E_Ray13

I am hoping to hear from anyone who has married in Italy. My fiance and I (Americans) are researching Italy as a potential place to elope. We are mostly interested in the Amalfi Coast or Capri because of the water. Has anyone married here and have any tips? The weddings seem to be very expensive in this area. Suggestions for cutting down? And suggestions for places to stay that are nice but affordable? Our Budget= Wedding plus 4 nights5 days (or one more night) on this coast= we would like to spend 8k and under.

Thanks!

~Erin

Jean

You should read this recent thread.

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...e-or-italy.cfm

ira

Hey ER,

You can elope to a JP anywhere in the US and honeymoon in Europe.

You will save yourselves a lot of time, money and stress.

Ann1

This is none of my business and I don't know your family situation, but as a mother when I hear the word ELOPE it sends shivers down my spine. My nephew eloped and it hurt the family terribly. Sorry for the opinion but it's just to put the thought out there.

nytraveler

Well my brother and SIL eloped - and it was the smartest thing they ever did. They had started planning a traditional wedding - and her incredible shrew of a mother wreaked such havoc (including long lists of people who were not allowed to be invited as well as a host of other things no one would ever believe )that at one point they actually considered calling off the wedding.

Finally good sense took over and they eloped. Sad for most of us - who would have loved to have been there - but it saved my SIL's sanity.

The MIL never spoke a single word to my brother - from the time they announced they were going to marry until the moment she died. (The MIL was uber catholic and said as far as she was concerned the wedding was invalid since my brother had "forced" her daughter to get a divorce - even though my SIL's drug addict husband had started divorce proceedings, and my SIL was divorced for more than 2 years before ever she met by brother.)

Ann1

nytraveler......OMG!!! Clearly they were correct, but if the poster doesn't have those problems, I just want them to think about it. You did say it made most of you sad.

sandra3120

ERay - I've just recently helped friends of mine, who ultimately decided NOT to marry in either Florence or Venice, their chosen two venues, because of the price of the equivalent of the city halls there; Venice was $1,500 and Florence was $1,100 for a ceremony to be performed by the Italian equivalent of a JP, and there's no way around those costs. But there's lots of paperwork to be done in the US first, translations of documents proving you are both free to marry (if one of you has been married before - or both for that matter - you need your original divorce decrees as well as stamped translations of them, your birth certificates and a few other things. Once you get there, those documents need to be presented to the consulate closest to where you will be married for official stamps accepting them as real and true translations, and that can often take 3 or 4 days to obtain, which makes your schedule a bit difficult with only 5 days in country. As many others have stated, it would be easier to marry here given your time frame and budget constraints. Then you could get your marriage blessed there without all the rigamarole and you can choose your venue, such as a lovely garden or on the beach - whatever you both like.

The thing that will take the longest should you decide to marry there is the nulla osta, and most sites suggest you allow at least 3 days to get that done, barring holidays and weekends. Here's one you can consult and perhaps come up with costs and times: http://www.italiandestinationwedding...s_for_usa.html.

Congratulations and much luck to you both.

nytraveler

It made most of us sad to miss the wedding, but happy that they were able to be married - but was the only possible option. IMHO there are numerous cases in which elopement makes sense (just read a few posts here about weddings and ask if it's worth going through all that angst).

My b and sil had a "reception" at their home afterwards (no, her mother happily for the rest of us, refused to attend) where we could all celebrate.

E_Ray13

Thank you everyone...I am realizing that a symbolic wedding in Italy and then coming home and going to a JP will be MUCH easier. As soon as I saw that documents had to be translated and blah blah blah...Nope. Not going through all that!

Ann1 - I am sorry eloping hurt your family but there are two things to consider today: 1) the cost of a wedding which invites nearly everyone you know so no one is "hurt". 2) You forget that a lot of people have crazies in their families. My dad has been gone from my life since I was 5, and my mother...well...just watch Danielle Staub from the NJ Housewives show for a few weeks and then tell me if you were her daughter, would you have a "big family wedding" lol. I appreciate your input, but the last thing I am worried about right now is family.

Ann1

That's why I stated it just the way I did. Some people have good reason. Some people don't.....like my nephew. No, I don't forget some people have crazies in their family. We have more than our share. I had major problems with some of them with my wedding, too. As far as "big family weddings" I don't believe them. We had a small one as did my daughter. Any comments about my daughter's wedding were blocked by me and ignored or softened so she didn't have to deal with them. I don't believe in spending a fortune on dresses or receptions. I just wanted you to think about it and then make your decision. It seems as if you have done that.

StCirq

I would PAY my kids to elope. That said, I don't understand people wanting to get married in some place they have no ties to and little knowledge of. I know it's none of my business and they can do whatever they want, and I wish anyone getting married well, but every time someone comes here and says they want to get married in Italy or wherever, I just scratch my head any wonder - WHY?