ROME (Reuters) – The Roman villa is booked, the guests are invited and their hotel rooms reserved. The gown is purchased and deposits for the honeymoon in Africa are paid.
An Asian couple walks past a monument at Rome’s Gianicolo Hill, Italy August 1, 2019. REUTERS/Philip Pullella
Now Dan Salganik, a partner at a digital marketing agency in Chicago, is not so sure he is still going to get married in Italy in June.
He didn’t get cold feet. But an uninvited guest – the coronavirus – has thrown cold water on his best laid plans and those of many other couples around the world.
“I am probably at that point where I have to start re-thinking things,” he said.
Seaside towns, rolling countryside, frescoed palazzos and churches oozing art and history have made Italy one of the world’s top destinations for weddings.
But the coronavirus crisis has hit Italy hardest in Europe and extended beyond its shores, hurting the hospitality and tourism industries at home as well as the wedding planning industry from Milan to Minnesota.
Melanee Shale and Raphe Wolfgang, both from Los Angeles, were supposed to have their wedding feast at a winery in the Umbrian town of Orvieto on April 18. The virus forced them to postpone to October 3.
“First, we thought about cancelling and doing something local in Los Ange