If you’ve frolicked with me—or, actually, simply spent 30 seconds in my presence—in the previous two years, likelihood is you’ve needed to hearken to me blab about my wedding ceremony in Tuscany. The occasion is all I’ve been ready to consider since we booked a date and venue (October 18, 2025, at a villa in just a little city referred to as Certaldo, in the event you have been curious), and now that it’s over, I nonetheless don’t have any plans of stopping. Which is why I’m right here to inform you all concerning the unbelievable Airbnb my household and I stayed at in Florence through the three days we spent there earlier than hitting the highway for our nuptials.
My now-husband and I had visited Florence a few instances previous to this journey, so we knew it could be difficult to discover a property massive sufficient to accommodate my household of six in the compact metropolis heart. But being inside strolling distance of all of the vacationer sights was vital to me, as a result of this was everybody else’s first time experiencing town, so I began scouring Airbnb listings for the proper place in late 2024. I wished to get the choose of the litter and discover a spot worthy of such a monumental event—you solely get one pre-wedding household getaway, in spite of everything. A few fairly flats have been in the working at first, however as soon as I noticed Luxury Blue River, a three-bedroom, three-bathroom house fairly actually overlooking the Ponte Vecchio, I knew I had discovered the one.
When we lastly arrived after months and months of anticipation, I used to be glad that I had put a hoop on it and booked it once I did. My brother and his girlfriend arrived first and obtained the keys and a tour from the property supervisor, so my husband and I have been in a position to go proper as much as the house once we bought to city. After hopping out of the elevator, which was tiny however a sport changer contemplating what number of overstuffed suitcases we got here with, we entered the entrance door, regarded to our proper, and have been greeted by one of the vital magnificent views I’ve ever seen. From large, exceptionally clear home windows, the Ponte Vecchio (Florence’s emblematic stone bridge constructed in 1345 throughout the Arno) and the Uffizi Gallery (a Sixteenth-century Medici property turned iconic artwork museum) stared again at us, so shut I felt like I may attain out and poke the historic landmarks if I attempted exhausting sufficient.
The house may have been a shack and we’d have been thrilled to remain there with that view, however the full-size kitchen, three plush bedrooms, massive dwelling house with comfortable seating, and walk-in laundry room have been all a cherry on high. The property was ideally suited for a gaggle of three {couples}, like us, as a result of the bedrooms have been pretty equal in measurement. My husband and I took the principle suite—we deserved it, we determined—which had essentially the most sq. footage, an ultra-modern en suite rest room, and a wardrobe massive sufficient to suit all my bridal looks. The different two bedrooms have been comparable in design however barely smaller, and whereas they didn’t have en suites, there have been two different loos in the house (three whole), so every couple laid declare to their very own toilet. I’ll observe that whereas two of the bedrooms had comfy mattresses, the mattress in the center room appeared to fold inward barely—simply one thing to maintain in thoughts in the event you’re a selected sleeper.
Over the course of three days, my household and I noticed a lot of Florence, we now really feel like consultants. I’ll take among the credit score for that, as a result of the Airbnb I so thoughtfully chosen was in the perfect location to stroll to each hotspot, simply as I had deliberate. Palazzo Vecchio? Seven-minute stroll. Boboli Gardens? Eleven minute stroll. The Duomo? Thirteen minute stroll. A sundown stroll throughout the Ponte Veccio? Literally simply stroll out the door. If you need to benefit from a visit to La Bella Firenze, contemplate this the proper house base for proximity alone.
But what made this property actually particular, particularly throughout such a particular time in my life, was the lounge with the breathtaking view. When we weren’t out exploring town or sleeping soundly, my household and I have been couched in that central gathering house, home windows cracked ajar for successful of the early October breeze, marveling on the boats passing by on the Arno, throngs of vacationers heading towards the Uffizi Gallery, and the historic store home windows dotting the oldest bridge in Florence. We invited family and friends who have been in city for the marriage upstairs to marvel with us a couple of instances, and I even did my hair trial in entrance of these wonderful home windows. While simply an Airbnb to some, that house turned a gathering place for family members and the backdrop to so many core recollections made in the times main as much as our “I do’s.” I’d like to deliver the entire squad again there at some point—perhaps for an anniversary, and positively with a much less white-outfit-filled suitcases.