Getting married in Italy from the UK: cost, legal steps and timeline

Can a UK couple legally marry in Italy?

Yes. Italy lets foreigners who live abroad marry in a civil ceremony at a comune (town hall). The comune needs proof under article 116 of the Italian Civil Code that nothing stops you marrying, which Italians call the nulla osta. The British Embassy in Rome no longer issues one for people living in the UK, so the Italian Consulate in London accepts two UK documents in its place.

1. Give notice for a certificate of no impediment (CNI) at your local register office. It costs £42 each, the notice sits on display for 28 days, then the registrar issues the certificate. Check your names against your passports before you leave. A Scottish CNI is valid for three months, an English one for six.
2. Swear a bilingual statutory declaration (dichiarazione giurata) before a UK solicitor or notary, stating that you are free to marry under Italian law. The Italian Consulate in London publishes the wording; notaries set their own fees.
3. Send both CNIs and both declarations to the FCDO Legalisation Office for a paper apostille. The consulate specifies paper, so the £35 e-apostille is no use. The standard service costs £45 per document and takes up to 25 working days plus post.
4. Have each CNI translated by a sworn translator (traduzione giurata) before an Italian court; the declaration is bilingual and needs none. Budget €300 to €1,000 for translation and interpreter together.
5. Send the file to the comune at least four days ahead in Florence and ten in Radda in Chianti; your planner will have sent scans months earlier to hold the date.
6. Sign the dichiarazione di assenza di impedimenti (declaration that no impediment exists) in person at the comune two or three days before the wedding. It costs nothing and needs no witnesses. If neither of you speaks Italian you bring an interpreter, who swears an oath.
7. Marry. A civil status officer or the mayor conducts the ceremony with two adult witnesses and your interpreter present. Ask for the multilingual extract (estratto plurilingue) so UK banks can read it.

Both UK documents must be under six months old at the comune. Count backwards: 28 days of notice, up to five weeks for the apostille and a fortnight for the translation means you give notice four to five months before the wedding, and no earlier. Hall fees come on top: a village comune charges non-residents €200 to €800, while the Sala Rossa in Florence's Palazzo Vecchio costs €2,500 on a weekday and €3,000 at the weekend.

The atto notorio is the sworn act American and Australian citizens make before an Italian court with witnesses. UK citizens do not need one; the statutory declaration does the same job. A few comuni still ask for it, so get your comune's document list in writing.

A Catholic wedding is legally binding in Italy under the Concordat with the Vatican once the civil paperwork above is complete; the priest then registers the marriage with the comune. The church side needs permission from your home parish and bishop, baptism certificates and a marriage preparation course, so allow nine months. Church of England, other Protestant, Jewish or Hindu ceremonies count as symbolic unless the minister holds Italian civil authorisation.

Most UK couples sidestep the lot. You give notice and marry at a UK register office for £42 each plus a ceremony fee of around £60, then hold a symbolic ceremony in Italy with an English-speaking celebrant, on a Sunday, in a vineyard, at sunset. No comune, no interpreter, no six month expiry. Either way, a marriage valid in Italy is valid in the UK. There is no UK register for foreign marriages; the FCDO stopped accepting certificates for deposit in 2014, so keep the Italian certificate with your passports.

What it costs

Typical 2026 prices for 70 guests at a Tuscan villa or agriturismo with exclusive use on the day. Pounds are at €1.17 to £1 and rounded; the rate moves, so treat them as approximate.

An 80 guest wedding in the UK runs £18,000 to £37,000, so venue for venue Italy costs more. The saving comes from the list: 70 people fly to Tuscany where 110 would have driven to Surrey, and the budget split shifts from catering towards hosting.

