Anyone got / or getting married in Italy?

My sister got married out there two years ago near Lake Como. Don't know much about the arrangements as she did it all (lives and works in Milan so is fluent in Italian which helped). What I do know is that not all venues are licensed for marriage so she had to have two ceremonies - one official in the town hall and the other in the pretty stately home. TBH most people didn't know about the first one as it was immediate family and BM's only.

Sorry that's probably not much help!

I went to a wedding in Lake Garda last year. It was amazing. Here's a blog I wrote on it: http://katievaledesigns.blogspot.com/2010/08/perfect-wedding-abroad.html

K

KittyKat that is very helpful, I didn't know that, so thank you!

Katie V, will have a read, thanks.

Yes, following on from what KittyKat said they did have a service in their local registry office before Italy. But I wasn't sure if that was because they were girls!

This is the house that their service took place in. It was on a private island so we were the only ones there.

Hi KB3 ?

I am getting married in Italy! As far as I could tell from my research the most popular places are; The Lakes, Tuscany/Florence, Sorrento/Amalfi coast and Rome. We decided what we wanted and narrowed down from there. We discounted The Lakes because of the cost and distance from airport/awkward flights etc, we discounted Tuscany/Florence because many of our guests won't be driving and we wanted plenty for the kids to do. We were almost set on Rome when we re-visited in August and decided it was far too hectic and not as easy to get around as we remembered, also not that child friendly. So we decided on Amalfi coast and honestly couldn't be happier about our decision. We have been there on holiday before, transfers from airports are easy, flights frequent to Naples, beautiful scenery, loads for guests and children to do and loads of choice of accomodation with villas and hotels all over the coast. We decided on Positano twon hall for the actual ceremony mainly based on the beautiful view over the sea from the ceremony terrace ?

BTW we're not using any planners as yet, we're hoping the legal stuff can be worked through over the next 18 months and we have no problems booking our accomodation etc ourselves and we're not remotely bothered about decorations, flowers, hair etc but if we were it's pretty easy to find what you want on-line. Other websites that have some good advice info on Italy are Confetti and You and your Wedding, many of the threads are old and out of date but gives you a good idea of what people have done.

I'm getting married in Lake Garda in Malcesine Castle.....it's a licensed venue for civil ceremonies. I've only booked it for half an hour for the ceremony then walking down to the harbour front to have my reception in a restaurant on the harbour and a lake cruise! (the Castle can be booked for an additional 2 hours if you wish to have drinks/canapes). We have decided to use a planner to ensure we get all the legal bits correct, as we aren't fluent in Italian and don't want to risk it (her charges are about £1000, she was recommended to me by a work colleague who used her). Though I sourced the venue's/hotels/flights etc direct (i used to be a travel agent and was quite comfortable doing this on my own).

I can't wait only 6 months!!!

Just one thing I would say here.....after the ceremony we had a meal in a lake restaurant too. The brides had paid for a specific package, which included a 3 course meal for us, bubbly on arrival and wine at the table and some in the evening. Unbeknown to them, and once the wine started flowing they kept bringing out more. The brides and father of bride questioned this at about 9pm and was told that it was still part of their budget. Plus at the bar all drinks were 5euros irrelevant as to whether they were a coke or vodka and coke. But the rest of the restaurant there were "normal" prices. Needless to say the manager refused to let the brides leave until they had paid an outstanding bar tab of 500 euros because they'd just kept bringing the wine!

I know hindsight is a wonderful thing, but the manager spoke perfect english and was very clear when he was saying that the wine was part of the package. But as soon as this was questioned he said it was a mix up due to the language barrier. So I would just say to anyone getting married where there are specific packages, do ensure that you know the exact limit you are getting.

To be fair though.....this could count for anyone getting married or having a do anywhere!

K

Katie V - I'll keep that in mind, though the restaurant has given me the package info in writing saying wine is unlimited, beer is chargeable . So hopefully that will be Enough to prove .....

