For one, good weather is almost always guaranteed. But there are other reasons why Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh have decided to tie the knot in Italy.
New Delhi: Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh are all set to tie the knot at one of the most luxurious villas in Italy.
In the backdrop will be Lake Como, which has hosted other celebrity weddings, like those of John Legend and Chrissy Teigen, Emily Blunt and John Krasinski, and the famous power couple George and Amal Clooney.
In fact, Italy has been one of Hollywood’s preferred wedding destinations for quite some time now, and Indian celebs seem to be catching on. Anushka Sharma and Virat Kohli did it. Their wedding in Tuscany last year is speculated to have cost an eye-popping Rs 100 crore.
Why this preference for Italy, though? Well, for one, good weather is almost always guaranteed. But there’s another reason why it’s a hotspot.
Perfect Instagram-worthy setting
“Close your eyes. Imagine a dream made of a shining lake, breathtaking views, green romantic forest. In the heart of a flower garden stands majestically a princely villa with endless rooms, hallways where to get lost, terraces brightened by the sunlight. Open your eyes. You are no longer in a dream. You’re in Lenno at Villa del Balbianello, on Lake Como.”
That’s how a couple on the blog Italian Lakes Weddings describes the villa that Deepika and Ranveer are about to get married in. It is one of the most sought-after destinations in Italy, because of its ‘fairytale wedding’ atmosphere.
In 2018, when most celebrities are interacting with their fans by sharing their personal lives via Instagram, aesthetic surroundings have become more important than ever. Virat and Anushka proved it when their rose-tinted wedding attire blended perfectly well with Tuscany’s countryside background, full of orange blossom trees.
Luxurious estates like Villa del Balbianello certainly add to the portrait value.
The place to fall in love
Italy has been a prime spot for romantic sequences in cinema, right from the time Audrey Hepburn rolled down the streets of Rome on a bicycle in Roman Holiday.
Even literature has helped in building this image of Italy — most of William Shakespeare’s romantic masterpieces like Romeo and Juliet are based on tales from Italy, and set there.
Also read: Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh to tie the knot on 14-15 November
Privacy
Celebrities are followed around everywhere, by either their fans or the paparazzi, and that can get bothersome when they need a day (or more) just to themselves and their families. Beside, security threats are a real concern when two famous stars come together to tie the knot.
Privacy is just one of the reasons why celebrities nowadays keep their wedding plans secret, as Deepika-Ranveer and Anushka-Virat did.
Having a destination wedding outside the country is a way to secure some privacy, and Italy’s landscapes help with that. According to Lake Como Travel, “the unique location of Villa Balbianello allows visitors to get there only by foot (walking on a 1 km footpath which starts from Via degli Artigiani) or by a taxiboat that leaves from the Lenno beach (€7.5 for the roundtrip)”.
The restricted access might cause inconvenience for Deepika and Ranveer’s guests, but the secluded location also helps in avoiding passersby and curious hangers-on.
Not so marriage-friendly for all
Even though Italy leaves no stone unturned in offering the best destination wedding spot to international celebrities, it isn’t as favourable towards its own citizens.
The country still hasn’t legalised same-sex marriage, and only legally recognised civil union between people of same sex in 2016.
So, although Doogie Howser and How I Met Your Mother star Neil Patrick Harris married his husband David Burtka and threw an intimate Italian wedding in 2014, having a wedding at all is still a fairytale for Italy’s own LGBTQ community.