.
An intimate wedding at Balbiano is priced individually, because the villa's terms for a few hours with guests depend on the date, the season and the program. We give you a full number on the first call.
The whole villa
Balbiano was built to receive. With two hundred guests in the gardens, the house open, the dock busy with boats and the music running into the night, it becomes the villa you saw on screen. It also becomes one of the most demanding productions in Italy: the villa's own approved technical teams, strict catering requirements, security, large deposits and the logistics of moving every guest by water.
The Balbiano you have saved on Pinterest is not the villa on an ordinary day. It is the villa dressed for a production: an avenue lined with candles and flowers, the façade lit from the water, long tables on the lawn, a string quartet at the dock, boats arriving one after another with guests in black tie. Every one of those images has a budget behind it, and it is rarely a small one. A house of this scale and this fame needs to be filled, lit and dressed to look the way it does in those photographs. With half the budget, it looks like what it is: a very beautiful, very large house that is waiting for something to happen.
That is why we say it plainly: for Balbiano to open up the way you have seen it, a wedding that takes the whole villa starts at about €500,000. Below that, we would rather put the same money into a villa that will look its best with it, or bring the two of you here for the moment that matters most. We have not yet planned a wedding of this size at Balbiano, and we will not pretend otherwise. What we can do is tell you, on a private call with Marina, our founder, what it would take, what it would cost for your date, and whether it is the right house for what you have in mind.
at a glance
At a glance
200and not one more
Budget level: €150,000 and abovebudget level
Where
Ossuccio, Tremezzina, western shore of Lake Como
Arrival
By boat, at the villa's own dock, or by road
Format
Elopement in a private slot, intimate wedding, or the whole villa
Guests
Up to 200 in the gardens, about 60 indoors
Sleeping on site
Suites and rooms for about 30, with stays from two nights
Ceremony
Civil or symbolic at the villa
Booking
Often up to two years ahead, with very few elopement slots each season
Budget
Elopements from €23,000. Whole-villa weddings from €500,000
the villa
The villa
Villa Balbiano stands at Ossuccio, on the western shore, a few minutes from Villa del Balbianello and the island of Comacina. It was rebuilt at the end of the sixteenth century for Cardinal Tolomeo Gallio, the same cardinal who built Palazzo Gallio further up the lake, and in the eighteenth century it passed to Cardinal Angelo Maria Durini, who turned it into a house for poets and parties.
Its modern life began with a restoration led by the French designer Jacques Garcia, who filled it with period furniture, silk and frescoes. In 2021 Ridley Scott chose it as Aldo Gucci's villa in House of Gucci, and since then it has been one of the most searched wedding venues in Italy.
The façade is restrained and the interiors are not. Outside, a formal garden with a long avenue and a pond runs to the lake and to the villa's own dock, which means you arrive the way the cardinals did: by water.
ceremony
The ceremony, and what Italy requires
Civil, at the villa. You can be legally married at Villa Balbiano itself. We prepare the Nulla Osta, the translations and the apostilles, book the ceremony with the town and bring the interpreter the law requires, and we add it for €3,500 including VAT, plus the town hall fee.
Symbolic. By the water, in the garden or on the terrace, written for you and led by your planner. A symbolic ceremony carries no legal weight, so most couples sign at home before or after.
budget
What your budget looks like
Budget level: €150,000 and aboveElopement from €23,000
How you marry here
Starting from
Balbiano for two
€23,000 all-inclusive
An intimate wedding with your family
Priced for your date
The whole villa
●●● about €500,000 for the full wedding
Balbiano is wonderful for two, and for a full wedding it is a different scale altogether.
The elopement price includes everything listed above, with taxes. It does not include your stay, your dinner, guests, film, a legal ceremony, or the villa's refundable security deposit.
Every wedding is costed individually. You get a line-by-line estimate for your date after the first call.
honest limits
What we would not do here
01
We would not plan a wedding for eighty guests at Balbiano on a budget built for a smaller villa.
The house would look half-dressed, and you would spend the day feeling it.
02
We would not promise a date before we have it in writing.
