Villa Emden: A Wedding Venue on Lake Maggiore, Ticino

There’s a particular kind of quiet that only exists on an island. Not silence — the eucalyptus trees are never still, and the lake keeps its own rhythm against the stone — but a quiet that comes from being somewhere a car simply cannot reach. You arrive by boat or not at all, and by the time the mainland disappears behind you, something in your shoulders has already let go.

I spent a day on the Brissago Islands recently, off the Ticino coast on Lake Maggiore, not for a wedding but to see the place for myself — to walk the gardens before I ever walk them behind a bride, to understand where the light falls at four in the afternoon, where a couple might stand for their vows without a single modern building in the frame. This is what I found.

The Island

The Brissago Islands sit in Lake Maggiore, just off the Ticino coast near Ascona — Swiss by geography, Mediterranean by temperament. The larger of the two, Isola Grande, is entirely occupied by a botanical garden and, rising above the treeline, the neoclassical silhouette of Villa Emden. Built in 1927, the villa still carries the scale and formality of the era: high windows, a long veranda, and a 33-metre Roman Bath that looks less like a swimming pool and more like a ruin someone decided to keep.

The island is boat-access only, which changes the entire feel of a wedding day here. There’s no procession of cars, no parking lot in the background of your photos — just water on every side and a single arrival, together, by boat.

Where a Wedding Could Happen

Walking the grounds, a few spots made an immediate case for themselves as photographer’s favourites:

The Roman Bath. Intimate, walled, half in ruin in the most deliberate way — this is where I’d put a small ceremony, twenty guests or fewer, with the lake framed through the archway behind the couple.

The Eucalyptus Garden. Loose, green, unpolished — the kind of backdrop that photographs like it wasn’t arranged for you, even though every plant has been placed with care over a century of growing.

The Veranda. For couples who want the option of shelter without losing the view — floor-to-ceiling windows looking straight out over Lake Maggiore, the kind of room that photographs beautifully even under grey sky.

The Dining Hall. Golden light in the late afternoon, high ceilings, room for up to eighty at the table — this is where the day would slow down into dinner, speeches, the part of the wedding that always looks better in photographs than anyone expects.

Practical Notes, from One Visit

A few things worth knowing if you’re considering Villa Emden for your own wedding: the island can be booked for exclusive use, closing to day visitors from 4pm onward. Weddings run from May to October, with a minimum guest count depending on the day of the week. Everyone — including the two of you — arrives by boat, which is worth building into your day’s timeline rather than treating as a footnote.

Why I’d Recommend It

I photograph weddings across the Alps and along the Italian lakes because I’m drawn to places where the setting does some of the storytelling for me — where I don’t have to manufacture atmosphere, only notice it. Villa Emden has that in abundance. Ticino still sits quietly in the shadow of Como when couples plan a lake wedding in Switzerland or Italy, and that’s exactly the point — Lake Maggiore offers the same romance with far fewer crowds, and that unpolished quality is what makes a wedding here feel like yours and not a venue’s showreel.

If you’re planning a wedding in Ticino and weighing the Brissago Islands against other Lake Maggiore venues, I’d be glad to talk through what I saw — or to be there with you, boat included.