Yes, Italy has more art and culture than one could ever possibly soak in, and cultural festivals that could form colorful backdrops to a wedding celebration: Venice's Carnivale, Sicily's Holy Week festivities, and Abruzzo's Festival of Snakes. History, culture and cuisine add up to la dolce vita, and the sweet life in Italy has many distinct flavors: the rugged coast of Sorrento with its smell of lemon blossoms, Venice's mysterious stateliness, the cosmopolitan jet-set tone of Rome, and languid fields of grapes, olives and lavender in Tuscany.

From castles to country inns, resorts and centuries-old hotels and monasteries, to a sleek modern hotel and spa in Rome's fashion district, Italy has more than its share of wonderful wedding locations from which to choose.

Its climate, soil and very old traditions of viticulture make Italy a natural wine growing nation. The wines are as personal as a name, as different as the colors of the rainbow and as much a part of Italian life as almost 3,000 years of tradition can make them. The Etruscans of North-Central Italy, who created one of the peninsula's earliest civilizations, left evidence of how to make wine. The Greeks who soon after established themselves in the South gave Italy the name Enotria(the land of wine).For centuries wine growing has been the cultivation which used most of the labor of the Italian farmers; this is still true today; a large part of the population is engaged in the vine and wine industry.

Other Italian drinks include aperitifs, blended principally over a base of the world-famous Piedmont Vermouth dessert wines, such as Moscato Marsala and Malvasia from Sicily and sparkling wines from Piedmont, Veneto, Tuscany and the Islands. Italy also has excellent beers and a great variety of effervescent mineral waters.