An Intimate Elopement at Borgo San Felice in Tuscany: Emily & Sergio
There is something incredibly special about an elopement in Tuscany.
No big guest list. No pressure to entertain a hundred people. No feeling that you have to follow a wedding format simply because “that’s how weddings are done.” Instead, you get to strip everything back to what the day is really about: the two of you, your story and the experience of getting married in Italy. And Emily and Sergio's elopement at Borgo San Felice in Tuscany was the perfect example of exactly that.
I had the privilege of being both their elopement planner and symbolic wedding officiant, which meant I got to help create their day behind the scenes and then stand with them during one of its most meaningful moments: their ceremony. And this particular ceremony felt especially right in Italy.
Because, wonderfully, Italy had been part of their love story from the very beginning.
A Love Story That Somehow Always Led Back to Italy
Emily and Sergio originally met online.
Sergio noticed photographs from one of Emily's previous trips to Italy and, in a wonderfully spontaneous move, decided to book himself a solo Italian adventure. They arranged to meet for drinks before he left so Emily could give him her recommendations: what to see, where to go and, very importantly, which wine tour to book. Sergio even ended up booking the same wine tour she had taken. So technically he travelled to Italy alone, but Emily was already influencing the itinerary. That first date became the beginning of their relationship.
Years later, they found themselves back in Italy together — this time not at the beginning of their story, but to get married.
I couldn't have written a better full-circle moment if I'd tried.
Why Choose an Elopement in Tuscany?
I plan large destination weddings across Tuscany and Umbria, and I absolutely love them. But there is a completely different kind of magic to planning an elopement.
An elopement doesn't have to mean running away in secret or having a wedding that feels somehow “less than.” Quite the opposite. A luxury elopement in Italy can be incredibly intentional. When there are only two of you — or perhaps a very small number of people you genuinely want beside you — you can put your budget and energy into the experience itself. A beautiful hotel. An extraordinary meal. Photography. Flowers. Hair and makeup. A private transfer. A meaningful ceremony. A wonderful bottle of wine. And, perhaps most importantly, time.
Time to get ready without rushing. Time to enjoy the place you've travelled all this way to experience. Time for photographs without disappearing from a reception full of guests. Time to sit together afterwards and realise: We just got married in Tuscany. That's quite a lovely sentence, isn't it?
Getting Married at Borgo San Felice
For Emily and Sergio, that setting was Borgo San Felice, in the countryside of Castelnuovo Berardenga, close to Siena. Borgo San Felice is particularly interesting for couples searching for a luxury wedding venue in Tuscany because it isn't a purpose-built event venue. It is an historic Tuscan hamlet surrounded by the vineyards, olive groves and countryside of Chianti Classico.
The resort combines the atmosphere of an old Tuscan village with the service of a luxury property, including beautiful accommodation, restaurants, wine experiences and The Botanic Spa. For larger destination weddings, the Borgo can also become a multi-day experience where guests stay, dine and celebrate in the same place. But what I particularly love is that a property of this calibre can feel equally special when the celebration is intimate. With an elopement, you begin to notice the smaller things. The stone buildings. The vineyards. The silence of the countryside. The light changing during the afternoon. The feeling of walking through a Tuscan borgo with nowhere else you need to be.
Luxury doesn't always need to mean more.
Sometimes luxury is simply having an extraordinary place — and the time to enjoy it.
Planning an Elopement in Tuscany Is Still Planning a Wedding
This is probably one of the biggest misconceptions I see as an elopement planner in Tuscany. “We're only eloping, so surely there isn't much to organise?”
Well...Yes and no. You don't have seating charts for 100 people, which I promise is already a considerable life improvement. But the details still matter.
Where will the ceremony happen? Is the location private? What happens if it rains? What time gives you the best light? Who is arranging the bouquet and boutonnière? When should hair and makeup begin? Where does the photographer meet you? Will you have music? Where will you celebrate afterwards? Do you need transport? And, importantly, is your ceremony legal or symbolic?
The beauty of working with an elopement wedding planner in Italy is that you don't need to figure all of that out from another country. My role is to take care of the practical pieces so that, on the day, the experience feels effortless.
Emily and Sergio summed that up rather perfectly afterwards:
“Dash and her entire team made our elopement a breeze. Our only responsibility was to be present at our own elopement. I cannot speak highly enough of Dash and her team.”
And frankly, “our only responsibility was to be present” is exactly how I want an elopement to feel.
A Personal Wedding Ceremony in Tuscany
I also had the pleasure of being Emily and Sergio's symbolic wedding officiant. For me, this is one of the loveliest parts of intimate weddings.
