I don’t know about you, but we have had enough of the cold weather. Today why not forget the weather and have a peek at what you can have if you tie the knot in glorious Italy!
Today we speak to Rossana Sapori, one of Italy’s top wedding planners with over 12 years experience with her boutique events and wedding planning company, WeddingsInItaly. Rosanna has kindly explained the hows, whys and wheres of getting married in this romantic land of love.
Who can get married in Italy and what are the legal requirements?
Getting married in Italy with ceremonies that are legally valid is not complicated. Legal procedures vary according to the kind of ceremony each couple decide to have. Depending on your religion couples can have a simple church or civil ceremony.
To have a Catholic church ceremony, both spouses must be catholic, whilst for a Protestant church ceremony only one spouse must be Protestant. Legal procedure varies depending on religion and each spouse’s marital status i.e. divorced. Same sex weddings or commitment ceremonies are not legally recognised in Italy.
How long must a couple be in Italy for before they can get married?
This may vary according to the nationality and kind of ceremony, but realistically no more than 3 working days before the wedding.
Once couples have decided on Italy as their overall destination, what advice would you give to couples on choosing a specific location?
Being practical, couples should choose an area that is not too far from the main airport, in order to avoid guests having travel a lot to reach the wedding venue. However, Italy offers so many beautiful spots that it is worth the little extra travelling to be plunged into a romantic setting!
Being a chic and boutique wedding planning agency in general we prefer to recommend unique places, just away from the most popular areas i.e. Amalfi Coast, Rome, or any other big towns. Tuscany, Umbria and the Lakes are the most requested area to get married, maybe because guests can also take the opportunity to plan a small holiday after the wedding.
What’s the advantage of hiring a wedding planner?
A planner can organise everything from the A to Z from the first meeting for visiting potential venues to the shuttle service to leave guests back to their hotel after the wedding party. As we are not a tour operator, we cannot book flights, but we help couples in finding the most convenient solutions for both them and their guests.
We offer complete assistance of whatever the couple may need to plan their wedding. We’re the Italian specialist on planning a perfect day and we have a team dedicated to guests that can contact us for any tips or travel information they may need while planning their stay. Many of the weddings we plan include BBQs, wine tasting activities and guided tours for the days before or after the actual wedding day.
Can you offer any advice on budgeting for an Italian wedding?
As a rough guide, a complete wedding in Italy for approximately 80 guests may range from 10,000 to 20,000 euro. Just like planning a wedding on home turf, you can spend as much or as little as you want.
We work with a fixed flat planning fee which includes all the assistance, so we plan weddings with all kind of budgets.
Do you have a favourite area in Italy that you would recommend?
While we’re delighted to help couples to get married in popular places, we also invite them to experience new areas such as Verona the town of Romeo & Juliet and the land of Amarone wine, Umbria the land of Saint Francis and Sagrantino red wine or Apulia with Ostuni the white town.
About WeddingsInItaly
WeddingsInItaly is a specialised wedding planning service for non-Italian residents. They are based in the heart of beautiful Umbria, just an hour away from Rome and only two hours from Florence. All their wedding planners are Italians and speak fluent English, German or French.
WeddingsInItaly don’t just organise booking the venue or other wedding professionals, they can style, design and produce an unforgettable day in Italy for the couple and all the guests.
Whatever your budget, they can create your wedding tailored on your expectations and desires, from the ceremony to the perfect venue and final touches.
They offer a free initial consultation which will give you the opportunity to discuss your event in details (usually via Skype).
To get a flavour of Rosanna and her team’s work, take a look at this beautiful wedding in Tuscany they organised for Irish couple Aoife and Eoin.
Thanks to Rosanna for sharing her advice with us. If you’d like to get in touch, you can visit www.weddingsinitaly.it
