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Welcome to the ultimate guide on saying ‘I do’ in one of the most romantic destinations on Earth – Italy! For couples seeking to exchange vows amidst the timeless beauty of this Mediterranean gem, navigating the intricacies of Italian marriage procedures can be both exciting and daunting. Whether you dream of a lavish ceremony overlooking the rolling hills of Tuscany or an intimate affair along the sun-kissed Amalfi Coast, this comprehensive blog is your passport to understanding the ins and outs of getting married in Italy.
Can you get married in Italy as a Foreigner?
The simple answer is YES you can! Unlike many other European countries, foreigners can get married in Italy without a residency requirement.
In this blog, we break down the requirements for how to get married in Italy as a foreigner, including the types of ceremonies that are legally recognized, an overview of the paperwork required, and the timeline for submitting your documents.
Legal Marriages In Italy
There are only two types of marriage ceremonies in Italy which are recognized as legally binding: civil and Catholic. Any other type of ceremony (such as a religious ceremony of a religion other than Catholic) needs to be combined with a civil ceremony to make it legally binding (although the civil ceremony can take place on a separate day).
Civil Marriage in Italy
An Italian civil marriage ceremony is a legally binding, non-religious ceremony. These civil ceremonies are conducted by the local mayor or a certified registrar and take around 20 minutes. When choosing a civil ceremony, you may be able to choose to get married in the town hall or an approved external venue (which may include some outdoor or historical location options).
Many ceremonies take less than 20 mins, and that is sometimes a bit disappointing for the couples. But they can have someone do a short reading or play a song and make the ceremony more personal.
Gemma – Dolomites Wedding Planner
I warn the couples that it’s not as exciting as they would imagine. Usually they have a really good reason to do the ceremony in Italy. If everything needs to be translated at the same time, which is usually the case for my couples, it does take around 30 minutes and if the official starts telling about the history of the city hall it can even take longer.
Helena, Art’Anna Life Events & Experiences
Catholic Weddings in Italy
If you want a legally recognized church wedding in Italy, your only option is a Catholic wedding, which means one of you must be Catholic.
A Catholic ceremony involves lots of paperwork in your own country and in Italy. Not all priests are as cooperative and not all churches nor regions want to open their churches to people not living in their region. So anyone who wants to get married in an Italian church should better double check if it’s possible in the region of their venue. Tuscany is no problem at all.
Helena, Art’Anna Life Events & Experiences
Same-Sex Weddings in Italy
In Italy a same-sex couple can enter into a “civil union”, however at this time, a civil marriage ceremony is only possible for cis-hetero couples (we desperately hope this will change in the future).
What’s the difference between a marriage and a civil union?
Marriage, traditionally understood, is a formal union between two people that is recognized by law and often has cultural, religious, and social significance. In Italy, marriage is regulated by both civil and religious laws. Civil marriages are performed by a government official, such as a mayor or a registrar, and are legally recognized. Religious marriages are performed by clergy members and may or may not have legal significance, depending on whether they are also registered with civil authorities.
On the other hand, civil unions, introduced in Italy in 2016, provide legal recognition to same-sex couples and heterosexual couples who choose not to marry but still wish to formalize their relationship. Civil unions offer many of the legal rights and protections of marriage, such as inheritance rights, next-of-kin status, and healthcare decision-making, but they may not carry the same cultural or religious significance as marriage.
If you are in an LGBTQIA+ relationship, we recommend getting legally married in your home country (where possible) and planning a symbolic ceremony in Italy instead.
Can You Have An English Marriage Ceremony in Italy?
For a civil marriage ceremony in Italy, the ceremony is conducted in Italian (or in German if you are in the bilingual region of South Tirol – Alto Adige). If you don’t speak Italian, you will be required to have a translator present for the ceremony (which usually can be your local wedding planner).
What paperwork do you need to get married in Italy?
The exact paperwork you will need to get legally married in Italy will depend on both of your nationalities and place of residence.
