TUSCAN PLEDGES

ABOUT US

When work becomes fun

“Jo and her team of professional celebrants take pride in highlighting the milestones and commitments of your lives, at the time same acknowledging and honoring important transitions and events.
Please ask for our advice on readings to include in the ceremony, writing your own vows both for your wedding and your vow renewal, music, and tips and details to make your celebration a great success. As celebrants, we will collaborate in guiding you in the choice of the rituals, readings and music to fulfil your ideas for your symbolic wedding in Tuscany and Italy. Together we will discuss your idea of the ceremony, through Skype, email and phone consultations, until you reach the ceremony that meets your needs. You may want to rehearse the day before, but we will also be there before the ceremony to go over the final details, and present you with a beautiful parchment as a keepsake of the day.
Jo and her team of professional celebrants will celebrate and help you create personalized ceremonies such as symbolic weddings; vow renewals; commitment ceremonies; baby welcomings and adoptions; survivor tributes, in Italian, English, French, Dutch, German, Spanish and Russian.”

PASSIONATELY DEVOTED TO DETAILS

JO BERTOLINO

We have been assisting you since 2003 with passion and kindness
jo bertolino tuscanpledges florence italy

“I was born near Rome, the product of an American mother and a Sicilian father, I am fluent in both Italian and English. I would like to think that I got my creativity from my mother and my communication ability from my father. (Dad is a retired Protestant minister.). I moved to Florence when I was 19, in 1979, so this is where I lived most, which doesn’t necessarily make me a true Florentine!
In addition to working as a celebrant, I am a qualified translator, translating books from English into Italian and vice versa. I have two grown-up sons, and have two lovely granddaughters.
I practice meditation, an activity I hold near and dear to my heart because I think it is so important to continually deepen my aptitude for compassionate listening. It is also essential in helping me to create rituals, which respond to your needs and ideas.
I am also a qualified IRACE (Institute for Research of Applied Cosmic Energy) practitioner; the method applies energy to specific centers in the body, and the sessions are very quick, lasting max 5 minutes, very handy for nervous brides (and grooms, and everybody, really!). I have also taken courses in Harmonic Massage and love offering massages to friends and family.”

A good friend of mine asked me to fill in the Proust Questionnaire, here are my answers:

The main aspect of my personality: generosity
The quality that I desire in a man: determination
In a woman: being welcoming
My main fault: being impatient
The quality I would like to have: flexibility
What I appreciate most about my friends: their ability to forgive my absence during the wedding season
My favorite occupation: drawing, singing, dancing
My dream of happiness: learn to idle away, when I can
My favorite authors: Neruda, Ann Tyler, Barbara Kingsolver
What would be my greatest misfortune? Losing my eyesight, I hope never!
My heroes and heroines in history: M.L.King, Rosa Parks
The country where I should like to live: New Zealand (even for a short while)
My favorite color: all shades of purple
My favorite flower: tulips
My favorite classical composer: J.S. Bach
How I want to die: like my Dad did, in peace
My present state of mind: open-mindedness
Faults for which I have the most indulgence: those linked to old age
My favorite motto: life is short, eat dessert first

Recently, my photographer friend Gabriele Forti dedicated a page in his website to an interview by the journalist Alessandra Conforti on symbolic ceremonies, you can read it here

READ THE INTERVIEW TO JO BERTOLINO BY GABRIELE FORTI
SELECTED PROFESSIONALS

THE TEAM

A heartfelt job
SOFIA
SOFIA

Celebrant

Sofia started working for TuscanPledges in 2015, and has loved it ever since. Her first wedding was very intimate: a vow renewal for just the couple. An elopement is as challenging as when you have 150 guests looking at you. I remember her call after her first experience; she was crying tears of joy, as she felt she had really found her call! Sofia is so dedicated to her job as a celebrant, to the point that she “organized” her two pregnancies around the wedding season, lucky her and me! Sofia celebrates in Spanish, English and Italian, and will work with you from the beginning to your wedding day.

KATHRIN
KATHRIN

Celebrant

Kathrin is German but has lived in Italy several years now. She started working for TuscanPledges in 2012 holding our German weddings, but has also celebrated for mixed German and English, or German and Italian couples. True to the stereotype, she is as dependable as you would expect a German and will bend over backwards to make sure our couples are happy with their ceremony script. Her soothing voice puts everyone in a very good mood, and this is not her only great quality!

IRENE
IRENE

Celebrant

Irene ha iniziaIrene joined the team when I realized that my French was too rusty and I was lucky enough to meet her! Irene loves being a celebrant; she just wishes more French-speaking couples chose to get married in Italy, so she could dedicate herself entirely to being a celebrant. Irene celebrates in French, Italian, and English, and is very accurate in anything that concerns the ceremony, from the preparation to the actual wedding day, leaving nothing to chance.to a far parte del team di TuscanPledges quando mi sono accorta che il mio francese era troppo arrugginito, ed è stato allora che ho avuto la fortuna di incontrarla. Il suo unico cruccio è che ancora poche coppie francesi, o francofone, decidono di sposarsi in Italia, perché le piacerebbe dedicarsi interamente a questa professione. Irene celebra in francese, italiano ed inglese, ed è attentissima in tutto quello che concerne la cerimonia, dalla preparazione al giorno del matrimonio, non lasciando mai nulla al caso.

JANNEKE
JANNEKE

Celebrant

Janneke was the first one to join the team; she started working for TuscanPledges in 2010. At first, she only worked with our Dutch couples, but it was a real waste because she is so good that I asked her to celebrate in English as well. I can trust her completely with everything, her way with people is so pleasant and lovable, and I love the way she can be very professional and fun at the same time.

DAVIDE
DAVIDE

Celebrant

Davide is Italian, he started working for TuscanPledges in 2013, when very few couples were aware of the possibility to get married in a symbolic ceremony. Since then, due to word of mouth, and to Davide’s skill in touching our couples and their guests when he speaks about their love, more and more couples have decided to choose symbolic ceremonies to seal their relationship

CAMILLA
CAMILLA

Celebrant

A new addition to the team, our Camilla celebrates in Norwegian, English and Italian. She is Norwegian but has lived in Italy for several years and has already worked in the wedding industry. We are happy to welcome her in our team, and we know she will add prestige to our work

ANNIKA
ANNIKA

Celebrant

A new addition to the team, our Annika celebrates in Swedish, English and Italian. Annika was born in Sweden but has lived in Italy for several years and is thrilled to start this new adventure in the TuscanPledges team.

FRANCESCA
FRANCESCA

Celebrant

The newest addition to the team, our Francesca celebrates in English and Italian. An artist at heart, she will add her special creative touch to our team. We are happy to welcome her in our team, and we know she will add prestige to our work

Watch our video presentation of the languages we offer for your ceremonies

VUOI UN PREVENTIVO?

RICHIEDI ORA
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Contacts

Via di Ripoli 13, 50126 Firenze, Italia

+39 055 6801052
+ 39 339 6586188
email: jo@tuscanpledges.com
Skype: tuscan.pledges

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