Q: Do you have any tips on how to save money and still get a stylish wedding in Italy?
A: Getting married in Italy can be a great budget saver simply by choosing the right venue and making the right moves! Your wedding in Italy will be beyond your dreams, without a budget blow out!
Best tips to save on your wedding in Italy:
• ITALY WEDDING TIP NO.1 Choose “wedding halls in Italy ” located in the City outskirt.
For example, the town hall fees to get married in Florence ‘Sala Rossa Wedding Hall’, costs over € 2,500 . By choosing a wedding hall less than 10 minutes away, it will cost around € 350 ! You will still have your wedding in Florence , photos, video and all, but without a budget blow out!
Same for Rome wedding Halls: a wedding in Bracciano Lake or Tivoli will cost you around € 450 in town hall fees, while the Wedding Halls in Rome charge between € 1,400 and € 1,650.
While for seaside Wedding Locationsi in Italy, getting married @ a civil wedding hall just outside Positano or Sorrento , but still along the magnificent Amalfi Coast, can cost you less.
• ITALY WEDDING TIP NO.2 for a countryside wedding, avoid the most famous locations! Choose instead to get married in Italy in the less touristic ones like, Molise or Umbria or villages in the roman outskirts. Not only are they beautiful, private and unspoiled venues, but they are wedding locations chosen by VIP and football celebrities and the weather is usually sunny and mild during most time of the year.
• ITALY WEDDING TIP NO.3 Find out the most busiest summer months in your chosen location and stay away from it! Getting married outside high season not only will guarantee privacy at your wedding, especially for crowded locations like Sorrento , Positano or Venice but will also save you so much on travel fares, hotels, venues etc. Also avoid Bank holiday weekends for the same reasons.
• ITALY WEDDING TIP NO.4 For Europeans: choose a venue close to “low cost” airline airports, where guests can easily and cheaply arrive. For non-Europeans (USA, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Canada etc) choose a location where the main airports are. It will save you on extra stay and travel costs to reach the venue.
• ITALY TIP NO.5 Get Married on weekdays & during town hall opening hours. Most Italian wedding halls are cheaper on weekdays and weddings during opening hours.
• ITALY WEDDING TIP NO.6 Embrace the local Wedding culture! Find out the local wedding traditions and try to imply them to your wedding. Using local wedding items/food/customs will save you as they are already locally available in wide quantities for the Italian brides, making them cheaper. A classic example is the wedding cake. An Italian wedding cake often complimentary, as it is included in the Italian wedding menu! While, what Italians call ‘the American Wedding cake’ (icing/decorated cake) can be very pricey.
• ITALY WEDDING TIP NO.7 Avoid booking venues/services directly! Just Get Married in Italy, as a well established destination wedding planner, has discounted rates from Italian venues and vendors that we pass on directly to our clients!
The planning fees we charge is a very small token to pay for all the savings, not only economically but timely and emotionally. A wedding planner does know and uses only the best suppliers in your chosen area. We will take all the pressure and stress away from you !
• ITALY WEDDING TIP NO. 8 Choose seasonal flowers instead of fancy tropical ones or out of season! The first it will be locally available & cheaper, the latter will still be available at double the price as it needs to be imported from abroad! Think green, and opt for seasonal flowers, instead!
• ITALY WEDDING TIP NO. 9 Choose an Italian villa/venue that offer “free use” on the wedding day. Stay away from the most popular ones, easily found on the web! Ask your Italian wedding planner to source one with no additional hiring fees on the day! It will save you as much as € 2,500 if not more!
• ITALY TIP NO. 10 Choose an all inclusive wedding menu! A la carte menu in Italy can go easily out of control.
• ITALY WEDDING TIP NO. 11 Choose a wedding venue in Italy with an inside kitchen rather than one where you need to hire an external catering service. Catering companies can help you to personalize the table decorations, styles etc. better, although it comes with a higher price.
• ITALY WEDDING TIP NO. 12 Leave the Exclusive hotel for the wedding night! For your stay, opt instead for luxury private apartments. Not only will they give you plenty of privacy and more money in your pocket, but will let you enjoy living as a Roman, a Florentine or a Venetian for a little while!
• ITALY WEDDING TIP NO. 13 Logistically, guests transfers are very important for a wedding abroad, especially in Italy and non-english speaking countries. Instead of paying for it, offer a “payable transfer option” to your guests! Each guest will pay very little per head, while you will save a great deal of money. By experience, guests don’t mind to pay for stress free transfers, and they appreciate that you have taken the time to organize it for them.
• TIP NO. 14 Leave all legal and religious aspects to the experts. If it doesn’t save you money, it will save you in jeopardizing your wedding with the wrong paperwork.
Just Get Married in Italy! put together these tips to help you to save money and time in the long run! For a more accurate quote for your wedding in Italy send through your details and secure your dream wedding in Italy.
