Marriage in Italy

Fees

The average cost of hiring a wedding vendor is €1,500 (not including legal costs). Some consular offices will also charge a processing fee for the required documents, which can add up to about $500. The legal marrying age in Italy is 21 years old; if you are younger, you will need an affidavit of consent from parents or guardians. You can also get a common law marriage at the Civil Registrar, but you will need two witnesses.

Locations

Unfortunately, you can’t have your wedding on a beach or a vineyard. All civil ceremonies have to take place in a town hall, or property owned by the local government. Don’t worry, this doesn’t mean you’ll be saying “I do” in a dusty, clinical bureaucratic office. These government properties include some of the most amazing palaces, villas, manors, hotels and castles. Even the offices themselves are historical treasures, many of which were commissioned to the world’s greatest architects and painters (after all, the government was one of the most affluent patrons of the arts!). Here are some of the most popular wedding destinations.

Rome

For obvious reasons, Rome is a popular place to hold Roman Catholic weddings. There are numerous chapels and churches, and the city itself is very meaningful for Roman Catholics. There are some places that regularly hold group weddings, which can help those who are concerned about the costs. For those who wish to have civil weddings, you can also arrange one in the town hall, considered to be a historical landmark.

Tuscany

There are many places where you can hold your wedding in Tuscany. You can try the Chianti region, known not only for its world class wines, but its well preserved architecture, and quiet and idyllic landscape: rolling olive groves, vineyards, and miles of sunflowers dancing under the blue sky. Hold your ceremony at a Medici Villa or a medieval castle, or at the quiet cobblestone town halls. Some famous marriage destinations in Italy include Cortona (made famous by the movie Under the Tuscan Sun) whose beautiful landscape feels like it’s wrapped in an eternal summer, and Siena (a medieval hill town just a short drive away from some of the region’s most picturesque castles; arrange a wedding there, or hold it at the beautiful town hall, the main square, or the Piazza del Campo).

Florence

What better place to tie the knot, than in the cultural capital of Florence. The Sala Rossa, a Protestan Church, is ideal for religious ceremonies, while there are many romantic villas for civil rites. This city is also home to some of the world’s most important art collections, and you’ll spend many blissful hours roaming the museums.

Sicily

One of the world’s most romantic islands, it inspired D. H. Lawrence to write “Lady Chatterley’s Lover," was the chosen honeymoon escape of Liz Taylor and Richard Burton, and was even described by the poet Goethe as the key to Italy's soul. You couldn’t ask for a more picturesque landscape: it is dotted with Gothic churches, Norman castles, and Greek temples; hills, forests, and fiery volcanoes. Most civil weddings are held in the open-air courtyards.

Venice

Why not “sail” into your new future by holding your wedding in Venice, of the famous gondolas? Catholic weddings can be held at the crypt of San Marco in St. Mark’s Square, or the Church of San Giacomo. Non-religious weddings can be held at any of the hotels by the Grand Canal or historical palaces. These palaces have gardens and hidden courtyards, as well as elegant rooms decked with some of the finest works of art.