A 15th-century villa in a centuries-old park, with Florence's domes below the garden. Fifteen minutes from the city, seven rooms for the people closest to you.Prices updated October 2026 · by Marina
A fifteenth-century villa in a centuries-old park, with Florence spread out below the garden. Fifteen minutes from the Duomo, seven rooms for the people closest to you, and at its best between twenty and seventy guests.
Most Tuscan villas ask your guests to give up a day to country roads. Le Fontanelle gives you the old trees, the pergola and the chapel of a real Tuscan villa on the edge of the city, which means your guests can spend the morning at the Uffizi, the afternoon by the pool, and still be in the garden for the ceremony at five.
It is also the gentlest way into Florence for a wedding budget. A weekday in April here costs about a quarter less than a Saturday in June, with the garden in flower and the city still quiet.
at a glance
At a glance
20guests at the least
140and not one more
Budget level: €60,000 to €150,000budget level
Where
Via di Careggi 26, on the hill of Careggi, Florence
Florence centre and airport
About 15 minutes each
Pisa and Bologna airports
About an hour
Landscape
Centuries-old park, Italian garden, pergola, views over Florence
Format
Wedding day on weekdays, or three nights with the whole villa from Friday to Sunday
Best at
20 to 70 guests
Dinner indoors
Up to 70
Dinner in the garden
Up to 140, with a marquee as the rain plan above 70
Sleeping on site
14 guests in 7 rooms, breakfast included
Pool
Seasonal
Ceremony
Symbolic in the garden or by the chapel. Civil at a town hall in Florence
Kitchen
The villa's own restaurant up to 60 guests, two Florentine caterers beyond
Music
Outdoors until 10:30 pm, then indoors until 1 am
Venue hours
3 pm to 1 am
the villa
The villa
Villa Le Fontanelle stands on the hill of Careggi, just north of Florence, in a park that has been growing for centuries. The house dates from the fifteenth century and is today a small four-star hotel, still lived in by the families who own it. Its restaurant, Citrarium, is set in the old lemon houses and looks straight over the city.
Getting there. The centre of Florence and Florence airport are both about fifteen minutes away. Pisa and Bologna airports are about an hour, which opens up many more direct flights from abroad. Your guests can stay in the city and be driven up the hill in minutes.
rooms
The rooms
Seven rooms for fourteen guests, with breakfast every morning. On a weekday you can book the villa for the day only, or add all seven rooms for one, two or three nights. From Friday to Sunday the villa always comes with all seven rooms for three nights.
Who we put where. The couple and both sets of parents take the rooms, because getting ready and the first photographs happen in the villa and nobody should cross the city in a dress. Everyone else stays in Florence, fifteen minutes away, and we run the shuttles both ways.
the days
The day
The venue is yours from 3 pm. Hair and makeup in the villa in the early afternoon. The ceremony in the Italian garden at five, under the gazebo by the chapel, or near the old fortress walls. Aperitivo under the pergola and in the winter garden, with Florence below. Dinner in the garden on a warm evening, or in the salon and ballroom inside. At 10:30 pm the music moves indoors, and the party carries on until 1 am.
If you take the villa for the weekend, the evening before is a dinner at Citrarium for the people staying on site, and the day after is a long lunch by the pool before everyone goes back down the hill.
In between there is Florence itself, with a guide who knows which rooms of the Uffizi to see before the crowds, wine estates in the Chianti and Rufina hills, and Fiesole on the next hill. We plan and book all of it.
ceremony
The ceremony, and what Italy requires
Symbolic, at the villa. In the Italian garden, under the gazebo by the chapel or near the fortress walls. A symbolic ceremony carries no legal weight, so most couples sign at home before or after.
Civil, in Florence. If you want to be legally married in Italy, the civil ceremony takes place at a town hall in Florence, and you come up the hill to celebrate. We prepare the Nulla Osta, the translations and the apostilles, book the hall and bring the interpreter the law requires, and we add it for €3,500 including VAT, plus the town hall fee.
season
Season, weather and the rain plan
The villa's prices follow two seasons: November to April, and May to October. April is the quiet secret here, with the garden in flower, Florence before the summer crowds and a budget about a quarter lower than a June Saturday. July and August are hot in the city, so we plan the ceremony late and dinner at sunset.
If it rains, up to seventy guests move into the salon. Above seventy, a marquee in the garden is required as the rain plan, and in winter for any group of that size. The villa's restaurant can also be booked as a rain plan. We show both as their own lines in your budget, because a rain plan you cannot see is a rain plan nobody makes.
table and music
The table, the wine and the night
Up to sixty guests, the kitchen is the villa's own restaurant, Citrarium. For larger weddings the villa works with two Florentine caterers it trusts, Roland's and Galateo Ricevimenti. Food and wine come only from them, and we go through every proposal with you and tell you which dishes travel well to a garden in summer.
