YOUR CIVIL WEDDING CEREMONY IN A HEAVENLY LOCATION
You have chosen to celebrate your civil wedding? Well, heartfelt congratulations to you! Now it is time to get started with the preparation. We all know that a civil marriage is just a small and formal ceremony but it still remains a codified union that requires the constitution of an administrative marriage record. A civil union is indeed the only ceremony that is legally recognised. Let’s have a closer look at the administrative steps to celebrate your civil marriage in Italy or in Corsica!
Don’t worry, our team will explain everything to you!
PROCEDURES AND FORMALITIES:
WHERE TO START?
The very first step is to choose a town hall and book a wedding date. The date may depend on the availability of the chosen place but also on the desires and traditions of the bride and groom-to-be. In some religions, wedding celebrations cannot be held on certain festive days and this is notably the case for jewish marriages that cannot take place on Saturdays or at certain times of the year. In general, civil ceremonies cannot be celebrated on Sundays or public holidays. It is therefore important to inquire with the town hall of your choice and your religious community beforehand. To get your civil marriage certified, each one of you must choose a witness. In case of an intimate ceremony, there’s no need for you to worry as our agency also suggests anonymous witnesses. The bride and groom-to-be must send a complete file with all necessary proofs to the town hall they have chosen for their civil wedding. Administrative documents must be sent four to six months before the wedding date. For a civil marriage in Italy, it is compulsory to obtain the Nulla Osta from the embassy or the consulate of your country of origin in Italy.
HOW TO GET THE NULLA OSTA?
Your wish is to get married in a civil ceremony in Italy that will be legally recognised in your country of origin but you have no clue about the administrative procedures? Well, rest assured because the steps for a civil marriage in Italy are very simple and our team will tell you more about getting married abroad.
The Nulla Osta is a compulsory document requested by all Italian town halls to allow foreigners to celebrate their union in Italy. This document is at the centre of the administrative procedures of a civil marriage in Italy.
To be granted the Nulla Osta, you must send the following documents separately to the Embassy of your country of origin:
• A copy of your ID
• A proof of your address
• A full copy of your birth certificate (less than three months old by the time the Embassy receives your file)
• A questionnaire about your family and professional situation either sent by our team or that you can ask at the consulate or embassy
• Other documents according to your country of origin
The administrative procedures for a civil marriage in Italy therefore begin with the embassy of your country of origin in Italy. Getting in touch with them is the very first step to organise a wedding celebration in Italy. Once you get the certificate, you can celebrate your civil union in Italy.
CONSULATE OR EMBASSY: WHO TO CONTACT?
Depending on your country of origin, you either have to deal with the consulate or embassy to apply for the Nulla Osta, the first administrative procedure for a civil marriage in Italy. For instance, if you are of Belgian nationality, this step needs to be performed by the consulate. On the other hand, if one of the two spouses is Italian, you will have to follow these two steps: You first have to approach the Italian Consulate to get hold of the document that will grant you the Nulla Osta. Once this is done, you can get in touch with the consulate or embassy of your country of origin to obtain the Nulla Osta. You will then have to return to the Italian Consulate with the Nulla Osta to finalise the administrative procedures. To learn more about the procedures of the consulate or embassy of your country of origin in Italy, you can go directly on their official page. You will obtain all the necessary details about the administrative procedures for a wedding in Italy. If you have any specific questions about a particular situation, please do not hesitate to contact our team.
INTERNATIONAL ADMINISTRATIVES FORMALITIES
According to the Italian town halls, administrative procedures must be carried out either by sending them by post or by showing up physically at the Italian town hall a few days before your wedding celebration.Once your civil wedding is celebrated, all you have to do is to get the certificate transcribed into the registers of your country of origin. Some Italian town halls send your complete marriage certificate directly to the embassy of your country of origin. If this is the case, you’ll only have to go to your town hall and get your family record book once it is issued. The administrative steps for a wedding in Italy can be little longer if the town hall chosen doesn’t ensure to send your marriage certificate to the embassy of your country of origin. Therefore, you will have to send the documents certifying your marriage to the embassy of your country of origin in Italy yourself to be granted your family record book. As you can see, the administrative steps to get married in Italy aren’t very complicated. Taking into consideration the time required to fulfil these administrative formalities, Noces Italiennes will have the pleasure to take care of everything for you to celebrate your civil union without any stress!
HOW DOES A CIVIL WEDDING CEREMONY TAKE PLACE?
A civil ceremony needs to comply with a highly codified process governed by law articles. Nevertheless, it is possible to add a personal touch to the wedding decorations or key moments of your ceremony. For instance, some town halls agree to broadcast music upon couples’ request at the beginning and at the end of the ceremony. After the entry of the couple, the officiant reads out both the marriage certificate and the bride and groom’s consent. It is mandatory for the couple to fully understand everything that is being said. If you don't speak Italian, our wedding planners can get you an interpreter to translate the official ceremony. It is also possible to exchange rings during the civil ceremony. If so, you must specify in advance so that our team can get everything organised for you. To officialise the union, the bride, groom as well as the witnesses sign the civil registry. Your dear guests can then leave the room to welcome and cheer for you, the newly married couple, between cries of joy, enchanted bubbles and colourful petals (if the town grants you permission). Finally, if your civil wedding takes place in the same place as your wedding reception (in case of a casa comunale), you can then continue or precede the celebration with a more symbolic ceremony with your relatives’ speeches, symbolic rites and many more.
WHERE TO CELEBRATE YOUR CIVIL WEDDING
CEREMONY?
Couples normally get married in the town hall of their place of residence but in some cases, it is also possible to choose another location especially if your dream is to get married in Italy or in Corsica. In the first place, you must send a proof of your marriage request to the town hall or the Corsican prefecture. For instance, in Corsica this includes a proof of address of one of your parents. For a civil marriage in Italy, it is even easier since you can choose the town hall of your choice without the need of being an Italian resident or citizen. Most of the time the Italian town halls have several free or chargeable rooms. The town hall reservation must be done six months before the wedding but sometimes it is also possible to issue wedding dates a year before. Sometimes, the civil wedding can also be celebrated outside town halls – at your wedding venues or in a church during your religious wedding ceremony. If you choose to marry in a church and ask for a civil ceremony at the same time, you can go for a matrimonio concordatario. The civil registers are signed at the end of the mass after the civil officiant has read the law articles. Some places in Italy are also entitled to the right to celebrate civil marriages on the spot, only if they are casa communale. In this case, the civil officiant will get directly to the wedding venue by the sea or in a pretty Apulian masseria to celebrate your union.
