Elope in a boutique hotel for micro weddings in Laglio

Inside, Villa Vittoria feels like a family house with a very good staff. The salone has terracotta-washed walls, a carved stone fireplace and crystal chandeliers. Tan leather chesterfields sit below tall arched windows hung with gold drapes. Outside, ivy and white star jasmine climb the walls and railings. Every room has its own character, from a canopy bed in one to a fireplace sitting room in the suites.

The villa dates from the 1800s, and its story is tied to the silk that made Como famous. In the second half of that century, the mulberry trees in its garden fed silkworms for the local silk trade. Later it became the summer home of a Milanese family, before opening its doors as a small hotel. Today its garden runs down to the hotel's own pier.

Laglio is a small, quiet village on the western shore, with steep wooded slopes rising straight from the lake. Across the water, the villages of the eastern shore climb their own hillsides. Laglio's church and a handful of restaurants are an easy walk along the lake. By boat, the gorge and old stone bridge at Nesso are just across the water. Villa del Balbianello and its gardens are a longer ride north.

Most guests fly into Milan Malpensa, about an hour's drive away, and our planner can arrange the transfers. The villa also has its own pier, so the lake can become part of the day. Several of our couples have stepped onto a varnished wooden boat right after the ceremony, while guests enjoy the aperitivo. The hotel runs one-hour tours in the early evening and longer charters of two to six hours.

The villa has twelve rooms and suites, enough for around two dozen guests. A lift runs up to the rooms. The Prestige Suite has its own terrace and a sitting room with an old fireplace. Some rooms have lake-view balconies. Six more lake-view rooms are in Casa Cecilia, 50 meters away up a stairway of 55 steps. With 30 guests or fewer, you don't need to book a single room.

There's a ceremony spot for every size of day. Elopements of up to eight use the jasmine gazebo or the wisteria balcony, both looking over the lake. Up to 30 guests can marry on the main terrace at 5 pm. From October to May, the wooden Piazzetta terrace is another option. With the whole villa booked, up to 70 gather in the lakeside gardens. Civil weddings here are legally binding. Eleonora, our wedding planner in Italy, assists with the paperwork and with booking the registrar.

After the vows, the aperitivo moves to La Piazzetta. It's a wooden terrace one level up, with its own bar and low wicker chairs. It's open for drinks every evening from 6 pm. Up to 30 guests can have it to themselves for a welcome toast. Expect Prosecco from Valdobbiadene, spritzes and small bites like caprese skewers and bresaola rolls. For smaller weddings the music stays soft, from a background playlist to a live string player.

Dinner happens under the lakeside pergola beside the infinity pool. It has rough stone pillars and whitewashed beams, with the water a few steps away. It takes an imperial table or round tables for up to 30, or 70 with the whole villa booked. It's fully covered, with side curtains if the wind picks up. For two, there's a candlelit table in the jasmine gazebo. The fairy lights you see in wedding photos are brought in for the day.

The villa's own kitchen cooks for weddings, the same team behind its lakeside restaurant, Le Luci del Lago. A typical wedding menu leans on northern Italy. Think risotto with scampi and citrus, fresh pasta, sea bream or beef fillet, then tiramisù or millefeuille. Wine is poured with dinner, and Moscato d'Asti comes out for the toast. There's a children's menu too. Your cake comes from a local bakery, which our planner can book for you.

How lively the evening gets depends on your guest list. With up to 30 guests, the music stays acoustic: a harpist under the jasmine, or a violinist at dinner. The pergola wraps up by 11:30 pm. Book the whole villa and a soft live band or a singer can play the aperitivo. Later, La Barrique, the wine cellar cut into the rock, becomes a private disco. There's a bar in one cave and a dance floor in the other.

A wedding here easily stretches into a long weekend. The villa hosts welcome dinners and pizza parties under the pergola, and barbecues by the lake. The morning after, there's brunch or a picnic. Guests can make fresh tagliatelle and tiramisù with the chef, or taste Italian wines in the cellar. Children can paint their own scarves in the jasmine gazebo. Ask us to add any of these to your Italian wedding package.

Staying on after the wedding is easy here. The wellness corner sits on the way down to the lake. It has a hot tub for six, a midnight-blue steam room under a starry ceiling and a massage room. The infinity pool is open from June to September, and kayaks and bikes are there to borrow. For your last night, book a candlelit dinner for two on the wisteria balcony, with lanterns and the lake below.

Thirty guests is the line that shapes a wedding here. Up to 30, you don't book the whole villa or any rooms. The hotel carries on around you, and its restaurant stays open to outside diners. Above 30, the villa and every room are yours alone. Until 7 pm the lakeside gardens are kept for hotel guests. Smaller weddings use the terraces, the gazebo and the pergola instead. Every wedding we've planned here has stayed at 30 guests or fewer.

There's a dry option for every part of the day. The pergola is fully covered, and half the main terrace sits under a permanent canopy. From October to May, the lake-view veranda with its fireplace seats up to 30. With the villa booked exclusively, the salone hosts civil, symbolic or blessing ceremonies under its crystal chandeliers. For an elopement, there's a small glass greenhouse beside the gazebo, just big enough for a candlelit dinner for two.