Here’s a general overview of what is required:
- Passports or ID cards
- Birth certificates
- Certificates of divorce/widowed if previously married (women need to be single for at least 300 days)
- Nulla Osta (a certificate of no impediments to celebrate the wedding)
Where to find more information based on where you are from:
- USA – U.S. Embassy in Italy website
- UK – Getting married in Italy UK Gov Website
- Australia – Australian Embassy Website
IMPORTANT
It’s always quite confusing to know when you need documents translated or “validated” through stamps in Italy. Basically the rule is: once a document crosses a border, it needs to be officially translated and legalised. That means, for instance, that if you are getting a certificate in the American embassy in Italy, that document, even if produced “in Italy” it is technically issued by the United States (as Embassy ground is its own country’s ground). So it will need to be legalised. Apostille for the countries that are from the Apostille Convention.
Gemma – Dolomites Wedding Planner
For couples from the Netherlands and Belgium:
Belgium: The Nulla Osta provided by the Belgian embassy in Rome needs to be translated and legalised by an official translator before sending them to the town hall where you will get married. The same goes for all the other documents provided in Belgium, such as the birth certificate and the excerpt from the Civil Status (proof that you’re not married). In Belgium, you need to use a true certified copy of the documents.
Netherlands: You can use a multiple-language / international extract.
Helena, Art’Anna Life Events & Experiences
How much does it cost to get married in Italy?
While the administrative costs of getting married in Italy are pretty standardised, the total cost to get legally married in Italy varies depending on the location you choose. Having your ceremony at the local town hall may only cost you €200-300, whereas some of the most popular external locations in cities like Rome have an additional fee of €1500-€2000.
We want to caveat this by saying that there is a difference between getting married (the act of legally marrying) and having a wedding. No matter where you are in the world, getting legally married can be a relatively cheap process, whereas planning a wedding can cost as much as you are willing to spend.
However, as soon as you start considering getting married in another country, there will almost always be additional costs that make it more expensive than a wedding in your home country, for example, the translation and verification of documents (both before and after the wedding).
The Dolomites & South Tyrol
It really depends on the country where the couple is from, and where they’d like to get married. For instance, for Austrians and Germans, it’s pretty simple and there’s only the town hall fee , which for some town halls even as low as 100-200€. If the couple is from America for example, there are many more certificates needed, so the costs are higher. You also need to factor in the of travelling to get the required documents.
Gemma – Dolomites Wedding Planner
Tuscany & Umbria
In Umbria the costs that town halls charge are still relatively low compared to Tuscany, where even in small villages the costs are higher. Getting civilly married in Tuscany involves a much higher cost than in Umbria. Next to that you need to take into account the costs for the certificates and the translation / legalisation which can be really high as lots of documents need to be translated not only before the wedding but also after the wedding to officialize everything in your own country. The wedding certificate issued in Italy should be translated unless your country accepts the plurilingual certificate (which isn’t the case in Belgium, but is in the Netherlands).
Helena, Art’Anna Life Events & Experiences
Do you need a wedding planner, or can you arrange everything by yourself?
There is no requirement to hire a wedding planner to help you coordinate all of the paperwork, however, we highly recommend it if you want to make the process as smooth and stress-free as possible.
Meet The Italian Planners
Dolomites Wedding Planner – Jlenia Costner & Gemma Garriga
Website: jleniacostner.com
Instagram: @dolomitesweddingplanner
We are professional wedding planners in South Tyrol and the Dolomites. We have years of experience and expertise, as well as an unconditional passion for this profession. It is our mission to bring dreams and desires to life, and our job consists on understanding your vision and capturing your personality to turn it into an event that tells your story. We plan elopements, weddings, micro-weddings and love dates, just let your imagination run wild and trust us to bring it to life.
Art’Anna Life Events & Experiences – Helena Steurbaut
Website: www.artanna.be
Instagram: @artanna.experiences
With more than 10 years of experience I went from organizing traditional one-day weddings to creating intimate experience weekends, elopements, micro-weddings, celebrations of life in Italy, France, Spain and Portugal and hopefully in the future in the Austrian mountains as well. I went from being a traditional, standard wedding planner to being an experience designer.
Art’Anna is all about reuniting families and friends, about slowing down and taking time for the most important things in life, about creating an extraordinary experience and a special connection that they will cherish for the rest of their lives. My mission is to create an experience that is so much more than a wedding; it’s a memory for life.