Q: Who has used Just Get Married! in the past?
A: Couples who regularly use our services are mainly from UK, IRELAND, USA, CANADA, AUSTRALIA, NEW ZEALAND and European countries, although our services & packages suit any country or religion worldwide. what our clients say
Q: Getting married abroad: is a wedding in Italy the right choice for us?
A: Before choosing your wedding destination you need to make sure that a wedding abroad is what you really wish!
At Just Get Married in Italy, we offer honest and clear feedback on weddings in Italy offering this service free of charge prior to your booking for complete peace of mind! A wedding abroad is not only a memorable wedding day that you and your guests will cherish forever but also an opportunity to embrace the culture and wedding traditions of the country you decide to get married in. Getting married in Italy can be a wonderful experience however a great misconception that couples face when planning a wedding in Italy (or anywhere abroad) is that they can create a wedding based on what a wedding concept, budget, legal requirements and styles are in their native countries.
Italy offers great wedding traditions and being a country very attached & proud of its culture, Italian venues, flowers, wines, services, photography, including the finest food served are 100% Italian! Even the wedding cake is traditionally made with the freshest and finest ingredients on the day.
From the legal point of view, foreign couples wishing to get legally married in Italy must provide all documents requested and comply with specific requirements in order to obtain a marriage license. There are no shortcuts!
Any couple getting married in Italy should fully acknowledge the above PRIOR going ahead with a civil/Legal marriage abroad, in Italy or ANYWHERE in the world.
We offer a full legal marriage assistance in Italy on how to obtain the correct documentation to get married in Italy based on your citizenship, assisting you in every step, but the all process may still involve some level of stress from your side, if you tend to be anxious.
All documents needed must be obtained by the couple from their country of origin. The process can also be time consuming for some citizenships, as it may involve dealing with several different offices, which can be located miles away from their home town and are open to the public only for a few hours per day.
Q: Why can Just Get Married! offer the best services at the best possible price?
A: We are a registered wedding planner, operating in the Destination Wedding Industry for over 20 years. When you contact Just Get Married in Italy! you get directly in contact with us. There is no middleman fees to pay. This also guarantees you our undivided attention to your specific needs.
Q: Is there any special requirements to get married in Italy?
A: Foreign couples can get married in Italy easily nowadays. Italian authorities require a document called a Nulla Osta issued by your Embassy in Italy. Both Civil marriages and religious weddings require paperwork that you must obtain from your country of origin .The legal paperwork to get married in Italy varies depending on your country of origin and it is necessary to apply for a nulla osta.
All Embassies apply fees for a nulla osta (average issuing fees are between 20 to 70 euros depending on embassy). Italian authorities also apply stamp duties fees (the cost is approx E 16 ea. you need 2 or 4 depending on nationality).
We will assist you with a full legal and religious assistance service on how to obtain all documents necessary to get married in Italy, together with sourcing, booking and management of the church/town hall, lodge of all documents to the Italian Authorities , interpreter during pre-wedding promise and wedding and witnesses (if needed).
Q: How can I get legally married in Italy?
A: In Italy Civil Marriages , Civil Unions andCatholic ceremonies have legal validity. Therefore, if you wish to get married and have a legal recognition of your marriage in Italy anywhere in the world, you need to opt for these type of ceremonies.
Otherwise we can organise a humanist/symbolic wedding anywhere in Italy ! it will look and feel like a real wedding but without a legal/religious binding marriage.
Q: What legal or religious documents do we need to get married in Italy ?
A: Marriage and religious documents to get married in Italy vary depending on your country and religion. Just Get Married in Italy! will send you a detailed list of all the documents required for your specific country or religion. Our services are completely hassle free! you will only need to send the documents requested to us and, in most cases, arrive just 1 day before your wedding and get married the next!
Q: Can I get married in a catholic church in Italy even if we are not Catholic?
A: In order to get married in a catholic church, one of you must be catholic. Another requirement is that none of you has been married with a catholic rite before. For full details on type of ceremonies in Italy click here
Q: Can I have a civil ceremony in Italy in a garden or hotel?
A: Civil ceremonies are conducted in premises designated by the city Town Hall: This is an Italian legal requirement. The venues include Prestigious historical buildings, ex-churches, town hall premises, outdoor terraces or villa’s gardens. The Italian wedding halls & venues are elegantly decorated with famous paintings and ancient sculptures making them the perfect setting for stylish wedding ceremonies.
*IMPORTANT* Although some Town Halls may have the availability to use the town hall’s “garden or outdoor area” , only very few Villas, gardens or outdoor venues in Italy have permits to conduct a legal binding ceremony. Italian Wedding Venues or villas without this permit can only accommodate a Humanist, Symbolic or Blessing ceremony with no legal validity !