When I'm creating a symbolic ceremony in Tuscany, Umbria or elsewhere in Italy, I don't want it to sound as though I've simply changed the names on a standard script. The ceremony should sound like you. For Emily and Sergio, that meant talking about how Italy unexpectedly played a role in bringing them together, but also about the much quieter things that make their relationship theirs.
Sergio cooking dinner before Emily comes home from work.
Emily telling him about her day.
Their evenings on the sofa with Charlie, their dog.
Holding hands.
Supporting each other's ideas.
Travelling together.
And Sergio becoming so nervous during his proposal that he briefly forgot the rather essential part where he actually had to ask Emily to marry him.
Those are the details I want in a ceremony. Because a beautiful backdrop is wonderful — and Tuscany gives us plenty of those — but a beautiful setting shouldn't be the most personal part of your wedding ceremony. Your story should be.
Do You Need an Officiant for an Elopement in Italy?
If you're considering an elopement in Tuscany, Umbria or another part of Italy, one of the first things to understand is the difference between a legal civil wedding and a symbolic ceremony. A symbolic ceremony gives you enormous freedom. You can make it romantic, funny, emotional, short, deeply personal or a mixture of all of those things. You can exchange personal vows, include readings and tell your story without being tied to the wording of a legal ceremony. For international couples in particular, this can be a wonderful option: some couples complete the legal marriage requirements separately and then treat their Italian ceremony as the emotional heart of their wedding experience.
As a wedding celebrant and symbolic officiant in Tuscany and Umbria, my approach is to get to know you first and then write the ceremony around your relationship — not the other way around. And yes, there can absolutely be laughter. A wedding ceremony is allowed to feel like the people actually getting married.
Tuscany or Umbria for an Italian Elopement?
Tuscany understandably gets enormous attention from couples planning a destination wedding in Italy. The vineyards, cypress trees, medieval villages, Renaissance cities and countryside around Siena and Florence make it extraordinary.
But if you're searching for an elopement venue in Italy, I would also keep neighbouring Umbria on your list.
Both regions offer historic estates, castles, villas, country houses and beautiful landscapes, but every property creates a slightly different experience- This is where choosing a venue based only on photographs can be tricky. For an elopement especially, I look at the whole experience: privacy, accommodation, ceremony possibilities, food, photography locations, logistics, season, light and what you actually want the day to feel like. The “best” venue isn't automatically the most famous one. It's the one that makes sense for you.
Considering Borgo San Felice for Your Wedding or Elopement?
If Borgo San Felice is already on your shortlist, it is worth looking beyond the ceremony photographs and thinking about the stay as a whole. The resort sits in the heart of Chianti Classico and combines accommodation with wine, dining and wellness experiences. For larger celebrations, Borgo San Felice says the historic hamlet can host up to 130 guests across its rooms and independent villas, making it suitable not only for intimate weddings but also for multi-day destination celebrations.
For an elopement or very intimate wedding, however, I think its greatest strength is slightly different. You don't have to create “Tuscany” around you. You're already in it.
And that allows the wedding day to feel less like an event you're constantly moving through and more like an experience you're actually living.
My Tip if You're Planning an Elopement in Tuscany
Don't plan your elopement as though it is simply a smaller version of a traditional wedding. Start from the opposite direction.
Ask yourselves: If nobody else had an opinion about our wedding day, how would we genuinely want to spend it?
Maybe you want a slow morning and breakfast together.
Maybe you don't want to see each other until the ceremony.
Maybe you want to exchange vows in the vineyards, have photographs at sunset and then disappear for an incredible dinner.
Maybe you want a vintage car, a private wine tasting or a picnic.
Or maybe you want almost nothing scheduled at all.
Once you know how you want the day to feel, then choose the venue, officiant, photographer, flowers, food and experiences around that. An elopement gives you an enormous amount of freedom. Use it. And if your dream is to arrive in Italy and have your only real responsibility be to show up, be present and get married, that's exactly where a good elopement planner comes in.
Planning an Elopement or Intimate Wedding in Italy?
I plan and officiate elopements, intimate weddings and destination weddings throughout Tuscany and Umbria, helping international couples with everything from finding the right venue and trusted local vendors to logistics, styling and creating a personal symbolic ceremony. Whether you're dreaming about Borgo San Felice, a private Tuscan villa, a countryside estate in Umbria, or you haven't found the right place yet, we can start with the experience you want and build from there.
And if you'd like to hear what the experience was like from Emily herself, you can read her review of The Wedding Knot by Dashiell on Google here:
Sometimes the smallest weddings leave room for the biggest memories.