Outdoor music ends at 10:30 pm, which is the villa's rule, and the party moves into the salon until 1 am. We design the evening with that move built in from the start.
Decor, flowers, music and lighting are not part of the villa's package, which is good news: they are chosen by you and designed by us, not taken from a catalogue.
budget
What your budget looks like
Budget level: €60,000 to €150,000
●●○ €70,000 to €135,000 for a full wedding at Villa Le Fontanelle, from a weekday for thirty guests to a three-night weekend for seventy.
Your wedding
30 guests
50 guests
Weekday, November to April
from €70,000
from €79,000
Weekday, May to October
from €75,000
from €84,000
Weekday with all seven rooms for the night, May to October
from €78,000
from €87,000
Saturday with three nights in the villa, November to April
from €80,000
from €89,000
Saturday with three nights in the villa, May to October
from €92,000
from €101,000
Three-day wedding weekend, May to October
from €102,000
from €116,000
Here the season and the day of the week move the figure more than the guest list does, and on the first call we will tell you which line of the table fits your wedding.
What the number covers
Planning, design and coordination from the first call to the last transfer, with two coordinators on the wedding day
The villa and its garden from 3 pm to 1 am, and the rooms where your format includes them
Dinner with wine, the open bar and the wedding cake
Symbolic ceremony at the villa
Photographer, film, flowers and decor, hair and makeup, DJ and live music, lighting
Transfers and every Italian tax and fee, stated from the start
What it does not cover
Flights, what you wear, the rings, the rain marquee, the civil ceremony in Florence, and the extras that are genuinely optional.
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
The right villa is the one whose limits you know before you sign. These are ours for Le Fontanelle.
01
We would not sell it as a private estate.
It is a family home as well as a hotel: the owners' families live on the grounds and share the garden and the pool, and there are dogs. The wedding spaces are yours, but the whole estate is not.
02
We would not plan a hundred guests without the marquee.
The salon holds seventy. Above that, the rain plan is a marquee, and it has to be decided well ahead.
03
We would not keep the music outside after 10:30.
That is the villa's rule, and fighting it ruins the end of the evening.
04
We would not promise a legal ceremony at the villa.
The civil ceremony is at a town hall in Florence.
05
We would not book a Saturday expecting one night.
From Friday to Sunday the villa is sold only with all seven rooms for three nights.
our part
What we carry
The villa gives you the garden, the rooms and the kitchen. Everything that turns it into your wedding sits outside that, and it sits in Italian.
The paperwork. Nulla Osta, translations, apostilles, the town hall in Florence and the interpreter.
The kitchen. The villa's restaurant or one of its two caterers, compared line by line and chosen with you.
The design. Flowers, lighting and decor, none of which the villa provides, designed for your wedding rather than taken from a catalogue.
The guests beyond fourteen. Hotels in Florence chosen for your guests, and every shuttle up and down the hill.
The money. One budget with every Italian tax and fee in it from the start, and one payment schedule.
The day itself. Two coordinators, so you and your parents are guests at your own wedding.
We take a limited number of weddings each season. That is not a sales line, it is a small team and a calendar.
How much does a wedding at Villa Le Fontanelle cost?
From €70,000 for thirty guests on a weekday between November and April, and from €92,000 for a Saturday with three nights in the villa in summer, including the villa, the food, every supplier, Italian taxes and our work.
How far is it from Florence?
About fifteen minutes from the historic centre, and fifteen minutes from Florence airport.
How many guests can it hold?
Seventy for dinner indoors. Up to one hundred and forty in the garden, with a marquee as the rain plan.
Can our guests stay at the villa?
Seven rooms for fourteen guests, breakfast included. The rest stay in Florence and we run the shuttles.
Can we get married on a Saturday?
Yes. From Friday to Sunday the villa is booked with all seven rooms for three nights.
Can we marry legally here?
The ceremony at the villa is symbolic. We arrange the civil ceremony at a town hall in Florence.
Can we bring our own caterer or wine?
No. Food and drinks come from the villa's restaurant or its two partner caterers.
How late can the party go?
The villa is yours until 1 am. Outdoor music ends at 10:30 pm, then the party continues inside.
Is the villa private?
The wedding spaces are yours, but the owners' families live on the estate and share the garden and the pool.
When should we marry here?
April and May for the garden and the budget, September and October for the light. July and August work with a late ceremony.
Why not just book the villa ourselves?
You can. The villa gives you the garden, the rooms and the kitchen. The paperwork, the design, the hotels and shuttles, the rain plan, the budget and the day itself are the rest of the wedding, and they happen in Italian.
first step
Let's see whether it is yours
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 the dates you are holding, how many people you want around you and whether you would like the rooms. That tells us which version of Le Fontanelle fits you.
We will check the villa's calendar for your dates and set up a call. On it you get our honest read on whether Le Fontanelle is the right villa for your wedding, real numbers for your date, and, if it is not the right one, the two or three that are.
Prices updated October 2026 · by Marina
