Getting married in Tuscany
First of all, we married in 2005 at the Pieve di Sant'Alessandro a Giogoli. This beautiful church sits on top of a hill nestled among the olive groves overlooking Florence. We picked the hottest month of the year, August, and we were lucky because we could have been burnt to a crisp. Instead, there was a light breeze on the hills which made everything all the more pleasurable.
Best time of year to get married
Temperatures soar during the summer months and Florence in particular, which sits in an elongated valley, suffers from very high levels of humidity. We married in August and we were lucky, it could have been a heat swamp. May through to July are the best months for a wedding ceremony if you are heat shy, the temperature is unlikely to fall below 22C (70F) and go much above 30c (80F). Also, in the past four years August has actually become a strange month in Tuscany, with heavy downpours not unusual.
DIY or through an agency
We have the luxury of living in Italy for more than ten years, and this gave us two important advantages: First we were able to understand and take action on the relevant paperworks required for marriage, and second we were able to communicate with the various suppliers in Italian. Unless you are marrying an Italian the best advice to give is that you should hire an agency that has experience in organizing weddings. If, on the other hand, you're the adventurous type then read on, I hope to provide some useful information to help you do it yourself.
Places to hold the wedding reception in Tuscany
- Castello il Palaggio - This is where we held our reception. It is about 30 minutes outside of Florence but is in the most amazing countryside of Mercatale Val di Pesa.
- Tenuta il Corno
- Castello di Gabbiamo
- Villa Maiano
- Castello Vicchiomaggio
Caterers
- Delizia Ricevimenti
Our choice for the wedding. A fair price combined with a good service. They had also worked with the Palagio before which was a bonus. - Galateo Ricevimenti
These are Florentine deluxe caterers, full service right the way up to your wildest dreams.
Wedding photographers
Carlo Giorgi
Speaks English and Italian and produces great work.
Administrative steps
If you're British then you are required to produce the following documents in order to get a Nulla Osta which will allow you, from an Italian perspective, to get married in Italy.
First you need to decide the place and date of the wedding. If you are planning to get married in a registry office then you can visit the local council/comune and get a tentative date (upon provision of providing all the relevant paperwork later on). In the case that you are going for a church option, you will need to find the church and book the priest. Once dates are set you can then proceed with the Administrative tasks.
You must then publish the baans at your local registry office in England (literally the public announcement of your intention to marry) or through the British Consulate if you are based in Italy (British Consulate in Florence, Lungarno Corsini 2, FIRENZE,Tel: +39 055 284133, [email protected] Open Mon-Fri 09:30-12:30, 14:30-16:30).
However in order to publish the Baans you will need a Certificate of No Impediment. If you are marrying an Italian he/she can obtain their own certificate by visiting the local council/comune who will print out a statement of the partners marital status. English persons in Italy can take an oath of their marital status at their local British Consulate which is then signed off by the Commissioner of Oaths. The Baans then get published and two to three weeks later, you can return to the office and pick up the certificate of no impediment (assuming there has been no contestation).
At this point you are pretty much back in control of things. You will need to produce the Nulla Osta, a valid UK passport as well as your original birth certificate (the long version printed on red paper which shows the entry of birth) at whichever place you decide to get married, either the Church or local registry office. NB. If you are remarrying you will also need a divorce decree and a certified copy of your previous marriage certificate.
The registry office Vs the church!
If you're getting married at the local registry office you will need to visit the local council/comune with the papers created during the phase of Administrative steps on the date you set right at the beginning. Straightforward.
As we went for a church wedding, here is what we needed to do in addition...
First: If you are going to get married in a church which is not the local church of the Italian partner you are marrying (IE its not the local church), your partner will need to go to the priest and ask permission to get married in another church. This will come in the form of a piece of paper which will need to be signed off by a range of people. We heard stories of priests that literally wouldn't allow the couple to marry anywhere else, so the couple would be forced to marry in their local church. But these are exceptions.
Second: Many churches will only marry couples that have been present at a “corso pre-matrimoni” (a pre-wedding course). This involves attending classes where lessons are read from the bible and discussions take place to focus the mind on the spiritual aspect of marriage. Having attended these I can say that while they seem a little bit draconian at first glance, but we (English) would do well to do something similar in the UK. Some of the couples we met ended up not getting married because of the discussions held, so perhaps it saved a divorce or two. Completing this course will convince the priest that you are now ready for marriage. Cynics might say that this is the churches last attempt to try and make you one of its congregation, proponents an opportunity to finally get in on what you're missing.
And finally..
The big day
The big day arrives, a few words and the rest is happiness.
The bill
Don't expect much change from EURO 20,000, but it'll be worth every penny.