The villa is booked far ahead, and the few elopement slots each season go quickly. A little flexibility is often the difference between fully booked and yes.
03
We would not plan the day without a rain plan.
Our own wedding here had rain, and it was beautiful because we had planned for it.
04
We would not sell you the name.
If what you love is the feeling of a private villa on the water, there are houses on this shore that give you that for a fraction of the cost, and we will show them to you.
our part
What we carry
We planned a wedding at Balbiano this summer, and we know the villa's team, its rules and where the light falls at six in the evening. We are based on Lake Como, and we take on a limited number of weddings each season.
The date. We go straight to the villa after our first call and search every available slot for you.
The paperwork. Nulla Osta, translations, apostilles, the civil ceremony with the town.
The water. Private boats, the dock, and a plan for when the lake is too rough.
The ceremony. Written for you and led by your planner, who knows your story.
The money. One budget with every tax and fee in it, and the deposit explained before you sign.
The day itself. So you can simply be there, together.
If Balbiano is not the right house
Monastero Pax, literally next door, between Balbiano and Balbianello. A private twelfth-century estate with terraced gardens down to the lake and an Orangerie for 180. Weddings from €81,000.
Villa Regina Teodolinda, on the same shore at Laglio, whole villa with rooms. Weddings from €84,000.
Villa Aura del Lago, a villa with rooms for your family and a weekend program. From €84,000.
An intimate family wedding: a symbolic ceremony with just their parents, then an Italian dinner by the lake.
The Wow Italy team are 12/10 wedding planners! The full service planning they provide is like nothing I'd ever expect. The whole team worked together seamlessly to make everything perfect. The attention to detail comes across from the moment you reach out to them till even after the wedding and services are completed. From venue selection to negotiating for you, they do it all! The organization and ways they kept you on track from start to finish was so underrated! Zero stress with them. I never visited Italy before this and we planned the whole thing together and they made the whole thing a breeze. Time differences were never an issue and they are SO quick to respond and provide updates. They made everything so special and easy, even altering the timing on the wedding day of because of the rain! I could not recommend them more! Along with the wow Italy team of planners, there vendors are top notch. We had the best florist, MUA, photographer, videographer etc. I would have never been able to plan a wedding in Italy without them. They are some of the nicest, most genuine souls you will ever meet. My husband and I are so lucky our paths crossed and they were apart of our story. If you are thinking about reaching out and using them I promise you won't regret it!!!
An elopement for two starts at €23,000 all-inclusive. An intimate wedding with guests is priced for your date. A wedding that takes the whole villa starts at about €500,000.
Is this really the House of Gucci villa?
Yes. Villa Balbiano was Aldo Gucci's home in Ridley Scott's 2021 film.
Can we get legally married at Villa Balbiano?
Yes. We arrange the civil ceremony at the villa.
Can we bring guests to an elopement?
The elopement slot is for the two of you only. For family and friends, ask us about an intimate wedding.
How many guests can the villa hold?
Up to about 200 in the gardens and about 60 indoors.
Can we stay at the villa?
The villa has suites and rooms for about thirty, usually from two nights. For an elopement, we book you a suite nearby.
How far ahead should we book?
Often up to two years for the whole villa. For elopements, the earlier the better, and flexible dates help a lot.
Have you planned weddings at Balbiano?
Yes, an intimate wedding this summer. We have not yet planned a full-villa wedding here, and we tell you that because the scale is different.
What if it rains?
We plan for it from the start. Our own wedding here had rain, and the plan held.
first step
Let's see whether it is yours
Tell us the date you are dreaming of, how many people you want around you, and which of the three Balbianos you see yourselves in. If it is the whole villa, Marina will take the call herself.
We will check the villa's calendar and set up a call. On it you get our honest read on whether Balbiano is the right house for your wedding, real numbers for your date, and, if it is not, the two or three that are.
A country estate in the hills above Bellagio that feels like Tuscany, a garden table for up to forty with the whole lake below, and a kitchen our own Katerina chose for her wedding.
Prices updated October 2026 · by Katerina
