A lot of couples write to us about Tuscany and end up falling for Umbria instead. I understand why. It's right next door, with the same hills and cypresses and the same long golden evenings, but far fewer people. A destination wedding in Umbria feels a little like being let in on a secret, and you can often have an entire estate to yourselves for the weekend.

These are the things I tell couples when they ask me about it, after photographing weddings and welcome parties here.

Why Umbria?

Privacy, mostly. Many venues are old family residences, castles or whole hamlets that you book in their entirety, so nobody else is around but your guests. The landscape does the rest: olive groves, oak woods, and hill towns like Assisi, Spello, Todi and Orvieto that your guests can explore on the free day.

Then there's the food. Black truffles from Norcia, Sagrantino from Montefalco, olive oil from the hills around Trevi, Orvieto's white wines. Umbrian cooking is simple and generous, and guests talk about the dinners for years.

Where to celebrate

Country palazzi and villas. Historic residences in private parks, with lawns, fountains and very old trees. In September we photographed Hadi & Suzanne’s welcome party at Palazzo di Bagnaia, a seventeenth-century house a few miles outside Perugia. Ochre walls under the ivy, a pond full of water lilies and koi, and a lawn big enough for a whole weekend. Their friends all came in white, and Suzanne wore pale yellow feathers. It looked like a scene from La Dolce Vita, which was exactly the idea.

Castles and borghi. Medieval castles and entire hamlets restored as private resorts, usually on a hilltop. They work well for bigger weddings where everyone sleeps on site and the ceremony, dinner and party happen within the same walls. We wrote a separate guide to getting married in a castle in Italy if that's the direction you're leaning.

Abbeys and churches. This is the land of Saint Francis and Saint Benedict, and a few of the old abbeys now host weddings. One we know well is the Abbazia di San Pietro in Valle, in the Valnerina near Terni. Stone walls, a cloister, an ancient church, and woods and mountains on every side. It's very quiet and very beautiful.

When to get married in Umbria

Late May, June and September are the easy answer: long days, warm evenings, green hills. July and August get hot in the middle of the day, so we push the ceremony to late afternoon and save portraits for the last hour of light. Personally I love October. The harvest is on, the light gets softer and the nights are cool enough for a jacket. There's more on timing in our guide to the best time to get married in Italy.

Getting there

Perugia has a small international airport, but most guests fly into Rome or Florence and drive from there. It's about two hours from either city. Plenty of couples book coaches for everyone, and honestly the ride through the hills is a nice way to start the weekend.

Umbria or Tuscany?

Tuscany has more venues, more famous names and Florence, which is a great base for guests who want a bit of city. Umbria is more rural and more relaxed. It suits couples who want their guests to switch off completely. You don't really have to choose, either: Cortona and Montepulciano are just across the border, an easy day trip. Our guide to Tuscany wedding venues might help you compare.

Photographing a wedding in Umbria

What I love here is the evening light. The hills hold the sun for a long time, and the stone and ochre walls turn warm just before sunset. I build the timeline around that with the couple and their planner, so portraits happen in the best light and dinner starts as the sky goes blue. As a wedding photographer in Umbria based in Rome, I can come up the day before for the welcome dinner, or a party by the pool, and stay for the whole weekend.

If you're thinking about a destination wedding in Umbria, tell us a little about your plans. We're happy to share what we know about venues, timing and the people we like working with.