Your civil wedding in a heavenly location!
You’ve chosen to celebrate your civil wedding, congratulations! Now it’s time to start planning. Although a civil wedding is a short and formal ceremony, it’s nonetheless a codified union that requires the creation of an administrative wedding file with a specific procedure to follow. Indeed, a civil union is the only legally recognized wedding ceremony in Italy. What are the administrative procedures and what are the steps to celebrate your civil wedding, or your secular wedding in Italy?
Our wedding planners explain everything and reveal their services to assist you from A to Z in organizing your big day!
PROCEDURES AND FORMALITIES: WHERE TO START?
The first step is choosing a town hall and booking a wedding date. The date depends on venue availability, as well as the bride and groom's preferences and traditions. Some venues are booked months, even nearly two years, in advance. Generally, civil ceremonies cannot take place on Sundays or public holidays. It is therefore important to inquire with the chosen town hall, as well as with your religious community beforehand if you also wish to hold a liturgical service. To certify the civil union, the bride and groom must each choose at least one witness. The future spouses must send their complete application to the town hall where the ceremony will be held. Administrative documents are generally sent 4 to 6 months before the wedding date to comply with legal deadlines. For a civil wedding in Italy, it is necessary to obtain the Nulla Osta from the Embassy of your home country in Italy or the Consulate.
HOW TO GET THE NULLA OSTA?
Do you want to get married in a beautiful town hall in Italy and have your union recognized in France, but are unsure of the necessary administrative procedures? Rest assured, the steps to get married in Italy are simple, and we'll explain how to get married abroad. The Nulla Osta is a document required by the Italian town hall that will celebrate your wedding in Italy. It is central to the administrative procedures for a civil wedding in the country. To obtain it, you must send the following documents to the French Embassy for yourself and your spouse:
- a copy of your identity document
- proof of your French residence
- a full copy of your birth certificate (dated within the last three months of the embassy's receipt of the application)
- a questionnaire regarding your family and professional situation, which our team will send to you, or which you can request from the Consulate or Embassy.
The administrative procedures for a civil wedding in Italy begin at the French Embassy in Italy. Contacting them is the first step in organizing your wedding. Once you have obtained the Nulla Osta, you can have your civil wedding celebrated in Italy by an official Italian representative.
CONSULATE OR EMBASSY: WHO TO CONTACT?
If you are a French national and reside in France, then the administrative procedures for a civil wedding in Italy begin with the request to the French Embassy in Italy for the Nulla Osta mentioned above. The request for a Belgian or English couple, on the other hand, is made to the Consulate. Swiss couples can contact one of the two representative bodies of their country. In the case where one of the two spouses is of Italian nationality, a prior request for authorization to obtain the Nulla Osta must be made to the Italian Consulate, then contact the Embassy to acquire the certificate. A further visit to the Italian Consulate with the Nulla Osta will complete this administrative formality. However, if you have specific questions about a particular situation, do not hesitate to contact our team. In the event that our experience is not sufficient, we can contact the Embassy of your country of origin in Italy directly on your behalf.
ITALY'S ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURES IN FRANCE
Depending on the town hall in Italy, the regulatory procedures must be completed by mail or by physical presentation at the town hall a few days before the wedding. Once your union is celebrated, all that remains is to have the wedding certificate transcribed in the state registers of your country. Some Italian town halls send the wedding certificate directly to your embassy. You can obtain your family record book from the town hall of your place of residence upon your return from Italy. If the town hall that celebrated your wedding does not take care of transferring the wedding certificate to the embassy or consulate of your country, you will have to do it yourself. This way, you will receive your family record book with a little more delay. Your wedding in Italy gives you the same rights as if you had celebrated it in your country of residence! Noces Italiennes will be happy to assist you with these procedures for a stress-free civil wedding.
THE COURSE OF A CIVIL CEREMONY
The civil ceremony is a highly codified process governed by law. However, it is possible to add a personal touch. For example, some town halls agree to play music at the beginning and end of the ceremony or to have floral arrangements in the ceremony room. After the bride and groom enter, the officiant reads the wedding certificate and obtains the spouses' consent. If you wish, our wedding planners can provide an interpreter service to translate the official ceremony. Therefore, you don't need to speak Italian to say "I do" in Italy. It is also possible to exchange rings during the civil ceremony. During the ceremony, the witnesses and spouses sign the civil registry to formalize the wedding. After this step, the guests leave the room to welcome and cheer the young married couple with cries of joy, enchanted bubbles, and colorful petals. Finally, if your civil wedding takes place at your reception venue (in the case of a casa comunale), you will have the possibility of continuing the ceremony (or preceding it) with a symbolic celebration: speeches from your loved ones, rituals, etc.
WHERE TO GET MARRIED IN A CIVIL FORM?
In principle, the bride and groom will be married in the town hall of their municipality of residence, but it is possible to choose another location. In the case of a civil wedding in Italy, the spouses can choose the town hall of the municipality of their choice, without having a domicile there, being residents, or being of Italian nationality. Most of the time, Italian town halls have several halls, free or paying. The town hall reservation is generally made six months before the wedding, but it is sometimes possible to issue options a year before the event. The civil wedding can also be celebrated outside of town halls and take place at your reception venue or in a church if you are celebrating a religious union in Italy. Our team is at your disposal to organize the planning of your wedding.
WHICH VENUE SHOULD YOU CHOOSE FOR YOUR CIVIL WEDDING?
If you get married in a church and request civil status, it is a concordat wedding. The civil registers are signed at the end of the mass after the legal articles have been read. Finally, some places in Italy are authorized to celebrate a civil wedding on site: they are "casa communale." In this case, the civil officiant goes directly to the wedding place, by the sea or in a pretty masseria in Puglia, to celebrate the civil wedding. So, if you wish, it is possible to get married right on the water! If the venue is authorized, you will have the opportunity to celebrate your civil wedding in a chic and romantic setting. Celebrating your union in Italy will be an opportunity to treat yourself to an unforgettable stay in an idyllic and exotic setting. There's no doubt your guests will remember their trip to witness the most beautiful day of your life for the rest of their lives!
Our team of wedding planners will be happy to answer all your questions. Contact us now and use our services to begin planning your civil wedding in Italy!
DISCOVER THE MOST BEAUTIFUL PLACES TO GET WED IN ITALY
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Getting married in a cloister, a monastery
