Cernobbio · Lake Como
Indian wedding makeup at Villa d’Este
Formal gardens, a floating pool and a lakefront that has hosted royalty for 150 years. Villa d’Este is the grand-hotel wedding on Lake Como, and the bride’s looks need the same polish as the rooms.
Please read first
India-based artists, flying to Villa d’Este for your wedding.
This is an India-based team: Tejaswini and her artists live and work in Pune and travel out for each booking. For Italy the team lands early, so nobody is rushed on the first morning.
The client covers the team’s airfare, Schengen visa fees and hotel rooms; these are quoted at cost, apart from the artist fee.
- Based inBaner, Pune
- TravelsAcross Europe
- Flights & visasClient pays
- Stay & transfersPaid at actual cost
The venue at a glance
What Villa d’Este offers an Indian wedding.
A planning summary from public information about the property. Your planner confirms spaces, capacities and permissions for each function.
- Location
- Cernobbio, about 10 minutes from Como town
- Built
- 1568, as a summer residence for Cardinal Tolomeo Gallio
- A hotel since
- 1873
- Rooms
- About 150 rooms and suites across the main building and the Queen’s Pavilion
- Setting
- Around 10 hectares of park with a famous water staircase and a pool on the lake
- Season
- Open spring to autumn; closed in winter
A little history
From a cardinal’s retreat to a byword for lake luxury.
Villa d’Este began as Villa del Garovo, built in the 1560s for Cardinal Tolomeo Gallio on the shore at Cernobbio. Over the next three centuries it passed through aristocratic hands, including Caroline of Brunswick, the estranged wife of the future George IV, who gave it its present name.
It became a hotel in 1873 and has stayed one, with the same family-owned company running it for decades. The gardens, the mosaic water staircase and the floating swimming pool are part of the Lake Como picture that families bring to their first planning call.
For the bride, the hotel means two very different kinds of light: open lake light on the lawns and pool deck, and warm, formal interiors in the evening. We plan a separate finish for each.
Function by function
Matching each look to a Villa d’Este setting.
Mehendi in the lakeside gardens
Soft daylight bouncing off the lake. Fresh, dewy skin with SPF, a sheer flush and hair pinned up and off the shoulders for the mehendi artists.
Sangeet in a formal hotel salon
Warm evening light, mirrors and dancing. Deeper eyes, a base set to survive a full dance floor and hair secured for movement.
Pheras at the lakefront lawn
Afternoon sun on water and pale stone. A satin finish that holds detail without flashing white, waterproof eyes and a dupatta pinned for the lake breeze.
Reception in the hotel’s grand reception rooms
Candlelight and chandeliers with a photographer at every table. Lower shine on the T-zone, defined lashes and a richer lip.
The wedding day
A typical Villa d’Este wedding day.
- 07:30
Team sets up in a lake-view suite
We ask for a room with good window light and a second room close by for family makeup, so the bride’s room stays calm.
- 09:00
Mothers and family first
Family looks run in parallel with the bridal skin prep, timed so nobody waits in the corridor.
- 11:00
Bride’s skin prep and base
Hydration, primer and a base built for lake reflections in the afternoon and formal indoor light at night.
- 13:00
Hair, eyes, jewellery and draping
Maang tikka, nath and dupatta set with the outfit on, checked from every angle the photographer will use.
- 14:30
Portraits on the garden terraces and water staircase
First photographs while the makeup is at its freshest, before the busiest part of the day.
- 16:00
Baraat and pheras at the lakefront lawn
If the groom arrives by boat, we time the bride’s final check to his landing. One artist stays near the mandap with a touch-up kit.
- 19:30
Change for the reception
New lip, refreshed eyes and a second hairstyle if planned; allow 60–75 minutes.
Specific to this venue
Villa d’Este details we plan around.
Worth doing
- Ask for a suite with lake-facing windows for the bride; north light from the water is excellent for makeup
- Plan garden portraits before the pheras, when the lawn is quiet
- Confirm early which spaces allow a havan fire
- Book the team’s rooms in the hotel or in Cernobbio village
Worth avoiding
- Heavy highlighter for daytime by the water
- Leaving the reception change to under an hour
- Planning a late sangeet without checking evening music limits
- Long garden walks in heavy lehengas without a route planned
Watch
The look for the pheras.
Classic bridal red
Tejaswini
Your artist at Villa d’Este
Tejaswini has styled more than a thousand Indian brides since 2012 and plans every grand-hotel wedding around the bride’s ready-by time, in writing, weeks before. At Villa d’Este that means a luminous, light-reflecting base for the lakefront and a richer, more defined look for the evening rooms, both decided in your planning conversations, not on the morning.
Her work
A few of Tejaswini’s brides.
Real brides styled by Tejaswini in India. The same hands and kit travel to Lake Como.
Villa d’Este questions
Bridal makeup at Villa d’Este.
Do you provide Indian bridal makeup at Villa d’Este?
Yes. Tejaswini’s team flies from India for weddings at Villa d’Este and covers each function for the bride, family and bridal party. The team’s flights, Schengen visas and rooms are paid by the family.
Where should the bride get ready at Villa d’Este?
In a lake-view suite with large windows, with a second room nearby for family makeup. Ask the hotel for the room list as early as you can.
Can Villa d’Este host an Indian ceremony?
The hotel hosts weddings and private events; what is possible for a mandap, havan and music depends on dates and spaces, so your planner confirms it with the events team.
Is the light at Villa d’Este difficult for makeup?
Not if the base is built for it. The lake reflects light upward in the afternoon, so we use a satin finish and avoid shimmer on the face.
Can you also cover a function at Villa Erba next door?
Yes. The two properties are neighbours in Cernobbio, and many families use both. We plan the transfer and touch-up between them.
How do we get a quote for a Villa d’Este wedding?
Message us with the dates, functions and the number of people who need hair and makeup. The quote lists the artist fee and the travel costs on separate lines.
Keep comparing
Other Lake Como wedding venues.
Shortlisting more than one property? Each has its own guide.
Villa d’Este bookings
Planning your wedding at Villa d’Este?
Share the dates and the list of functions, and tell us which spaces you are considering. We will send availability, a suggested team size and an itemised quote, with the team’s travel shown on its own line.
