A nineteenth-century estate on the edge of Lake Maggiore, with a glass ballroom over the water, a park of rare trees, a legal ceremony on site and Malpensa forty minutes away.Prices updated October 2026 · by Katerina
Everyone knows Lake Como. Lake Maggiore is its quieter, wider neighbour, and Villa Porta sits right on its edge, in the small gulf of Colmegna near Luino. It was built in 1820 as a hunting estate, became an inn, and was then shaped by an engineer and botanist called Porta, who filled the park with rare trees brought back from his travels and gave it a Liberty glasshouse and a little private harbour.
Today it is a relais with a glass ballroom that opens onto the lake, a floating pontoon of its own, and terraces that hang over the water. It hosts one wedding a day in its ballroom, it can marry you legally on site, and the party can run until three in the morning. And it is forty minutes from Malpensa, which on a destination wedding matters more than any view.
at a glance
At a glance
20guests at the least
30where it is at its best
130and not one more
Budget level: €60,000 and abovebudget level
Where
Colmegna, near Luino, on the eastern shore of Lake Maggiore
The house
A hunting estate of 1820, later an inn and a botanist's villa, now a lakeside relais
Landscape
Directly on the water, with a centuries-old park of about a hectare and a private floating pontoon
Guests
From twenty on a weekday to a hundred and thirty in the ballroom
Exclusive use
One wedding a day in the Ballroom Limonaia; the whole villa can be taken over in spring and autumn
The kitchen
In-house, Slow Food in spirit, with handmade pasta and live cooking; no outside caterers
Rooms on site
Around thirty rooms and suites in the relais, plus apartments nearby; the turret suite La Rosa for the two of you
Ceremony
Legal civil ceremonies on site, approved by the town of Luino; symbolic or Protestant too
Party
Until three in the morning in the ballroom
Airports
Milan Malpensa about forty minutes; Milan about an hour
Best months
May, June, September and early October
Budget level
●○○ an intimate weekday wedding · ●●○ a full Saturday or a weekend · ●●● the whole villa
the villa
Why this villa
Because it is the lake without the crowds. Lake Maggiore has the same mountains, the same light on the water and the same Belle Époque villas as its famous neighbour, without the day-trippers, the traffic on the shore road or the prices that come with a famous postcode. Our couple Vanessa and Evgeny chose it over Lake Como for exactly that reason, and their guests, many of them in Italy for the first time, spent the weekend swimming in the lake and sitting at one long table rather than fighting the crowds.
Because the wedding is on the water. Villa Porta is not on a hill above the lake or across a road from it. Its terraces hang over the water, its glass ballroom opens onto it, and it has a floating pontoon of its own, so the boat that takes the two of you out onto the lake after the ceremony leaves from the bottom of the garden.
Because it does everything in one place. A legal civil ceremony on the terrace, approved by the town of Luino. A welcome dinner by the water the night before. An aperitivo with live cooking. Dinner in the ballroom. Dancing until three. A farewell brunch or a party boat the next day. All in one estate, with rooms upstairs, so nobody has to be driven anywhere.
Because it is easy to reach. Milan Malpensa is about forty minutes away and Milan itself about an hour. For guests flying in from the United States, that is the shortest airport-to-villa transfer of any lake wedding we plan.
rooms
Where everyone sleeps
The two of you spend the wedding night in La Rosa, a suite set in an old turret, on two floors, looking over the lake. It is included with the wedding, breakfast too.
Your guests can stay in the relais itself, around thirty rooms, each decorated differently, so nobody gets the same room as anyone else. This is what made Vanessa and Evgeny's weekend: all thirty of their guests slept at the villa, swam from it in the morning, and never had to think about a taxi. In high season the villa usually asks for a minimum of two nights, which suits a weekend anyway. For larger groups the villa has apartments in the villages nearby and partner hotels in Luino, and we arrange the transfers, because taxis are scarce on this shore and everything has to be booked ahead.
If you take the whole villa, every room in the relais is yours, up to seventy-five guests, with breakfast for all of them and the house closed to anyone else from three in the afternoon until noon the next day.
the days
The spaces
Villa Porta is not one room but a string of places along the water, and a wedding here moves through them.
The Ballroom Limonaia is the heart of a full wedding. A panoramic room opened in 2023, with tall windows that open onto the lake, hand-painted walls and a piano, it seats up to a hundred and thirty and hosts only one wedding a day. It is air-conditioned and reachable by lift, which your grandparents will appreciate, and it is where dinner is served and where the party runs until three.
The Skyline is an open terrace suspended over the lake, where guests are welcomed, where the ceremony takes place facing the water, and where everyone comes back after dinner for the cake and the last toast.
The Torretta, the little tower beside the ballroom, is where the bride can get ready before two in the afternoon, where the ceremony moves if it rains, and where the aperitivo's live-cooking stations set up when it does not.
