The TikTok generation is all grown up, and now they’re getting married — and that’s a major headache for wedding planners.
“People are going really hard with the TikTok wedding content,” said Alyssa Pettinato, owner of the wedding event company Alinato. “People are making these crazy videos of their destination weddings and when they start trending, people see them and they send them to my team, saying, ‘I want this exact wedding.’ ”
There’s just one problem: That incredible scenery in your favorite influencer’s video . . . yeah, that’s Lake Como, Italy. And if you don’t know what or where that is, chances are you can’t afford it.
“It’s making our jobs a lot harder,” said Pettinato, noting that not only do her clients want to wed in viral destinations, they also want their own viral wedding videos.
Currently, clips made in a cute, artsy, Wes Anderson directorial style are popular, but actually producing them “takes so, so much effort,” she says.
“TikTok makes people less realistic — they don’t understand what they can afford,” she added. “People see a five second video called ‘What it’s like to get married in Positano’ and they see the landscape and they see people eating pasta at the wedding and they go ‘Yes, oh my God, sign me up!’ But they have no idea how much it costs. I literally talked to a couple yesterday about hiring me for their destination wedding in Italy and I had to break their hearts. Like, you can’t afford the Amalfi Coast.”
But, never fear phone-addicts: There’s a way to have your cake and eat it too. While prime destinations “as seen on TikTok” might not be realistic for most, there are plenty of stunning alternatives, often relatively close by to their celebrity neighbors.
Smart in Sicily
Season 2 of “White Lotus” made Sicily one of the most in-demand wedding destinations in Europe. The show featured the Four Seasons at the 14th-century San Domenico Palace in Taormina, on the sunny isle’s northern coast. Unless your dad is on the Forbes list, it’s safe to assume this isn’t for you.
Instead, head to the Le Calette Hotel in Cefalu, a picturesque town on the crystal-clear Mediterannean less that an hour drive from Palermo. This all-inclusive venue also offers stunning nuptial experiences certain to cause a buzz among your online circle. Pull up to your occasion in a 1962 Jaguar, or better yet, arrive by boat. Recite your vows among a grove of olive trees. Better still, the hotel’s chef will create a menu of local food and wine that will be as pretty as it tastes.
All-in, a wedding here for 50 people will set you back just $20,000.
Cabo cool
Mexico remains one of America’s favorite spots to get hitched and there’s no shortage of glamourous TikToks to prove it. One oft-showcased venue is Auberge Resort’s Esperanza Resort, which has the only private beach in Los Cabos. But exclusivity costs, with an average wedding here coming in around $100,000 for 50 or so friends and family, according to planners.
For just $25,000 you can have the same amount of people celebrate at Flora Farms, about 40 minutes up the coast. As the name implies, there is a farm, as well as an herb garden amphitheater and a lakeside lawn, which all make for stunning celebration backdrops.
Should the weather turn, or if you just want a change of scenery, there’s also a barn in their mango grove equipped with a private kitchen and bathroom facilities. Since this is Mexico, many couples like to get into the theme with personalized maracas, mariachi and enough tequila to tickle everyone’s fancy. ¡Ay, caramba!
Villa virtues
One of TikTok’s most viral venues is Villa Balbiano in Lake Como (featured in Lady Gaga and Adam Driver’s “House of Gucci”). The onsite rental fee alone on that 16th-century palazzo, which once belonged to the Cardinal Tolomeo Gallio, will set you back around $100,000.
But if rustic Italian chic is what you are after, head to the 10-room Villa Della Torre in fair Verona instead, where a wedding for 150 will cost about a third of the price of Villa Balbiano. Built between 1440 and 1562 and designed by a pupil of Raphael, it’s famous for its grotesque “zoomorphic” fireplaces in the shapes of an open-mouthed sea monster, devil and lion.
Other perks: a hall of mirrors added during an 18th-century renovation, a fish pond and formal gardens, a “Nymphaeum” or “cave of mysteries” — essentially a grotto — and a cute-as-a-button recently renovated wedding chapel designed by renowned 16th-century architect Michele Sanmicheli.
If all of that doesn’t make your wedding trend, we don’t know what will. Better still, the villa is on the site of the famed Allegrini vineyard, which means keeping your guests loosey goosey late into the evening is easy peasy.
France-y free
We’ve all drooled over the blue waters, stately hotels and A-list names that buzz across the Cote d’Azur. One of the French Riviera’s most famous venues is the impossible-to-book-in-the-summer Hôtel du Cap-Eden-Roc in Antibes. Planners say a wedding here typically sets lovebirds back some $220,000.
But a château wedding doesn’t have to smart. Just 25 minutes from the international airport in Carcassonne (south of Toulouse), is Château Saint Joseph (not to be confused with the AOC in northern Rhone). Nestled in the countryside, this historic residence, built in 1879, is dripping with French flavor: Haussmann-style architecture, pink stone, slate roof, herringbone parquet floors, molded ceilings and pendant chandeliers.
It can accommodate up to 70 people on site and offers extra alternative sleeping options if necessary. And since we are in the South of France, expect incredible food — the venue works with a twice Michelin-starred chef who will plan your custom menu with you.
Better still, the owners (who live on site), Delphine and Frederic, will help plan every aspect of your day. But, we saved the best for last: Prices start at $27,000.
