My fiance and I would like to get married in Italy, but neither of us have ever been there. Any suggestions on locations? Time of year?

Genuinely curious here - why would you want to get married in a place you've never been to - as opposed to, say, going there on your honeymoon?

I have been to England, Scottland, and Ireland, all of which I loved and thought would be romantic places to get married. I have always wanted to get married in an old church, villa, or castle like the ones I saw on my previous trips. My fiance's grandparents were from Italy, so he requested that we try to select somewhere in Italy.

kelly, congratulations!

One of the first things you have to do is to have an idea about the areas you want to get married in and decide if you want to engage a wedding planner. Most wedding planners in Italy are "regional" and work within a certain area.

Some popular areas for getting married are the Amalfi Coast, Tuscany, Venice and the Lakes. They are all wonderful but different. It depends a lot on how you and your future husband visualize your wedding.

The two runners up for my wedding last May were the Amalfi Coast and Tuscany. They are very different places and after a lot of going back and forth, we picked Pienza in S. Tuscany for a small, romantic and intimate wedding. And it was perfect for us.

You will find your dream place. Best wishes.

ttt

If the reason for getting married in Italy is that your fiance's grandparents' were from there, why not pick some place in the same province, or at least the same region, that they were from? Where were they from?

Go in the Fall and you can find lots of companies that do Italian Weddings. It would be a great place to get married. Every place in Italy I've been I've always seen a wedding party coming out of a church or the civil ceremony building. All the people applaud (even in Rome) It's a beautiful country and the people are fantastic there. Depending on what you like, there are some beautiful small cities in Tuscany that are perfect for a wedding.

Do a search within Italy for wedding planner. It brings up a lot of good info.

My fiance and I are getting married in Tuscany September 2nd. The late summer early fall is gorgeous. The winter is unreasonable. During advent, in the spring - the priests wouldnt even consider a wedding. (not important for you if you arent Catholic.) May and June are great times, but more expensive. July is too hot.

It is not easy to plan a wedding in another country, especially if you have never been there. I would very STRONGLY suggest a scouting trip way in advance to start planning and make your selections. If you dont have family there, hire a planner.

Luckily, my family is from Greve in Chianti. We went over this past summer. My family had picked several sites for the reception and spoke with their priest for us in advance. There is so much to do and it would not be possible without them. We eventually chose a castle in the Chianti region and our family "pieve" or parish.

Dont do anything in August, almost everything is closed for their vacations. Tuscany is stunning, but I am biased of course because of my roots there. This is why we chose Tuscany, because its part of our history.

If you want to have a religious ceremony, remember that if you are not a EU citizen, the rules are very, very, very different from the States.

Get everthing in writing and dont forget that the EURO dollar value is quite different from the US dollar.

Take into consideration the amount of family and friends that can or cant travel. If your wedding is important to them and they can afford the trip, they will come ~ and you will make memories that you will remember for the rest of your life.

Good Luck!!