Getting legally married in Italy as a foreigner: the 2027 guide
You do not need to live in Italy to be legally married here, and an Italian marriage is recognised back home. What you do need is the right documents in the right order, a few days in Italy before the wedding, and the right team. Most wedding planners in Italy offer only symbolic ceremonies, because the legal paperwork and the church file are slow, bureaucratic and unforgiving of mistakes.We do both, civil weddings and Catholic weddings, and we have walked couples through them since 2016 in Rome and on Lake Como. This guide sets out the process exactly as it works today, starting with two US citizens.
By Marina Gullifa, founder of WOWITALY · Updated October 2026
The short answer
Yes, foreigners can marry legally in Italy without being resident. There are three kinds of ceremony, and only the first two change your legal status:
A civil wedding is conducted by an officer of the town, in Italian with a sworn interpreter, in a town hall or a place the town has approved, including some villas. It gives you an Italian marriage certificate which, with an apostille, is valid in the United States.
A Catholic wedding in an Italian church can also be your legal marriage: the priest's register is passed to the town, so one ceremony counts in church and in law (a "concordat" marriage). It needs the civil documents below plus the church file, about six months of preparation starting in your own parish. Other couples marry civilly at home first and have only the Catholic ceremony in Italy. We plan both, and price them individually, because the church, the diocese and your documents all shape the work.
A symbolic ceremony has no legal effect and no paperwork, so it can happen anywhere, at any hour, in your own words. Many American couples sign at their local courthouse before they fly and choose this.
If you want the Italian certificate, read on. If you would rather keep the paperwork at home, the day in Italy looks and feels exactly the same.
US citizens, step by step
This is the order for two US citizens. If one of you holds another passport, or one of you is Italian, the steps change, and we adapt them on the first call.
At home
Six months or more before: choose the town and the date. The town where you marry decides the rules, the calendar and the fee, so this comes first. We hold your date with the town hall or the villa.
Gather your documents. Valid passports. For some towns, your birth certificates with an apostille from the issuing state and a certified Italian translation. If either of you has been married before, the divorce decree or death certificate, apostilled and translated. We send you the exact list for your town.
Within 90 days of the wedding: the Atto Notorio. At the Italian consulate that covers your state, each of you declares that you are free to marry, with two witnesses each who know you well and are not close family. The document is valid for 90 days, so it is the last step before you fly.
In Italy
The US Embassy or Consulate. You swear a declaration (the Dichiarazione Giurata) in person, at the US Embassy in Rome or the US Consulate in Milan or Florence, and it is legalised at the local Prefettura.
The town hall. With two witnesses and a sworn interpreter, you make your declaration of intent to marry (the Promessa di matrimonio) and the town checks your file. Some towns let us handle this part for you; most want to see you in person a day or two before.
The wedding day. The ceremony in Italian with the interpreter beside you, two witnesses over eighteen, the signatures.
After the wedding. We request the multilingual marriage certificate, have it apostilled and send it to you in the US. You do not need to register the marriage again at home.
How many days in Italy: at least three working days before the wedding, not counting weekends and Italian holidays. Many couples come for a week and treat those mornings as the start of the trip.
UK, Canadian, Australian and EU citizens
The logic is the same everywhere: your own country confirms that you are free to marry, the document is legalised and translated into Italian, and you make a declaration at the Italian town hall before the ceremony. What changes is which office issues the document and whether part of it happens in Italy.
| Passport | What your country issues | Good to know |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | a certificate of no impediment from your register office at home | legalised and translated before it is sent to the town |
| Canada | Canada does not issue a Nulla Osta, so a sworn statement of your marital status takes its place | ask us for the current procedure for your province |
| Australia | a declaration at an Italian consulate in Australia, then a certificate from the Australian Embassy in Rome | plan several working days in Italy, as for US citizens |
| European Union | a certificate of capacity to marry from your registry office | EU multilingual forms often replace translations and apostilles |
Rules are updated by each country and each town, so we do not publish a fixed list for every passport. Tell us yours on the first call and we will send the exact documents and timing for your date.
Where you can marry legally
A civil wedding has to happen in a room or a place the town has approved. Some of the most beautiful ones are town halls; a few are villas.