Hi Looneysh

Just out of interest where are you having your reception?

we are also getting married in Malcesine next June and are struggling to find a reception venue with facilities for music and a dancefloor as our wedding planner has informed us that not all restaurants have a music license and that many couples head off to a local bar with their guests to have music and dancig there, but i would prefer it all under one roof!

xx

Im having my reception at La Pace restaurant, it takes up to 55 guests and I arranged the DJ through them directly. They have been really helpful. I am however unsure of how big the dancefloor is and will just need to wing it, but I have been told that there will be enough room for our 40 guests. I only realised recently that we had to purchase a music license. Apparantly the host is responsible for the license and not the venue? So we were quoted 350 euro for the DJ and 100 euro for the license....

Another restaurant I was considering is the Al Corsaro, in my opinion this restaurant looks nicer and a little bit bigger and it's right under the castle. The main reason we went with La Pace was that the package they gave us was a better, unlimited wine and canapes etc all included. for 75 euro a head

Hi Hostie1085 and looneysh!

I'm getting married on Lake Garda too, albeit on the south side of the lake! It's nice to know there are other Garda brides around!

On a completely different topic, what are you doing about hair and makeup? Have you found anybody to do it locally?

Hostie1085 - regarding the music licence - we have to organise ours too. Apparently the venue can get fined if they cannot produce it on the night, so they usually insist on seeing a copy of it.

No idea about weddings in Italy, just thought I'd say hi! <wave>

Hi Chloe Chloe and Looneysh,

Thanks for the info, i have eaten at La Pace when we got engaged in Malcesine and it was gorgeous, beautiful setting and the food was amazing and also my friend went there to have canapes and champagne after her ceremony and it was lovely!

Chloe Chloe, i personally am planning on treating myself to some lovely new products and digging a little deeper into the purse to get some really good quality products and then just doing my own make up. In terms of hair, what my friend did was just take a pic of what she wanted into a local salon when she got married in Malcesine and she was really pleased so i'll probably just do that. I'm not planning on having anything extravagant done with my hair - just a french roll i think which i can actually do myself however i'm not sure i'll have the patience to be fighting with my hair the morning of my wedding so i'll leave it to the professionals.

Just out of interest what time are you having your ceremony? we went for the 11AM slot at the castle, purely becasue i though starting the day earlyish would make it last longer as i'm sure it will literally just fly by! after that i was planning on having canapes and champagne either at the castle itself or at one of the local bars, potentially La Pace? and then having the reception at another location??? but i'm now wondering if by making it such a long day will people start to flag a bit in the afternoon and whether we should shcedule in a little break for people to just chill or go back to their hotels for a nap maybe?

is this a ggod idea do you think? i dont want an early reception at lunch time as want to spend the rest of the evening there, but not sure what to do to fill time in between the canapes and champs and the reception???

any suggestions?

xx

Hi hostie1085,

Thanks for the reply. I've wondered about doing my makeup myself but am worried I'll get all stressed and mess it up!

We're planning on having our ceremony between 4 and 5 but haven't decided yet. We're getting married outside in August and the wedding planner recommends we don't do it earlier than 5pm as the weather will still be quite hot (hopefully). Our TOG on the other hand has suggested 4pm will be better, given that the day goes quickly anyway.

I think a lovely idea to fill the gap would be to take your guests on a boat ride on the lake. There are plenty of companies offering boat hire (I've seen a sailing boat that looks gorgeous), but I guess it could be quite pricey?

We're getting married at 2pm at the castle and have booked a boat trip at 5pm. I'm thinking the ceremony will finish around 2.30, I'll want to spend and hour to an hour and half getting photographs done. So aim to have the canapes at La pace to start arounf 3pm for our guests while we get the photographs taken. 2 hours seems quite long for drinks and canapes but I think the time will fly by when with people chatting and catching up, I have also hired a violinist to play during the canapes. The meal won't be served until 7pm, but again by the time the lake cruise finishes I imagine just before 6, we can then have speeches between 6 and 7 to fill that time, meal at 7 then DJ will start about 8.30/9pm