Q: Can we hire a venue with exclusive use on the wedding day?
A: a wedding venue can be hired with exclusive use on the wedding day only. The venue often requests a fee to allow you to use it in exclusivity for the wedding day. Accommodations are booked on a non-exclusive basis. Therefore, during your stay, although you may have booked the entire capacity of the venue, the venue may still use its grounds/areas/halls to accommodate other functions/events during the days of your stay, with exclusion of your wedding day, where the grounds/areas/halls for a wedding will be given to use with exclusive use.
Q: Can we play music at our Wedding?
A: Music is allowed in Italy, upon the payment of the SIAE tax. This is a tax to play music at any event. Assistance is provided with the SIAE tax procedure, (service fees apply), if required.
Q: What are the Italian legal requirements for a civil ceremony in Italy?
A: Together with some paperwork (vary depending on the country), legal requirements for a civil ceremony are 2 witnesses over 18 (anybody can be your witness) and an official interpreter (if you do not speak Italian) needs to be present during the pre-wedding promise and the ceremony. Just Get Married! offers full legal assistance services in Italy.
Q: My fiance’/a guest can speak Italian. Will we still need an interpreter?
A: If both of you can speak Italian, an interpreter is not needed. If one of you or both of you cannot speak Italian an official interpreter is needed. This is a legal requirement for non italian speaking couples. Just Get Married in Italy! can provide you with this service. For blessings/catholic or religious weddings you won’t need an interpreter if an English speaking priest or celebrant is hired. Just Get Married in Italy! can provide you with this service
Q: Can we have friends or family as witnesses?
A: Yes, friends and family can be your witnesses (must be over 18 with valid passport). If you don’t have anyone coming with you, Just Get Married in Italy! will provide you with two witnesses as part of our services.
Q: Can you still help with a last minute booking?
A: Depending on your citizenship Just Get Married in Italy! may accept a civil and/or a symbolic ceremony booking up to 3 months prior to your suggested date. Check your date and we will take care of everything for you. (subject to citizenship requirements and chosen town hall/church availability).
We accept last minute booking for catholic weddings in Italy 9 months prior.
Q: We have decided to get married while on holiday in Italy . Can you still help?
A: Like a memorable holiday should be planned ahead, a wedding abroad also needs the same commitment and level of planning ahead to be memorable. Based on previous experiences, we no longer accept booking requests from couples that are already in Italy on holiday. Communicating with them while on holiday was the major issue we encountered. Also, we could not always guarantee our availability being already engaged with existing clients’ weddings & appointments. We are now encouraging couples that want to get married in Italy with a symbolic, renewal of vows, or a civil ceremony during their italian holiday, to confirm a booking at least 10 weeks prior to their arrival by checking the date first.
Q: How long before the wedding ceremony do we need to arrive in Italy?
A: The arrival time depends on chosen town, date, type of ceremony, & your citizenship. This time can be from 2 weeks to as little as 24 hours prior the wedding. For this reason, we highly recommend to book flights and accommodations once the town hall is secured and an official confirmation is forwarded to you. Based on the confirmed wedding date, an email will be sent to you specifying what date you need to arrive in order to complete the final legal steps once in Italy. You can then book your flights accordingly.
Q: Do you offer Video Calls?
A Corresponding via e-mail has a lower cost to us than a call centre, and we have built this lower cost into our fees passing the savings on to our clients. The planning, the questions and the confirmations of any kind are all dealt by email. We still offer Video Calls & WhatsApp Assistance to our clients, for full peace of mind and to understand their ideas to create their Event.
Q: What happens if we need to reschedule or cancel our wedding?
A: Just Get Married in Italy! provides a rescheduling service & cancellation policy both reported in our agreement for acceptance prior a booking confirmation for full peace of mind.
Q: Would you recommend a wedding insurance ?
A: Absolutely! Although we hope you won’t have to use it, for a relatively small amount of money, wedding insurance is a very wise investment. Working in the destination wedding industry, we experience every year a small percentage of couples cancelling or rescheduling their wedding due to unpredictable events in their life, like work commitments, a sudden illness of close family members, or simply deciding to not get married to one another.
Nowadays, All major worldwide insurances offer wedding insurance covers. by contacting your local insurance company, you should be able to find a destination wedding insurance cover that best suit your wedding needs.
Q: What are your regular business hours and holidays?
A: BUSINESS HOURS: Online and telephone assistance is available from 10.00 AM to 03.00 PM, weekdays, Italian Local time. HOLIDAYS: Call and Online assistance are not available during the Festive holiday seasons (Christmas, New year & Easter time), in August and during the Italian bank holidays. All Clients getting married during the holidays time, can get in contact with us, using the contact details available on the timeline, issued 4 weeks prior to the ceremony. All other inquires will be attended on our return.