Get Married in Italy: Guide To Italian Weddings

So, you are thinking about getting married in Italy? Congratulations, it’s an excellent idea, and everything you need to know is right here!

Unlike in some countries, you do not need to be a resident in Italy to get married, which makes it an excellent choice for a destination wedding. Most people fly a few days before their wedding, settle in, have an incredible wedding celebration, and then travel around Italy on honeymoon visiting its many wonders.

There are three main types of wedding ceremony in Italy.

A civil ceremony is a town hall wedding, and for the most part, this means that the service will take place inside. You will have the mayor or an officiant of that town celebrate your marriage ceremony.

There are a few town halls that have outdoor spaces and allow couples to have their civil wedding outside. Some have agreements with local villas and will perform a civil marriage on the grounds of that venue. However, there are not so many to choose from.

Townhall fees vary greatly, but on average, the prices range from 500-2000 euros. It is your responsibility to complete and prepare the necessary paperwork for your civil wedding. For peace of mind, you may want the assistance of a professional or wedding planner, this is an additional expense.

Italy is the home of Catholicism and has an abundance of stunning churches to choose from. You can even get married at the Vatican if that’s your dream.

There are also churches for other religions. If you are Protestant, you can get married in Italy, but it will not be valid back home. To make your wedding valid, you would need to have a civil wedding either in Italy or back home.

There are also a few Orthodox churches in Italy from various denominations, including Russian and Greek. If you are Jewish, you can be married in Italy either outdoors or in a Synagogue.

This type of wedding has no validity. However, there are various advantages to a blessing ceremony:

• You can have a blessing ceremony where you want. In a beautiful garden, a vineyard, by a lake or overlooking the coast. The ceremony can literally be anywhere. A few venues may require a rental fee to let you have your ceremony in their gardens or dedicated areas however this is not always the case
• A symbolic wedding can be how you want it to be. If you wish to include music, readings from friends and family, and other elements, you can.
• This type of ceremony is often more emotionally and spiritually engaging than a civil wedding. After all, that’s a legal act, so there is not much romance in it!
• It costs less to organize a blessing ceremony. You need only hire a professional celebrant.
• You won’t have any of the stress that could accompany the bureaucracy for a civil or religious wedding.

To be legally married in Italy, you need to complete the paperwork for a civil wedding.

If you want to be religiously married in Italy, you can have a Catholic wedding if one of you is Catholic.

So you have two options if you want to get legally married in Italy:

• A Civil or Town Hall wedding
• A Catholic wedding with civil validity. This means that you add civil validity to the religious wedding by completing the civil paperwork too.

If you only want to have a religious wedding, then a Catholic ceremony is valid in your country only from a religious point of view.

You can also have a protestant ceremony in a catholic church, but this won’t be recognized from a religious or civil standpoint in your country of origin.

So, if you want a church wedding and want your marriage to be legally recognized back home, you need to complete the paperwork for a civil wedding either in Italy or back home.

You will receive a multilingual Italian Marriage Certificate, and once this has an Apostille stamp, it is valid in the UK/USA and other countries.

If you have been previously married, you need to have completed your divorce and have the documents to show that the separation is complete. If you are a woman, you must wait 300 days after your divorce before remarrying.

If you have a civil wedding and you are a US or Australian citizen, you need to allow enough time to be able to visit the embassy and have your documents legalized before your appointment at the town hall.

All couples, regardless of their nationality, will have to go to the local town hall to make the declaration of no impediment at the town hall 1 or 2 days before the wedding.

Each case should be evaluated by out expert who will tell you exactly the requirements. 

The documents and legal requirements can vary depending on your country of residence, nationality, and individual circumstances. It is best to verify specific requirements by visiting the appropriate embassy or consulate.

• United Kingdom: British Government – Get Married Abroad
• United States: The US Embassy and Consulates in Italy
• Canada: Italian Consulate in Toronto
• Ireland:Embassy of Ireland, Italy

Most clients find that they end up spending about the same amount of money in Italy as you would on their marriage back home.

However, there is some good news: most couples find that what they would spend back home on an afternoon/evening celebration allows them to have 2-3 days of events in Italy.

Of course, it depends on how many people you invite and what you decide to pay for.

It’s as expensive as you want it to be. Like most things in life, there are cheaper options, more expensive ones, and the best.

Generally, clients do not pay for their guests’ travel or accommodation. You pay for their food and entertainment. It’s up to them if they want to come and most people jump at the chance to have a vacation in Italy, especially considering that on one or two days there is an all-expenses-paid party for them to attend!