Regions and venue types

• Villa: a private house with grounds, hired for the day or for two or three nights. Most have no kitchen, so you bring an external caterer at €180 to €250 a head.
• Borgo: a hamlet converted into guest rooms, sold as exclusive use for two to four nights. Mid-range Tuscan borghi charge around €22,000 for two midweek nights and €34,000 for a four night weekend, with beds for 40 guests included.
• Masseria: a fortified Puglian farmhouse. Two night midweek buyouts run €14,000 to €16,000 and three night weekends €19,000 to €26,000.
• Castello: exclusive use starts around €9,000 for a three day buyout of a small castle and €21,000 for two nights at a grand one. Rooms are limited, so guests stay in the nearest town.

What your guests will pay

Direct flights from London, Manchester, Bristol and Edinburgh reach Pisa, Naples, Bari, Catania and Milan in two to three hours. easyJet and Ryanair returns start at £70 to £95 when booked months ahead outside peak. A July or August weekend booked late runs £150 to £300 return from London, more from regional airports, with hold bags on top.

Rooms near the venue cost €120 to €400 a night in Tuscany, €100 to €350 in Sicily, €200 to €600 on Lake Como and €180 to €700 on the Amalfi Coast in peak season. Add three nights, two dinners out and a share of a hire car and each guest spends €1,000 to €1,500, around £900 to £1,300, to attend.

Couples who host well pay for the welcome drinks, the shuttles between hotels and venue (non-negotiable on the Amalfi Coast and at any rural villa), and rooms on site for parents and the wedding party. Guests pay for flights, rooms and time off. Expect more declines than at a UK wedding, and cut the list before the save the dates go out.

Timeline

• 12 to 18 months out: choose the region, set the budget in euros, hire the planner, book the venue and pay the deposit. If you are marrying there, ask the comune to hold the date. Send save the dates with airports and hotels 10 to 12 months ahead.
• 9 months: book the photographer, the band and the celebrant or interpreter. Fly out for a tasting and a site visit. Start the church paperwork if you want a Catholic ceremony.
• 6 months: send invitations with the accommodation list. Buy wedding insurance that covers weddings abroad. Confirm the hotel blocks.
• 4 to 5 months: give notice for the CNIs and swear the statutory declarations. Post the four documents for apostilles as soon as the CNIs arrive.
• 3 months: apostilles back, translation sworn, file sent to the comune. Book the shuttles. Chase RSVPs.
• 1 month: final numbers to the caterer, balances paid, a printed pack of passports, CNIs, declarations, apostilles and translations. Confirm the interpreter and name your two witnesses to the comune.
• The week of: arrive three or four days ahead, sign the declaration at the comune, walk the venue with the planner, host the welcome event.

The UK planning timeline covers the rest, from fittings to seating plans.

Do you need a planner?

For a legal wedding, in practice yes. Someone has to walk into the comune, chase the court translator, book the interpreter and read contracts in Italian. For a symbolic wedding at a venue with an in-house coordinator you can manage without one, if you are fine with quotes that arrive in Italian with IVA left off.

Before you sign, ask whether the fee includes IVA, whether they take commission from suppliers on top, and whether they attend the comune appointment with you.

Where UK couples get caught out

• IVA. Italian suppliers quote before 22 percent VAT, with 10 percent on some hotel and restaurant lines. Ask for totals marked IVA inclusa and compare those.
• Currency. A UK bank adds 3 to 4 percent to a euro transfer. Pay from a multi-currency account and buy euros when the rate suits you.
• Deposits. Thirty to fifty percent on booking, non-refundable, with balances by transfer before the day. Read the cancellation clause first; the venue red flags apply twice as hard in a language you do not read.
• Document expiry. The comune rejects a CNI or declaration older than six months, and a name that does not match your passport.
• Sundays and holidays. Many comuni marry on weekdays and Saturday mornings; Sunday and public holiday slots are rare and carry a surcharge where they exist. Around 15 August (Ferragosto) family-run suppliers close for a fortnight.
• Heat and rain. Inland Tuscany, Puglia and Sicily pass 35°C in July and August, so ceremonies start at 5 or 6pm. Summer thunderstorms arrive without notice and a marquee costs €5,000 and up, so ask about the wet weather plan before you sign.
• Tipping. Service is in the price and suppliers do not expect a tip.

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