sandra3120

Don't despair, Areala - you can get married in Italy, just as you have already discovered, much easier than in France. There are documents and stamps on them that you need from this side of the pond first, then documents you need to get stamped there, as well, and in whatever place you choose in Italy as your venue, fees for the registrar's office to perform the legal ceremony. Venice is twice the price of Florence as an example, but the same "hoops". Friends of mine recently married and ultimately decided against their dream of Venice simply because the starting price of the use of city hall and the equivalent of a justice of the peace marrying them started at 1,500 Euro.

Choose your place, pay the fee to the city of choice, get your documents translated and properly stamped and count on spending 3 or 4 days in Italy to get the Italian requirements covered; you'll have the legal marriage you want, then go off on your honeymoon wherever you choose - it isn't that difficult. I will add one more thing: often the US government sites disagree with what the Italian authorities want - therefore the reason to count on a few more days in the destination of choice to get everything done.

The wedding planners in each popular place in Italy, when pressed, will do ONLY the documentation process, saving you loads of time, and arrange the city hall ceremony for a much smaller fee. Many foreigners run scared of the process and the planners become very attractive. Contact a few and tell them you only want the civil ceremony and documents handled, no reception, nothing else - they will deal with you if you don't want to try it on your own.

All happiness to you and don't give up on your dream.

Sandra

Sandra

Areala

WOW., lots of good information here, thanks a bunch, guess I have my work cut out for me. Hopefully I will be up to the task....

This will certainly keep me busy for a while, I have to fit this in along with my normal stuff. I was hoping to do September but we will see how time goes, may have to be next spring. We have been together now 25 years this year so what's another year !!!

Thanks again for everyone's input and thanks to those who are showing me such great support. I will check back from time to time for new info but looks like I'm gonna be a busy girl !!!

Guenmai

Good luck to you and I'm sure that where there's a will, there's a way and you seem to definitely have the "will". It will probably all turn out fine and hopefully you will get to have the marriage ceremony that "you" want. Happy Travels!

ira

Hi Ar,

>All I want to do is be able to say, Stephen and I were married in France or Stephen and I were married in Italy.<

I understand your sentiments, but it won't be cheap and it won't be easy.

Coco is one of our forum members. She has a place in Dijon that she rents out. Perhaps she can help you, if you tell her you heard about her here.

http://myhomeindijon.com/

Areala

Hi ira,
Yes I know about Coco, I even considered staying at her place a few years ago when I went to Fance but it turned out Dijon didn't make our trip that year. But I now have been to Dijon. Good idea about asking her for help or advice which I will do however, my research tells me there is a residency issue in France. 40 days prior to be exact. While I know doing this will cost me I think that adds way to much to the cost factor, not just renting an apt and the cost of living there prior but missing work at home and having to pay some one to watch the dogs and on and on, that kind of time exacerbates the cost beyond ridiculous just for a wedding.
That being said, France was my first choice. Years ago, Italy was my first choice but that was prior to my ever having gone to France, I have since been to France 5 times and have fallen madly in love with all things French.

I have learned last night that 4 of our friends are planning a trip to Italy next year. This may be my opportunity to have my friends as witnesses, hopefully we can somehow arrange something. I don't want to take away from their time in Italy but if it could be arranged that would be nice.

Once again thyanks for all your support and help.

caroline_edinburgh

There are lots of wedding planners used to dealing with English-speaking visitors, in Italy at least - you can just google for them, and the good ones will have testimonials. A colleague got married a couple of years back in Ravello and the photos looked fabulous - made me wish we'd done that. It was a smallish wedding for a couple in their 40s and I'm sure they didn't stay in the area for more than a week beforehand. They went to the town hall or whatever for the ceremony, then walked up to the beautiful gardens at the top of the hill for a glass ofd champagne and a few photos Their planner arranges both civil and religious ceremonies and I'm sure could make it as simple as you wish. Or just check out some googled websites to get a steer on the regulations, if you'd rather arrange it all yourself (how good is your French/Italian ?).

