Torre di Pila Wedding Videographer: Kayla & Chay’s Destination Wedding in Umbria

Torre di Pila

Torre di Pila: a villa and its gardens near Perugia

Torre di Pila is a historic villa crowned by a small tower and surrounded by an Italian garden of clipped box hedges, umbrella pines and statues. Its most beautiful corner is a green garden theater framed by arches of hedges, where Kayla & Chay said their vows, and a monumental double staircase leads from the villa down to the gardens. It is the kind of place where every few steps offers a new frame for a film.

The ceremony in the garden theater

Kayla came down the double staircase and walked through the garden to Chay, who was waiting under the green arches. We recorded the vows with dedicated microphones and filmed the whole garden from above, then followed the two of them through a shower of petals at the foot of the staircase, surrounded by their guests.

Dinner under the pines, and a party in the villa

Dinner was served at long tables in front of the villa, with candles, white flowers and patterned plates, while the facade lit up as the evening fell. After the cake under the string lights, the party moved inside, into the gilded halls of the villa, and carried on late into the night.

Why Umbria for a destination wedding

Umbria offers much of what couples love about Tuscany, with fewer crowds: medieval hill towns, castles and villas you can book for the whole weekend, excellent food and wine, and prices that are often gentler. Rome Fiumicino airport is about two and a half hours away by car and Florence about two, and Perugia has a small airport with seasonal flights.

Perugia, Assisi, Todi, Orvieto and Lake Trasimeno

Perugia, the regional capital, with its medieval center and villas in the surrounding hills. Assisi, the town of Saint Francis, whose basilica is a UNESCO World Heritage site. Todi, a hilltop town around a beautiful medieval square. Orvieto, with its cathedral on a cliff of volcanic rock. Spoleto, home of the summer Festival dei Due Mondi, and Montefalco, the land of Sagrantino wine. And Lake Trasimeno, the fourth largest lake in Italy, with its islands and lakeside villages.

How we film a wedding in Umbria

In summer the valleys are hot, so we plan the ceremony and the portraits for the late afternoon. Historic centers are limited traffic zones with steep lanes and stairs, so we plan every move between church, villa and dinner in advance. Drone flights need authorizations, and the rules are strict near the airport of Perugia and over historic centers. And we always work as one team with the photographers, so the film and the photographs tell the same story.