In and around Rome. The Sala Rossa on the Campidoglio, above the Roman Forum; a sixth-century hall by the Baths of Caracalla; and, for a calmer day, the frescoed Sala Rossa of Tivoli's town hall or the gardens of Villa d'Este and Hadrian's Villa. Civil wedding in Rome →
On Lake Como. A courtyard of palms and goldfish at Bellagio's town hall, a lakeside park in Tremezzo, or the villa itself: Villa Carlotta, Villa del Balbianello, Villa Balbiano, Villa Cipressi, Villa Regina Teodolinda and Relais Villa Vittoria are approved on limited dates. Legal wedding on Lake Como →
On Lake Maggiore. Villa Porta is approved for civil weddings on its terrace over the water. Villa Porta →
How long it takes, and the mistakes we see
Six months is a comfortable lead time for a civil wedding: time to hold the date, gather and translate documents, and book the consulate at home within its 90-day window. Allow at least three working days in Italy before the wedding.
The mistakes that cost couples their date are almost always small:
- The Atto Notorio done too early. It is valid for 90 days; done in month one of a six-month plan, it expires.
- A missing apostille or translation. The town hall will not accept the file, and there is no fixing it on the day.
- Arriving the day before. The embassy and the town hall each need a working day, and holidays close both.
- Assuming every town works the same way. Calendars, fees and deadlines differ even between neighbouring villages on the same lake; some want the file ten days ahead.
- Picking a Saturday in a town that marries only on weekdays, or a Sunday in one that does not open at all.
What it costs
Our legal-ceremony service is €3,500, including Italian VAT, plus the town's own fee, which depends on the place, the day and the hour, and which we confirm for your date. It covers the document check and translations, guidance for the steps at home, the appointments at the US Embassy or Consulate, the Prefettura and the town hall, the sworn interpreter, witnesses if you need them, and the apostilled certificate sent to you.
It is added to the wedding you are planning:
- An elopement starts at €15,000 in Rome and €18,000 on Lake Como, everything included. Elopement in Italy guide →
- A wedding with your guests starts at about €60,000 for thirty guests in Rome and €62,000 on Lake Como. Wedding cost in Italy →
If you sign at home and have a symbolic ceremony in Italy instead, there is no legal-ceremony fee at all.
The team that takes on the paperwork
Most planners in Italy will happily design a symbolic ceremony and send you to someone else for the legal part, or tell you a church wedding is not worth the trouble. We take on both, because for many couples the real ceremony is the point, and because complicated is exactly where a planner is worth having.
Katerina takes your first call. She lives on Lake Como, knows its town halls and villas in person, and asks first about your passports and your dates, because those decide what is possible. Svetlana runs the client side from Rome, knows the Campidoglio, the parishes and the Prefettura, and goes with you to every appointment. Laura handles the production and the suppliers. Marina answers the first enquiries and sets what we will and will not take on.
Two of us are on the ground for the whole wedding day. Your job that day is to get married. Ours is everything else.
Questions couples ask
Ask your ownIs an Italian marriage valid in the US?
Yes. With an apostille, the multilingual Italian marriage certificate is valid in the United States, and you do not need to register it again.
Do we need to live in Italy?
No. Non-residents marry in Italy every week.
Can we do it all remotely?
No. We prepare and check every document from Italy, but the consulate at home, the US Embassy or Consulate in Italy and, in most towns, the town hall need the two of you in person.
How many days before the wedding must we arrive?
At least three working days.
Is the ceremony in English?
It is conducted in Italian, and a sworn interpreter translates every word. The law requires the interpreter; we bring one.
Can we marry at a villa?
Yes, at the villas approved by their towns, on limited dates. Otherwise in a town hall, which in Italy is often a palace.
Can we have a Catholic wedding?
Yes, and it can be your legal marriage too, recognised by the town as well as the church. Allow about six months of preparation through your parish at home. Because every church and every couple's documents are different, we price a Catholic wedding individually after the first call.
Do we need a planner?
Not by law. In practice, coordinating a consulate, an embassy, a Prefettura, a town hall and an interpreter in another language is exactly the part couples are happiest to hand over.
Talk to us about a date
Marina, who founded WOWITALY, answers every inquiry herself. The first video call is with Katerina, it costs nothing, and it is not a sales call. Tell us your passports, roughly when, and whether you dream of Rome or the lake. We will tell you whether a legal wedding in Italy is worth it for you, where you could marry on your date, and how many days to plan.
hello@wowitaly-weddings.com · +39 334 840 2086