Tie the knot at a 5-star hotel atop medieval Ravello

The palazzo is painted a soft coral pink, which is why the Avinos call it the Pink Palace. Its walls mix pointed Gothic windows, stacked white balconies and a corbelled cornice that almost reads like a castle parapet. Inside, slender columns and interlaced white arches echo the Arab-Norman style Ravello is known for. Rooms are dressed with handmade Vietri ceramics, antique rugs and furniture from the 17th to the 19th centuries. Out on the terraces, pink-and-white striped parasols and coral cushions carry the color outdoors.

The building dates back to the 12th century, when this lane was Ravello's aristocratic quarter. Its entrance hall survives from that time. Around 1710 the Sasso family of nearby Scala bought the ruins and restored them. In 1756 Andrea Sasso added a chapel to Mary Magdalene, which is now the hotel lobby. From 1928 it ran as the Hotel Palumbo, where Ingrid Bergman and Roberto Rossellini came to dine. Eduardo De Filippo wrote one of his plays on its terraces. After nearly twenty years empty, it reopened in 1997, and three Avino sisters run it today.

Ravello sits on a ridge high above the coast, and the hotel is a short walk from Piazza Duomo. Villa Rufolo's gardens are a few minutes away on foot, and Villa Cimbrone's Terrace of Infinity is about fifteen. Right next door, the public Principessa di Piemonte gardens are planted with bougainvillea, rosemary and roses. Each summer the Ravello Festival puts orchestras on a stage over the sea at Villa Rufolo. Concerts there run from spring into October.

Between the wedding and the flight home, there's plenty to do without leaving the grounds. A 20-meter heated pool sits in the gardens, facing the sea and the mountains. Up on the roof, a solarium with an infinity hydro pool is a favorite sunset spot. The spa beside the pool has a sauna, a Turkish bath and treatment rooms. The gym sits under white gazebos in the garden. From May, a free shuttle runs down to the Clubhouse by the Sea, the hotel's beach club at Marmorata.

Naples airport is the usual way in, and Salerno's smaller airport is closer still. The last stretch climbs from the coast up to Ravello on a winding road. The hotel can arrange limousines, minibuses or even a helicopter for the airport run. Eleonora, our destination wedding planner in Italy, books your guests' transfers and lines up arrival times with the hotel. Valet parking is available on arrival, and Amalfi's ferry pier is a short drive down the hill.

The hotel has 43 rooms, ten of them suites, so a micro wedding can sleep everyone under one roof. Most look out to the sea or the mountains, and a few face the pedestrian lane. The Infinito Suite is a duplex in the tower with its own terrace and infinity pool. The Belvedere Suite sits in the gardens with a private hydro pool. The Orizzonte Suite, once the hotel library, has an antique fireplace and four sea-view balconies. Check-in is from 3 pm and check-out by noon.

You get ready in your own suite, and the hotel can book hair and make-up for you and your guests. The suites mix terracotta floors, hand-painted tiles and antique pieces. Those with sea terraces let you step outside for a portrait before the ceremony. Mist often hangs in the valley until mid-morning, which keeps the window light soft. Keely and Collin dressed in separate rooms on their wedding day. Collin first saw Keely as she came down the steps to the terrace for their vows.

Ceremonies at the hotel itself are symbolic, led by a celebrant the hotel can book or one you bring. Smaller groups say their vows on the Vimini Terrace, a ledge lined with a stone balustrade and finials. Larger ones use the Belvedere terrace, which seats up to 40 from 6:30 pm. For a legal wedding in Italy, Ravello's town hall is about 100 meters along the lane. The town also marries couples in the public gardens next door. Religious weddings take place in Ravello's cathedral or at Santa Maria a Gradillo, which also hosts Protestant and Orthodox rites.

You don't need to leave the hotel for your portraits. In the lobby, white pointed arches frame the sea through each opening. Outside, the arched stone colonnade above the pool and the striped parasols upstairs make two very different backdrops. Keely and Collin went straight from their vows to a portrait walk around the terraces and gardens. Their route took in a gazebo wrapped in climbing green. For more variety, the cloister at Villa Rufolo is only a few minutes' walk.

A private dinner here tops out at 60 guests, served in Rossellinis and out on its terraces above the coast. The hotel takes the restaurant out of public use for your party, at lunch or at dinner. Before that, the gardens make an easy place for the aperitivo while the light drops over the coast. A group of up to 15 can skip the restaurant and dine at one table on a panoramic terrace instead.

Catering is in-house, and it comes from Rossellinis, which holds a Michelin star. The kitchen cooks with Campanian produce and local seafood, and the wine list leans on regional bottles. Dinner can open with a welcome cocktail and canapés before a set menu. For an elopement, the Sommelier's Table is a candlelit dinner for two in the wine cellar. The Chef's Table seats just four in a private corner of the restaurant, which suits a couple and two guests.

The evening has two volumes here. Inside the restaurant, music stays soft, think guitar and mandolin. Outdoors, music can play through the aperitivo and dinner until 11 pm. After that, the hotel can set up a silent disco so the dancing carries on. It can also arrange fireworks. The Lobster & Martini Bar opens at 6 pm with around a hundred martinis on the menu. A pianist plays at Caffè dell'Arte, the lounge bar with Moorish arches.

A wedding here stretches easily into a long weekend. The Clubhouse by the Sea at Marmorata can host a welcome dinner for up to 60 from May to September. The day after, a private boat with a skipper can take you past the grottoes to Positano or Capri. The concierge also books cooking classes and concert tickets for Villa Rufolo. Palazzo Avino is the hotel in two of our fixed-price wedding packages for Italy. One is for an elopement and one for a micro wedding.

The hotel opens from early April to late October, and weddings follow the same season. Sea mist sometimes fills the valley below, turning the view soft and silver for photos. If it rains, ceremonies and dinners move into the hotel's inner halls. Rossellinis keeps the same rhythm, open for dinner through the season and closed from November to March.