Areala

caroline I only speak english, the american version ! LOL

So, if you could get the name or email of your friends wedding planner, that would be a good start. I did google them and I contacted a few but they all want to plan these elaborate weddings for 10 to 20 thousand dollars. While I don't expect it to be free or even cheap for that matter I really don't want to spend that kind of money either...rsther spend it on thehoneymoon touring europe...

Thanks a bunch,
Pat

ellenem

Here is a link to Statia's trip report. I believe she used a planner to renew her wedding vows in Venice--just something for herself and her husband--so maybe you'll find ideas here.

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...rip-report.cfm

Areala

Great ellenem,
I think we may be doing it in Venice like you did. The reason I say this is because my friends that are going to Italy next year plan on picking up a Greek Isle cruise from venice on May 13, 2011 on Royal Carribean that's a Friday and returns Monday May 23rd so if I can arrange something before hand we could all meet up and they could be my witnesses and off we all go on a cruise. I think that would be great. The only thing is that I did a similar cruise to that last fall on MSC cruise lines but it was only 7 nights not 10 but my hubby to be has not done that cruise so it's all good for me especially since we would be with some great friends.

As I progress in my endeavors I will try and keep this post up so everyone knows what's happening.

Thanks Again,
Pat

Guenmai

Yes, keep us posted! Happy Travels!

caroline_edinburgh

Sorry about the delay. Pat, if you are still thinking about Ravello or area, my friend used www.wagnertours.it.

Kate

Areala, ignore the naysayers, I attended the civil ceremony of my ex's sister (British) in Venice and it was 'fabulous'. The ceremony took place in the town hall overlooking the Rialto Bridge, it really could not have been more romantic. The Italian registrar even cried. Really, I'm not making this stuff up!

To be fair, she used a wedding planner, and I'm not sure I'd like to test Italian red tape without one. I'm convinced you could find a wedding planner to just do the paperwork/booking stuff for you - she was also required to be there as official translator, which you would need to supply at the ceremony in any case.

I might add, she planned this wedding in a very short time frame, as my trip report attests:

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...nd-a-groom.cfm

sandra3120

Kate - you are absolutely correct: once contact is made with one of those agencies and the desire for ONLY the civil ceremony and other formalities are established, the planners will do the job for a much smaller fee and save Pat a huge hassle to boot. The greatest amount of money is for city hall which costs $1,500E and that's a current price, as of April, this year.

Sandra

lmh347

Areala - did you ever find a reasonable wedding planner in Italy? My fiance and I are planning to get married in Florence or just outside of Florence in the fall. It is all very confusing and I would like to hire someone to help with just the paperwork process and not plan a whole wedding b/c we dont plan on having a big ceremony seeing as how it is just the two of us.

kerouac

After four years, it is as likely as not that the divorce has also occurred by now.

Imh347, if it is just the two of you, you don't need much of a wedding planner. All you need is the list of administrative elements to qualify for marriage in Italy. I would just ask the nearest Italian consulate about that.

Alec

Yes, as Kerouac says, the red tape is tiresome but doable, though you should get an interpreter for form filling and dealing with authorities unless one of you is fluent in Italian. Where the wedding planner can be invaluable is for getting all the other things organised and on time, such as reception venue owner, photographer, caterer, transport, accommodation for guests, musicians, florists etc, as they have a wide range of contacts. Often your embassy in Italy can provide a list of required documents and how to obtain them.

bilboburgler

Guys we got married in Italy with a translator but without a planner. If you follow the link http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...d-go-wrong.cfm you can get some overviews

We looked at northern cities and there it is very much busy, busy with a strong need for both a large wallet and someone to organise stuff. If you south the mind set is far more laid back (sometimes this is a bad thing) and stuff can be organised very much as you want it as the industry is just smaller

If you want to know about the "system" let me know

bilboburgler

Puglia civil wedding documents and ceremony was roughly E350 from memory, though US stuff adds to the cost and I can give you a link to translators who sort the stuff and do the swearing for E120 approx

ribeirasacra

Almost impossible...read this.
http://france.angloinfo.com/family/m...-requirements/