Hi caroleyuk
Have not been to Italy for a wedding but my son is going there in June to get married. There is no length of time that you have to be in the country from once all the papers (and there are lots of them) are in order before you get there. The weather in April is mild and in low 20's, July and August are the hottest and thus 'off peak' season.
Hope that little bit helped. I can find out more from friends that have been if you want me to. Just ask
Regards
D lite

Wedding party stayed in out hotel in September in Sorrento. Apparantly booked through Thomson and it went without a hitch. According to the group, Thomson were great and all they had to do was turn up.

I got married in Sorrento last June. It was all arranged through Thompsons, who were brilliant, the wedding co-ordinator was superb and arranged everything for us, nothing was too much trouble and she met up with us regularly before the big day, she arranged flowers, a photographer, night do, transport - everything.
Sorrento was a superb place to get married and would reccomend it to anyone.
Just one point, you had to be in Italy for at least a week before hand, i.e we booked 2 weeks and got married during the 2nd week.

by the way, the wedding co-ordinator was half Italian and half English and was therefore fluent in both languages which was a big help

Hi I was married in venice in April 2004 at the public registry office which is in a wonderful palazzo on the Grand Canal. It is easy if you are from the EU and cheaper too but also possible for non EU citizens - we organised the whole thing by email and post. It was not expensive - we were married on a Friday afternoon (Sats are more pricy) and it was 300 euros. They arranged a translater and we booked the restaurant ourselves - there was no need to pay for special wedding organisors unless you really need handholding. We had to have the bans read in the UK and sent this on to the British consul in Venice for verification - we arrived the day before the wedding.Churches may be more tricky but this was easy and remarkably cheap for such a wonderful location. It did rain a bit but they say in Italy - 'sposa bagnata sposa fortunata'..
Check out the Commune di venezia website for more info..
Hope thats helpful

M

Hi there,

I am getting married in Italy next Sept, I am having a civil ceremony, which means you need to get married in a town hall before the venue.

I am getting married in a castle, which is 1500 euros for the venue hire. Much cheaper than most hotels in the UK! You only need to be in Italy 3 days before you get married, but its advisable to have wedding planners, mine cost me 250 euros, but some people can pay up to £3000!!! So beware there are a lot of people who charge a lot. I used pia from Invitoscana, on pia@invitoscana.it who has been pretty amazing.

Its a beautiful country, we were going to get married in the south on the coast, somewhere like Positano or Sorrento, but costs were generally higher, plus we thought we would go there on a honeymoon instead, so we opted for Tuscany, which is easy to get to from Florence and Pisa airports, which Ryan air serves. Anyway hope this has been of help.

J

A friend's daughter wanted to get married in Italy a few years ago, but because she was divorced they wouldn't let it go ahead, even though it wasn't to be in a church. Something to think about if affects you.
We've seen weddings in Sorrento and the Amalfi Coast. Spectacular wedding photos!
Congratulations and have a lovely time.

Sorry ,I can't add much other than I've seen many glowing reviews of weddings held at a castle on Lake Garda (Northern Italy - with easy access to the budget flights).

- perhaps someone else could throw a bit more light on this - but the reviews of the place were wonderful...so could be worth investigating further.

Hi,

Myself and hubby to be are thinking of going to Italy to get married but we don't know where to start! Can anyone give us any good websites and also give us an indication of cost as our budget is a key feature!

Thanks

I cant tell you anything about the legalities or organisation of weddings there but I can tell you that whilst on holiday in September we saw about 5 weddings in the castle in Malcesine and they were fantastic, the ceremonies were held under a gazeebo towards the top of the castle with views out over the lake, I think the terrace is private whilst the ceremony takes place, the wedding parties mostly walked through the town to get to the castle all dressed in their wedding clothes but we did also see one of those 3 wheeler vehicles complete with flower decorations and ribbons that some used, the castle is still open to the public who gave the bride and groom a big round of applause as they descended the steps. If I could choose anywhere to repeat my wedding (after 32 years!) that castle would be the place, so romantic and with views to die for and Malcesine is a nice resort and well placed for visiting other towns around the lake.

In my opinion you go to venice, a very romantic place..and rome is also very beautiful

We have just returned from Lake Garda this week, and also witnessed several weddings at the castle at Malcesine.

Very very romantic and beautiful setting - they all appeared to be British couples so it must be relatively easy to arrange from here.

Get in contact with someone over at Villa Pallero if you're interested in somewhere like Tuscany. They have english, italian speakers who may be able to help you with arranging a romantic, intimate wedding.

Hi, we are planning on getting married in September 2009 in Venice. I have been looking at some websites and need some more information re getting married in the registry office in Venice. We are planning on going over just the two of us and then having a party back in the UK. If anyone has any information or has done something similar it would be great to hear from you and get some more information. It's all a bit of a minefield!

Hi n.settle,
Speaking as a newsagent I can inform you that there is a publication (possibly quarterly/ bi-monthly ?) called "Italian Weddings", where I'm sure you'll find a good deal of information on the subject.
It is distributed by WH Smiths Wholesale (at least it is here in the North West !) and so should be available in some WH Smith retail outlets and also a great many independent newsagents that are supplied by WH Smith Wholesale (such as ourselves).
If not available off the shelf, most independent newsagents will be more than happy to order it for you since this publication, like most, is supplied on full SOR terms.

Hope this helps !

Hi there, thanks for that! Will look out for it, thanks again.

Hi
Can anybody give any advice on my below enquiry? 'Myself and my partner hope to get married in the cinque terre region, specifically vernazza or riogmiaggre. We want to get married in 2019 or 2020 during the summer months (whichever is cheapest). We are looking at a budget or between £6k and £10k (closer to £6k). At present we are at 30 guests but we would have guests sort out their own accommodation or we would buy and sell the rooms to guests. We want something that is typically Italian with a long dinner table and nice lighting. Followed by a nice area to dance and drink. I'd like an idyllic location to actually get married and also basic DJ equipment. Hope this is enough information at this stage and you can assist us.'

Is this realistic? Has anybody been married in Cinque terre before?