Weddings in Italy

faceman · 07-05-2007 12:34PM #1

Anyone get married in italy, or around lake garda? Any advice on how to go about arranging it? Is it expensive?

blipp · 07-05-2007 04:25PM

Hi Faceman, we havent got married in italy but are in the process of deciding between a place there and one in Ireland.

We have done a ton of research, been over and met people and viewed venues etc. We have done costing analysis of both options comparing 100 here and 55 in Italy and to be honest, because you have to include wedding planner fees the costs are pretty much the same. The wedding planner isnt someone like Peter Kelly of Weddings by Franc; its someone you need to do all the legalities. We need to decide now whether we will have it there and get less money from people (which is always a factor; I will probably receive negative comments on this forum) or have it here and lets face it, make more back on it. And no, we are not looking to profiteer on our wedding.

Loads of holiday companies like Topflight, sunway, crystal do weddings there and the idea is that your guests would book a holiday with them and take the hassle away from you. Bear in mind though that packages with these holidays companies are about €800 per person and you may not want to force that on your guests when their usual holiday would be €250 in Ibiza. The actual wedding costs that they charge are less than a planner and range from about €750 upwards. Some of the independant planners charge up to €6k.

As regards Lake Garda it is next to impossible to find a planner that will deal with the catholic church for you (if that is a consideration). That means that you have to have a civil wedding first in the town hall and then a religious blessing if you require. It will be easier to have a joint civil and religious wedding in Rome or Sorrento.

Wedding menus are around 80 per head also. Italians tend to have 7-course wedding feasts that go on all evening. Prices usually include wine though. And there will always be cheaper places too.

Either way, it will be more hassle to have the wedding abroad if you want to bring a few buddies/family members over. And there will always be people who cant make it and will be missed on the day. But Lake Garda is spectacular (the Northern end like Malcesine, Riva del Garda).

If is of course possible to forego a planner and do it yourself but you will need Italian and the bureaucracy is famously slow and frustrating. It would probably take from the experience for you.

Above all else, do what you want to do. Its your day.

blipp · 07-05-2007 04:25PM

Hi Faceman, we havent got married in italy but are in the process of deciding between a place there and one in Ireland.

We have done a ton of research, been over and met people and viewed venues etc. We have done costing analysis of both options comparing 100 here and 55 in Italy and to be honest, because you have to include wedding planner fees the costs are pretty much the same. The wedding planner isnt someone like Peter Kelly of Weddings by Franc; its someone you need to do all the legalities. We need to decide now whether we will have it there and get less money from people (which is always a factor; I will probably receive negative comments on this forum) or have it here and lets face it, make more back on it. And no, we are not looking to profiteer on our wedding.

Loads of holiday companies like Topflight, sunway, crystal do weddings there and the idea is that your guests would book a holiday with them and take the hassle away from you. Bear in mind though that packages with these holidays companies are about €800 per person and you may not want to force that on your guests when their usual holiday would be €250 in Ibiza. The actual wedding costs that they charge are less than a planner and range from about €750 upwards. Some of the independant planners charge up to €6k.

As regards Lake Garda it is next to impossible to find a planner that will deal with the catholic church for you (if that is a consideration). That means that you have to have a civil wedding first in the town hall and then a religious blessing if you require. It will be easier to have a joint civil and religious wedding in Rome or Sorrento.

Wedding menus are around 80 per head also. Italians tend to have 7-course wedding feasts that go on all evening. Prices usually include wine though. And there will always be cheaper places too.

Either way, it will be more hassle to have the wedding abroad if you want to bring a few buddies/family members over. And there will always be people who cant make it and will be missed on the day. But Lake Garda is spectacular (the Northern end like Malcesine, Riva del Garda).

If is of course possible to forego a planner and do it yourself but you will need Italian and the bureaucracy is famously slow and frustrating. It would probably take from the experience for you.

Above all else, do what you want to do. Its your day.

Snickers Man · 07-05-2007 05:26PM

Word of warning.

Some places in Italy are clamping down on blow-in weddings, especially if you want to get married in church. They felt that some of the Irish were treating things a little disrespectfully and not giving the service due reverence. As a result, some places are not allowing weddings unless one of the parties comes from the area.

I was at a wedding in the area just north of Milan last year and it was fantastic. Beautiful part of the world. but then, the bride was a local. This year, I was due to go to another in the same region but it has had to be relocated back to Ireland because neither party was Italian.

Just something to check before you invest too much in flights and hotels.

blipp · 07-05-2007 06:22PM

Snickers man, do you think it was a better wedding for having been in Italy?? We are very much between here and Italy. All sorted in Italy for us, we just have to pay the money.

Every girl wants the perfect wedding!! And we really want people to enjoy it and have good craic. Just wondering if you enjoyed the different experience?

Weddings in Italy

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