The welcome dinner is the one meal of the wedding week where nothing has to be perfect. Guests land at Florence or Pisa at odd hours, jet-lagged, hungry, meeting each other for the first time. A seated four-course menu is the wrong shape for that evening.
Why pizza works that night
- People eat when they arrive, not when the schedule says so
- Pizza is unlimited across the 3 hours, so late arrivals are not a problem
- Nobody has to be seated in a particular place next to a particular person
- Children eat immediately, which their parents notice
- Vegetarian and gluten-free guests get a real pizza, not an apology
Where we come
Anywhere in Tuscany — Siena, Chianti, Val d'Orcia, Montalcino, Montepulciano, San Gimignano, Florence, Lucca, Pisa, the Maremma. Transport of the truck and the oven is included in the price, wherever the villa is.
What it costs
A welcome dinner for up to 30 guests starts at €2,250 for pizza only, VAT and transport included. With the beverage service — still water, beer, Coca-Cola, spritz and prosecco — it is €2,750. All bands up to 100 guests are published on our prices page.
How the evening usually runs
- We arrive well before guests, park the truck and bring the oven up to temperature
- Service starts at the time you set and runs for 3 hours
- Four types of pizza, agreed with you in advance, coming out continuously
- Guests eat standing, sitting, in shifts, whenever they land
- We clear our own equipment and leave
What you still need to organise
Tables and chairs are not ours — the villa or a rental supplier provides them. Many couples do the welcome dinner almost entirely standing, with a few long tables for the people who want to sit. We also need a flat spot where the truck can park for the service and a drivable route to it.
Welcome dinner or rehearsal dinner?
The names change depending on where you are from. American couples usually mean the rehearsal dinner, British and Australian couples usually say welcome drinks or welcome dinner. Practically it is the same evening for us: the first night everyone is together, informal, no timings that anyone respects. Pizza fits it either way.
One evening, then we disappear
Three hours of service, our own set-up and our own clear-up. The next morning the venue looks like we were never there, which is roughly the point.
Welcome dinner, rehearsal dinner, late-night pizza or the day after.
