How a Gelato Cart Works at a French Riviera Wedding
Gelato is the most requested afternoon experience at Riviera weddings, largely because the afternoon gap between ceremony and dinner is hot, long and hard to fill.
Here is how the day runs from our side, so you know what you are buying.
Before your guests see anything
We arrive around an hour before service, on a route agreed with your planner that does not cross the guest area. The cart is levelled, dressed, the chandelier lit, and the vitrines loaded and brought to temperature.
By the time guests appear, the gelatiere is in position in Riviera uniform and the cart looks like it has always been there.
Service itself
Six flavours, churned in small batches, served in cones or cups by a gelatiere rather than self-service. One host serves a steady flow without a queue forming for a guest list of this size; if your guests all arrive at a single moment, a second host is the fix.
Standard service is two hours for up to eighty guests. Extra guests are charged per head and extra hours by the hour, both quoted before you book.
Shade is the whole game
The one thing that changes service quality more than anything else is where the cart stands. In July, an unshaded terrace at five in the afternoon is hard on gelato and harder on the guests queuing there.
We ask where the shade sits at your service hour, not when we arrive, and position accordingly. If the only shade is away from the action, we would rather move the cart than serve soft gelato in a pretty spot.
Where it belongs in the timeline
The standard slot is immediately after the ceremony, while you are being photographed. It gives guests a purpose, a cold thing to hold and a reason to talk to strangers.
The second-best slot is after dinner, before dancing, particularly at a September wedding when the afternoon is milder and the evening still warm.
What we leave behind
Nothing. Cleaning and removal are part of the package, and we break down quietly — which matters in villa gardens where the neighbours are closer than they look.
Tell us your ceremony time and where your guests will be standing afterwards and we can usually place the cart correctly before we have even seen the garden.