A few years ago, when I started my own event planning brand Merry Le Marche, a couple from New York contacted me asking for my help in planning and coordinating their wedding at Palazzo Mannocchi, in the small town of Petritoli, in the southern province of Fermo. Then, just a few weeks later, another couple contacted me, this time from Sydney Australia. A month after that, a couple from Los Angeles sent me the same request, so I knew that something was going on in this village. I ended up managing all three events that year and a few more in the years following, involving many trips to Petritoli, which got me well acquainted with Le Marche’s most talked about wedding town and the fascinating story of how, thanks to an unusual wedding venue, its local economy boomed and the whole wedding phenomenon started.
The legend says that the owners of the Palazzo originally came into town to buy a car but ended up purchasing a huge palazzo in the old town instead. The couple renovated the Palazzo and even equipped it with a professional kitchen, a private bar and two swimming pools and decided from day one that Palazzo Mannocchi would not be run as a hotel, but guests would hire the whole place as it were a big family home. The Palazzo can host up to 80 people so it immediately appeals to large parties looking to accommodate all their guests in one place and, thanks to the Palazzo’s much lower-than-Tuscany rates, this formula proved to be a success. Couples started noticing the venue online, especially on former HomeAway (currently called VRBO) and year after year the reviews on the website grew, encouraging more and more couples to book for their special day, even without ever having visited. This was over 10 years ago and Palazzo Mannocchi has since hosted hundreds of events from spring to autumn, often without a break. All this in collaboration with the local authorities, who definitely understood that this industry was a goldmine and it would help boost the local economy greatly, which indeed it did .
Let’s be honest though, although this town is charming, there are prettier villages in Le Marche. The real added bonus here is the possibility for couples and their guests to stay in town and experience the charms of living the small town life for a few days, especially not a well known village but a very small one, located in region perhaps only recently visible at an international level. While staying at Palazzo Mannocchi, couples and their guests can pop down to the local cafe for a cappuccino or a gelato instead of being gated in a very luxurious, but sterile accommodation and, most importantly, have the opportunity to mix with the very welcoming locals – they are perhaps the real asset of Petritoli. Having worked in town for a few years I know quite a few of the locals and have listened to their views on the current situation. I can tell that they are (almost) always happy. Of course, this wedding machine is understandably annoying to some who see it as a soulless funfair for tourists, but it is undeniable that has put the village on the map, and provided the most businesswise among them with good opportunities. If you consider that hundreds and hundreds of foreigners flock to town for weddings each summer, you can definitely make things happen for yourselves if you have a good idea (or not even that good, for the matter). Becoming used to seeing old villages slowly dying and young people leaving them to find work in larger cities, it was refreshing for me to notice that every time I came to town, a new small business had opened its doors and that young people, and quite a few expats were doing quite well out of this wedding machine. Over the years, I have seen new B&Bs, art galleries, estate agents, wine bars and more, sprout from nowhere, and that gives hope to more villages, many of which, could draw inspiration from the Petritoli phenomenon.
Some of my favourite pit-stops in town are Dacci Un Taglio, a hairdresser’s run by two very young brothers and I never miss an aperitivo at the Bar Tre Archi where Gabriele, Tiziano and the rest of the family provide excellent drinks, ice-cream and politeness. A very hip place just outside of the town walls is called Cantina Antisociale where you can have great wine and bites whilst pretending you are in the trendy, arty district of a larger city. Amongst the oldest businesses in town, there is the old tabaccaio at the end of Via Mannocchi Tornabuoni where the owner hangs greeting signs in different languages in honour of the newlyweds of the day. My favourite spot of them all though is the Antica Stamperia Fabiani run by my dear friend Giancarlo. This is a truly charming place set in the most picturesque staircase with a view of the village and one of Petritoli’s finest landmarks: here Giancarlo’s family has run a printing business for generations and it is here he keeps historic and one-of-a-kind printing machines. Giancarlo used to be a local politician who worked at the town hall and, before retiring, he did actually wed a lot of foreign couples himself. He would ask each of them to bring a scarf of their favourite team as a gift, and they did. When you visit the Stamperia, ask him to take you into his office where he keeps all of those scarves: you will get an idea of how many couples he married! He also runs a charity organising free art/printing activities for children. On more than one occasion he has printed vintage style posters of Petritoli with the names of my brides and grooms on them, and he is always eager to tell the village’s story to whoever passes by. To me, he is the heart and soul of Petritoli, so if you are ever in town, drop by and say hello… and possibly book a table at Osteria Delle Cornacchie right opposite Giancarlo’s, to make memories that will stick in your mind like ink to paper.
The wedding in the photos was made possible thanks to a great team:
PLANNING & DESIGN: Merry Le Marche – PHOTOGRAPHY: Giacomo Terracciano Studio – VIDEOGRAPHY: Sergio Minnici Films – FLORAL DESIGN: Nina e i Fiori – VENUE: Palazzo Mannocchi – BAND: Il Diavolo e l’Acquasanta – DJ – Roxy Rose Wedding – BRIDAL HMUA: Annemette Santa – STATIONERY & TABLEAU DU MARIAGE: Rosso Cuore
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