The Tiffany Terrace and Veranda are the villa's restaurant spaces over the water. The terrace takes a wedding of up to a hundred and twenty; the glazed veranda is perfect for an intimate dinner of up to thirty.
The Darsena, the little dock at the water's edge, holds an elopement or a dinner for up to sixteen with nothing between you and the lake. The Lakeside Brasserie, a few steps away, is where we hold welcome dinners: long tables, pinsa from the oven and the sun going down over the water.
And around all of it, the park: a hectare of centuries-old trees and avenues, with the rare plants that Porta brought home from his travels, a Liberty glasshouse and corners made for portraits.
Three ways to marry here
An intimate weekday wedding, Monday to Wednesday. This is the version we recommend most often, and the one the price on this page comes from. On these days the ballroom can be yours for as few as twenty adults, provided everyone enjoys the Epicuro tasting menu, the kitchen's most refined dinner. That turns a small wedding from a problem into a privilege: the same ballroom, the same terraces, a far more beautiful dinner, and no paying for eighty guests you did not invite. For a destination wedding a Tuesday loses nothing, because your guests are on holiday anyway.
A full wedding on a Saturday. For a larger celebration, the Limonaia hosts up to a hundred and thirty, with the Torretta taking up to thirty more at dinner if needed. Saturdays carry a guaranteed minimum of eighty adults, Thursday, Friday and Sunday fifty, so a weekend date suits a wedding of that size.
The whole villa. In spring and autumn, from March to May and from September to December, Villa Porta can be taken over entirely, with every room in the relais for up to seventy-five of your guests and no one in the house who is not one of yours. It is not available in June, July and August, and it is a considerably larger budget, which we build with you on the call.
Whichever you choose, the shape we love is the weekend: a welcome dinner by the water on the first evening, the wedding on the second, and a brunch, a long spritz on the terrace or a party boat on the lake to close.
ceremony
The ceremony, and what is legal
This is one of the few lake venues where the legal part of your wedding can happen in the same place as everything else.
A legally binding civil ceremony can be held at Villa Porta itself, which is approved by the town of Luino for civil weddings. It takes place on the Skyline facing the lake, with the chairs set either in an L or straight towards the water. The municipality handles its own paperwork and fees, which we arrange directly with the town hall, including the interpreter Italian law requires when one of you does not speak Italian and the two adult witnesses you will need.
For American citizens, a legal marriage in Italy needs a sworn declaration at the US Consulate in Milan, legalised, and then a declaration of intent at the town hall, so you arrive two or three working days before the wedding. Milan is an hour away, which makes this unusually easy here. We prepare the documents, book the appointments and come with you.
A symbolic or Protestant ceremony can take place in the same setting, on the Skyline over the water. In March, April, October, November and December, a symbolic ceremony can also be held on the villa's little beach.
If it rains, the ceremony moves into the Torretta, or into the Tiffany Terrace taken exclusively as a covered backup, and the lake is still there through the windows.
season
Season and availability
May, June, September and early October.
The whole villa can be taken over from March to May and from September to December, for up to seventy-five guests in the house. Not in June, July or August. In March, April, October, November and December, a symbolic ceremony can also be held on the villa's little beach.
table and music
The table
The kitchen at Villa Porta cooks in the Slow Food spirit, with carefully chosen Italian ingredients, pasta and ravioli made by hand and menus that change with the season. Outside caterers are not allowed, and you will not miss them.
The aperitivo is a show in itself. After the ceremony, guests wander between Parmigiano Reggiano aged forty months, Parma ham sliced by hand on a vintage Berkel machine, cheeses from the valleys around Luino with local honey, raw fish, grilled octopus and Piedmontese beef from the grill, with spritz and prosecco poured throughout.
Dinner is served at the table in the ballroom. Two first courses, perhaps ravioli with Robiola di Roccaverano or a risotto with lake perch and red prawns from Mazara, then a main course, a sorbet of Sorrento lemon with the villa's own gin, and the wedding cake. For the intimate weekday wedding, the Epicuro tasting menu goes further: Italian caviar, lobster risotto, a Berkel station of Parma ham at different ages, an oyster and crudo bar.
The wine comes by region. Four pairings take you across Italy, from Monferrato and Alto Adige to Lake Garda and the Langhe, with a Barbaresco for the most ambitious. A three-litre bottle of Franciacorta engraved with your date and initials is the kind of detail guests photograph.
We taste the menu with you at the villa before anything is signed, and dietary needs, children and allergies are routine.
budget
What it costs
Budget level: €60,000 and above
●○○ An intimate weekday wedding. The lower band, €60,000 to €90,000, for thirty guests with the Epicuro tasting menu, everything included, and we publish it so you are not weeks into collecting quotes before anyone gives you a number.
●●○ A full Saturday or a weekend. The middle band, €90,000 to €150,000, for a weekend with a welcome dinner by the water and a farewell brunch, or a Saturday wedding of a hundred.
●●● The whole villa. €150,000 and above. Taking the whole villa in spring or autumn is a different budget, which we build with you on the call.
