Getting them to the bay.

Castiglioncello sits on the coast between Livorno and Cecina, on the bay of Quercetano. Guests come in by car, leaving the Variante Aurelia at the Rosignano/Castiglioncello exit, or by train to Castiglioncello station, on the Livorno–Grosseto line.

From either point the last stretch is on foot, downhill, on a narrow road. It is short, but it is the part people get wrong, so it is worth writing down rather than explaining on the phone a week before.

One wedding per day means the timetable belongs to you: there is no second event to work around. It does not mean the venue has rooms, so the way home is part of the plan as well.

By car: Variante Aurelia, exit Rosignano/Castiglioncello, then down into the village. Parking is in the village, a few minutes from the venue. Do not send guests down to the bay by car — the last stretch is narrow, and once you are there a car is only something to turn around.

By train: Castiglioncello station is a few minutes from the venue, walking down towards the water. Anyone arriving from Livorno, Pisa or along the line does not need a car at all; they need to look at the return times before dinner, because the party runs into the night.

Give your guests an arrival time for the village, not the time of the ceremony, and let the walk sit in between. It is a few minutes downhill and a little longer on the way back up, especially after dinner, in the dark.

Ask them to leave a margin. In summer the coast road is busy, the car park in the village fills up, and the last stretch on foot cannot be hurried by anyone.