Another bonus of getting married in Italy is quality. You can’t beat the Italian cuisine, and the service providers are all extremely skilled professionals. It’s also a guarantee that your wedding will be a more exciting and enjoyable adventure than a wedding back home.

Not an easy question to answer as there are many variables. The number of guests, the time of year, location, and more all influence the budget.

These prices are based on weddings like the ones you can see browsing this website. This website also contains galleries to events where millions were spent, so evidently, these prices do not reflect that type of celebration!

This is the hardest item to budget for, as there are many types of accommodation available. A quintessentially Italian villa can set you back anything from 15,000 Euro to 50,000 or more.

To better understand this expense, work out the cost per person. For example, a villa costing 15,000 that sleeps 50 people for 3 nights works out to only cost 100 euros a night per person… pretty reasonable, right?

If you choose a hotel venue, you may only be paying for your own room, and guests will pay for theirs. A standard room in a nice hotel can cost, on average, about 350 euro per night, and of course, if the hotel is a five-star property, you can expect prices to start at twice this price. If you choose to stay in a better room like a suite, then the price will be higher.

The cost of hiring a top Italian wedding photographer can vary significantly based on factors such as the photographer’s experience, reputation, the scope of services offered, and the location of the wedding.

Typically, fees for top wedding photographers in Italy can range from several thousand to tens of thousands of dollars, depending on the level of service, coverage, and additional offerings included in the photography package.

It’s important to research and engage in discussions with potential photographers to understand their pricing structure and what is included in their services.

If you are dining outside, you may require extra lighting to enhance the atmosphere and allow everyone to see each other and eat. Some architectural lighting on the surrounding villa and some string lights or fairy lights installed by a licensed electrician will start at around 1500 euros. The more lights you need, the more it will cost.

If you are considering some classical musicians for the ceremony, you can calculate about 300 euros per element. So if you have a quartet, this would cost 4 x 300 = 1200 euros.

For a live band, you can consider the price to be about 500 per person. If you hire a 5 piece band, then you will be spending 2500 euros. A great DJ for the party will cost around 1000 euros.

You have two choices:

1. Organize the wedding yourself.
2. Hire a professional wedding planner and let their experience and expertise make the whole process easy.

Here are a few points that will help you decide if you can plan your own wedding:

• Can you speak Italian?
• Do you have spare time to organize your own wedding?
• Will you be able to visit Italy and see things first hand?
• If you plan your own wedding, then all the pressure and responsibility are on you for success.
• Do you know the area and venue well enough to be able to address logistics and issues some vendors may encounter, and are you prepared to deal with them?
• On the wedding day, will you want to deal with service providers if there are problems?

If you want to get married in Italy and enjoy a stress-free experience, then professional wedding planning services are a must.

You are probably wondering if it is easy to get married in Italy? With the help of a professional wedding planner, it is an easy and enjoyable process. Think of wedding planners like sports cars… do you really need one? The answer is no, but if you can afford one, then you will get from A to B much quicker and in style!

Ok, that is a somewhat silly analogy, but you can see the point. Italy is a Mediterranean country, and the pace of life and the way things are done is different from what you might be accustomed to.

This can be frustrating for some people, and they can struggle with timely responses to their requests. More importantly, if you don’t speak Italian, you will find it challenging to communicate with some Italian speakers as many do not speak English well.

Finding the perfect location is often the biggest hurdle to overcome. This is where many couples struggle. Narrowing down the search for the ideal places to get married in Italy can be overwhelming as there are so many choices!

Destination weddings are trendy, and there are many beautiful wedding venues in Italy. Tuscany is the most popular region and offers the best quality services. Here you can see many of the best venues for a wedding in Tuscany.

Tuscany, Lake Como, and the Amalfi Coast all offer breathtaking views and excellent venues for Italian wedding celebrations.

Other great locations are Rome, Venice, Florence, Lake Garda, Liguria, and Puglia.

If you want to know the best time of year to get married in Italy, then here are some facts and opinions to help you make an informed decision.

The weather in Italy can vary from region to region and obviously north to south. Italy’s southernmost parts are right in the middle of the Mediterranean, whereas the north is close to the Alps and has a more northern European climate.

For instance, Lake Como lying more than 400 kilometers to the north of Florence, has very different weather from central Italy. Being close to the Alps, the weather on Lake Como can be unstable all year long, so if you consider having an outdoor wedding there, you always need to check your wedding venue has a backup plan for rain.

Global warming makes predicting the weather much harder as the seasons seem to be changing, and random meteorological phenomena are commonplace.

However, here are some thoughts to guide your expectations when considering what the weather might be like for a spring or summer wedding in central Italy, particularly in Tuscany. Of course, if you want a winter wedding, then that’s a totally different story!