Either way you receive the real figure line by line, with 2027 prices and Italian VAT already in it.
We name our fee in full on the first call, as a figure, and we do not take commission you cannot see.
What the number covers
The ballroom and terraces for the day
The ceremony and its setting
The aperitivo, dinner, wine and wedding cake
The turret suite for your wedding night
Flowers and decor, music, photography and film
Transfers
A coordinator on site
Our planning fee, inside the number and not added to it
What it does not cover
Your flights, your clothes and rings, your guests' rooms, the municipal fees for a civil ceremony, cocktails after dinner, the party hours after one in the morning, and anything you add once you have seen the first version.
Every wedding is costed individually. You get a line-by-line estimate for your date after the first call.
our part
From our experience here
Book the weekday and the tasting menu together. For thirty guests or fewer, Monday to Wednesday with Epicuro is the best value on the lake: the minimum drops to twenty adults, and the dinner becomes the best in the house.
Fill the villa if you can. When every guest sleeps at Villa Porta, the wedding starts at the welcome table the night before and ends at breakfast the morning after. That continuity is what makes a weekend here feel like a holiday together rather than a sequence of events.
Use the pontoon. A few minutes alone on the lake straight after the ceremony, while your guests start the aperitivo, gives you the calmest moment of the day and the photographs with the villa behind you.
Plan the transfers early. There are very few taxis on this shore, and none late at night. Anyone not sleeping at the villa needs a car booked in advance, and we organise it so nobody is left on the road at one in the morning.
Keep the beach for spring and autumn. The little beach is only available for ceremonies outside the summer months, and in April or October, with the low light on the water, it is one of the loveliest places on the lake to say yes.
Vanessa and Evgeny's weekend, and the team
Vanessa and Evgeny chose Lake Maggiore over its more famous neighbour, and all thirty of their guests stayed together at the villa in August 2024. On the first day everyone swam in the lake, and in the evening sat down at one long table looking over the water. By the end of that dinner the two sides of the family were one group.
The wedding was the next day. The symbolic ceremony took place by the lake in the afternoon, with their three-year-old niece scattering petals and a violin playing as Vanessa's father, Nikolai, walked her down the aisle to Evgeny. While the couple slipped away for a boat ride from the villa's pontoon, the guests had an aperitivo on the terrace, recorded voice messages and learned to open champagne with a sabre. Dinner was at a long family table in the ballroom, and the dancing went on into the small hours. The next morning there was breakfast together, and then everyone set off home. Vanessa wrote to us afterwards: “It was flawless and exactly like my dreams.”
Katerina takes your first call. She lives on Lake Como, an easy drive from here, and trained in hospitality and hotels before joining us. Laura handles the venue and the production from Milan, an hour away. Svetlana runs the client side and, trained as a psychologist, is the calm voice on the day. Marina answers the first enquiries and sets what we will and will not take on.
Two of us are on the ground for the whole wedding, not one. When it rained at a wedding of ours, our team took the umbrellas to the guests and stood in the rain ourselves. Your job that day is to get married. Ours is everything else.
Different, and many people prefer it: wider, calmer, with the same mountains and villas and far fewer crowds. Villa Porta sits right on the water, which on Lake Como would cost a great deal more.
Can we marry legally at the villa?
Yes. Villa Porta is approved by the town of Luino for legally binding civil ceremonies, held on the terrace over the lake. We handle the paperwork with the town hall.
We are only thirty guests. Is that too small?
Not on a weekday. From Monday to Wednesday the ballroom is available from twenty adults with the Epicuro tasting menu. On Saturdays the minimum is eighty.
Will there be another wedding that day?
Not in the ballroom: the Limonaia hosts one wedding a day. The relais and its restaurant keep running unless you take the whole villa.
Can our guests stay at the villa?
Yes, in around thirty rooms in the relais, usually for at least two nights in high season. Larger groups use apartments and partner hotels nearby.
How late can we party?
Until three in the morning in the ballroom, with the extra hours and security booked in advance.
How far is the airport?
Milan Malpensa is about forty minutes, Milan about an hour. Taxis are scarce on this shore, so we book every transfer ahead.
Can we take the whole villa?
Yes, from March to May and from September to December, for up to seventy-five guests in the house. Not in June, July or August.
first step
Talk to us about a date
Marina, who founded WOWITALY, answers every inquiry herself. The first video call is with Katerina, it costs nothing, and it is not a sales call. Tell us roughly how many guests and roughly when, and she will tell you what a wedding here costs, whether a weekday, a Saturday or the whole villa suits you best, and what she would change about your plan. If another lake or another villa fits you better, that is what you will hear.
Two things worth bringing to that call. Your guest count, because at Villa Porta it decides the day of the week. And whether you want to marry legally, because this is one of the rare villas where you can do it on the terrace over the water.
We will name our planning fee on that call, in full, as a figure. It is already inside every number on this page.
Prices updated October 2026 · by Katerina
