Irish bride getting hitched in Italy. Help!

Oh, I got my wedding dress from www.eastbridal.com, which fits me very well.

Probably not much help but we were married in Venice. I had the same concerns so paid an Italian Wedding Planner to sort out the paperwork for me only and I did all the rest. Italy is such a romantic place to get married!

I'm getting married in lake Garda, again we're hiring a wedding planner to organise all the legal bits!

I know that you Need to give notice in your local office in the normal way 3 months before and get your certificate to confirm your able able to marry. If your doing the legal bits yourself I think you may need to be in Italy for about 3-4 working days as you need to go to local town hall etc, all witness passports etc need to be sent over in advance too. My knowledge However is very sketchy and would the recommend going on the web and trying to find a site that gives you every step.

The ceremony will be in italian and you need to hire a translator by law, my venue charged 100 euro for this but my WP includes this as part of her package.

I also read that the bride signs her marraige certificate in her maiden name. I'm not sure whAt the norm in the uk is though, I was a little disappointed I was hoping to sign my married name for the first time.

You sign in your maiden name here too.

We got married in Greece, I'd definitely recommend getting a planner out there as its someone who speaks the language and knows the best people to talk to to get the best prices and make sure it all goes right on the day.

Best of luck with your planning x