In Italy, the destination wedding season lasts from April to October. You can consider April and October as the low season and May to September as high-season. Late March is also an option, but you should know that the countryside has not yet had the chance to flourish after winter.

March is usually quite sunny and dry. I would not recommend early March, but the last week in March is often warmer, with temperatures approaching 20°Centigrade or 68°Fahrenheit.

April in Italy is springtime, the temperature is mild to warm, causing the countryside to blossom. The plants and vegetation flourishes, transforming the landscapes into vibrant, lush green landscapes.

If the weather is good, the temperatures are enjoyable, reaching 20°Centigrade or 68°Fahrenheit. Rain and showers from weather fronts are possible and can last a few days before returning to sunshine. There is plenty of greenery all around, but the vineyards are not yet green. The vines lose their leaves in winter and shoot again in April.

May brings an increase to the temperatures as spring continues. On the whole, the weather is very similar to April, just warmer. The countryside is in full bloom, and many of the crops such as wheat and barley are growing. By the end of the month, these crop fields are maturing and starting to turn yellow as they ripen.

Towards the end of May, the vineyards are now looking dense and green after a month of rapid growth. If the weather is good, expect temperatures around 25°C or 77°F.

June brings the end to spring and the start of summer. If summer starts early expect quite hot temperatures and the countryside will quickly turn yellow. Around the middle of June, the crops are now golden and ready for harvesting.

It is possible to experience a few storms at the start of June, but these usually pass quickly, and an hour later, it is sunny again. As June progresses and the moisture content in the ground decreases, fluffy white clouds become scarcer as higher temperatures (28°C = 82.4°F), and endless blue skies prevail.

July is often one of the hottest months. There is usually very little rainfall, and it is hot. It is not uncommon to experience temperatures exceeding 30°C or 86°F.

The countryside is now very yellow, and often you can see hay balls from the harvested crops. Towards the second half of July, you can also start to see fields of sunflowers.

August is another hot month, and this is when Italians traditionally go on holiday. You can still see sunflowers in some areas, and the rest of the countryside is a little scorched, looking after a month of high temperatures and little to no rainfall.

If you are wondering what there is to photograph, don’t worry. The landscapes are still stunning, and the olives, vineyards and cypress trees look incredible.

September is one of the most popular months for weddings in Italy as the temperatures are usually fresher and rain is unlikely. Around the end of August or start of September, there can be a few thunderstorms, these help to bring the temperatures down a little after a long hot summer.
Temperatures during the day are lovely at 27°C or 81°F.

In the second half of the month, the temperatures in the evenings can start to get a little chilly for eating outside if you are not wearing much. Gentlemen will be very comfortable, but ladies in light dresses may require a shawl or wrap while dining under the stars.

The vineyards in September are stunning. After the grape harvested at the start of the month, the vines are tidy, looking, and the leaves are a mix of greens, yellows, and some reds as the season progresses.

October is also a great month for weddings. The first half, in particular, is often sunny, dry, with pleasant temperatures of 21°C or 70°F. The evenings are cool, but it is still possible to eat outdoors. You may want to think about getting some space heaters if you have any guests that are elderly or susceptible to the cold to ensure they have a great time.

The wedding season ends by about the third weekend in October. If you are considering a wedding later than this, bear in mind that around the 25th October (exactly when depends on the year) Daylight Saving Time ends. This means that the clocks go back one hour. So one day you have sunset at about 18.15 and the next at 17.15.

May and September are the most popular times of the year for an Italian wedding. June, July and August are highly desirable as they guarantee even more sunshine and less chance of rain. If you don’t mind the heat, then these are excellent choices. Don’t forget you are coming to Italy for a few days and maybe even weeks so you may also want lovely hot weather for your honeymoon.

Remember that from May to mid-August, the summer days are long with the sunset quite late in the evening. An expert will be able to guide you on the best timings and schedule for your wedding day.

If your dream is an outdoor ceremony and reception, always think about a plan B in case of rain. If the venue does not have one, your wedding planner can help you with sourcing a tent or marquee.

Because Italy is world-famous for its art, history, culture, architecture, stunning sceneries, and overall general beauty which, when coupled with the mouth-watering food and wine, good weather and welcoming people make it a very desirable wedding destination.

It’s easy to see why so many couples and even celebrities get married in Italy!

Now you know the hows and whys of getting married in Italy. And you are also able to choose the best month of the year for your special day.

So, now you know that Italy is the perfect place for your wedding. Drop us a message below and we can get the ball rolling or why not learn more about our wedding planning services. If it’s just the two of you, discover more about eloping to this beautiful country.