Tenuta di Artimino Wedding in Tuscany – An Editorial Italian Celebration

Some weddings feel defined by a single aesthetic. Caitlin and Joseph’s felt more like a conversation between different sides of Italy: historic and contemporary, formal and effortless, cinematic and completely spontaneous.
For their destination wedding in Tuscany, they chose Tenuta di Artimino, a historic estate surrounded by the hills just outside Florence. The architecture, gardens and unmistakably Tuscan landscape created the backdrop, but what made the day feel particularly personal was the way they approached it: a strong sense of style, without allowing the styling to overpower the people actually living the day.
From a small church ceremony in Artimino to an open-air dinner beneath chandeliers and a late-night celebration inside the villa, the entire wedding moved naturally between tradition and something decidedly more modern.

For us, it was also exactly the kind of wedding we love photographing, where documentary moments can coexist with photographs that feel a little more editorial.

A Destination Wedding at Tenuta di Artimino
Tenuta di Artimino has something immediately impressive.
The estate sits above the Tuscan countryside, with its Renaissance architecture, long views and gardens creating a setting that feels distinctly Italian without needing much embellishment.

Rather than trying to transform the location into something else, the design worked with what was already there. White tables, delicate glassware, flowers, fruit and greenery were used with restraint, allowing the architecture and surrounding landscape to remain part of the visual story.
It created an atmosphere that felt elevated and never overly formal at the same time: sophisticated enough for an Italian destination wedding, but still relaxed enough for guests to experience Tuscany.

For couples travelling from abroad to get married in Italy, places like Artimino offer something particularly appealing: you can create an entire experience around the wedding rather than thinking only about the ceremony itself.

Getting Married in a little old Italian church
Caitlin and Joseph chose not to hold their ceremony directly inside the estate.
Instead, everyone travelled the short distance to the small Romanesque-style Pieve di San Leonardo, just outside Tenuta di Artimino, for a traditional Catholic ceremony before returning to the villa for the reception.
We loved that transition.
The stone interiors and intimate scale of the church created a completely different atmosphere from the open spaces of the estate. There was a sense of tradition to the ceremony, but the people around Caitlin and Joseph kept everything warm and personal.

Once everyone returned to Artimino, the visual language of the wedding changed completely. The architecture became brighter, the spaces opened up and the late-afternoon Tuscan light started to define the photographs.

An Editorial Take on a Tuscan Wedding
Editorial wedding photography has become a phrase used almost everywhere, but for us it does not mean turning a wedding day into a fashion shoot, It is more about knowing when to intervene.
Most of a wedding is photographed as it happens: people talking, moving, hugging, laughing, disappearing from one room and appearing in another. We want those photographs because they are the ones that will eventually bring the day back.

But when the right light, architecture or moment presents itself, we also like slowing things down for a few minutes and creating something more intentional.
Caitlin and Joseph’s wedding gave us plenty of opportunities to do exactly that.
Inside the villa, strong window light created almost monochromatic portraits of the two of them. Elsewhere, the symmetry and scale of the architecture allowed us to make much wider photographs in which the couple became only one small part of the frame.

Then there was the late-afternoon sun.

Rather than avoiding its contrast, we used it. Hard shadows, warm stone walls and direct light gave some of the portraits an almost cinematic quality that felt completely different from the soft, pastel version of Tuscany often associated with destination weddings.

A wedding gallery should not look like the same photograph repeated hundreds of times.

Wedding Portraits Around Tenuta di Artimino
We have never believed that couples need to disappear from their wedding for an hour to create meaningful portraits.
Caitlin and Joseph’s portrait session was built around a handful of locations and short moments throughout the day.

The villa itself offers an incredible variety of backgrounds: simple plaster walls, Renaissance architectural details, dark interiors, gardens and open countryside.
Instead of working through a predetermined list of poses, we looked for environments that suited them.
One of our favourite sequences happened against a warm wall as the sun was dropping lower. Caitlin stood in the light while Joseph sat beside her, with their shadows becoming almost as important to the composition as the two of them.
Elsewhere, we moved into black and white, using the darker rooms and window light to create something quieter and more timeless.
And outside, their classic car became part of the portrait session without turning the photographs into a styled shoot. The result felt polished, but still connected to the actual wedding day.

The balance between documentary photography with a more editorial eye is at the centre of how we approach destination weddings in Tuscany.

A Modern Italian Wedding Reception
Back at Tenuta di Artimino, guests moved into the gardens for the reception.
The tables were kept mostly white, while the floral arrangements by Crilufower introduced greens, fruit and small touches of colour. Grapes, lemons and plums appeared alongside flowers, giving the tables a very Italian character without relying on obvious Tuscan motifs.

As the sun started to disappear, the lighting installation by Alba Wedding Lighting completely changed the garden.
Chandeliers suspended above the tables glowed against the blue evening sky, creating one of those scenes that works beautifully both from ground level and from above.
The aerial view of dinner became one of our favourite photographs from the whole celebration: long tables, pools of warm light, guests gathered together and the Tuscan landscape slowly disappearing into dusk behind them.

It is also one of the reasons we love photographing outdoor dinners in Tuscany.
There is always a brief transition when daylight, candlelight and the surrounding landscape exist together. It does not last very long, but visually it can completely define the atmosphere of the reception.

From Golden Hour to the Dance Floor
As evening became night, the wedding shifted again.
Formal portraits and composed dinner scenes gave way to movement.
Caitlin changed into a second look for the evening, bringing an entirely different energy to the photographs, while the reception moved indoors and the DJ took over the entertainment.

This is usually the point at which we stop thinking very much about elegance.
The dancefloor needs something different.
We get closer, use flash, accept blur and allow the photographs to become less controlled. A wedding gallery needs that change in rhythm. The polished portrait outside the villa and the slightly chaotic photograph from the dance floor should belong to the same story without needing to look the same.
Caitlin and Joseph entering the party together, arms raised and surrounded by friends, felt like the perfect final chapter to a day that had begun in a completely different register.

And that, more than any particular photographic style, is what we want a full wedding gallery to do: change as the wedding changes.

Planning an Italian Villa Destination Wedding In Tuscany?

For couples who wants to get married in a Tuscan Villa, one of the greatest advantages of the property is its variety.
Within the same celebration, you can move between historic interiors, formal architecture, gardens and the surrounding Tuscan landscape. A church ceremony in the village can also introduce another visual and emotional dimension without requiring complicated travel between locations.

For destination couples, we would always suggest thinking about the wedding less as a collection of individual Pinterest references and more as one complete experience.
Consider how guests will move through the day. Think about what the landscape will look like at dinner. Think about the light, not only the decoration. And leave a little room for things that were never planned.
Those often become the photographs you end up loving most.

If you are planning a destination wedding in Tuscany, whether at Tenuta di Artimino or somewhere completely different, we would love to hear what you are imagining.

Planning your wedding in Tuscany? Get in touch with us!