TOGHRUL NABI
Planning guide

Civil wedding in Turin: historic venues, banns, fees and photos

In Turin, civil weddings take place in two town hall rooms on weekdays and Saturday mornings, or on Saturday afternoons in five paid historic venues. Here is how to book, what you need, what it costs and what to know about photos, from the Comune di Torino's own pages.

Toghrul NabiUpdated 2026-10-0515 min read
Mohammed kisses Hejrat on the forehead during their civil ceremony at the town hall as she holds his face, white calla lilies behind them

A civil wedding in Turin is simpler than it looks, as long as you work to the Comune's calendar: the marriage banns (pubblicazioni), the choice of room, and payment for the historic venues a month ahead. We are based in Turin, have photographed and filmed weddings since 2018, and town hall ceremonies are some of our favourite days. Here is what the Comune di Torino publishes, in order, with a few notes from behind the camera.

Where civil weddings take place in Turin

The Comune celebrates civil weddings on fixed days in fixed rooms: two standard rooms, free for residents, and on Saturday afternoons the paid historic venues (sedi auliche), booked in advance.

When Where Capacity
Monday morning, Wednesday morning, Thursday afternoon Sala Matrimoni, via Carlo Ignazio Giulio 22 60 people, 50 seated
Saturday morning Sala Juvarra, via Corte d'Appello 16 99 people, 84 seated
Saturday afternoon Paid historic venues, by booking Depends on the room

The capacities include the couple, the officer, the witnesses and the room staff. If any guest has limited mobility, the Comune asks you to tell the office in advance.

Both standard rooms are in the Quadrilatero Romano, the old Roman quarter, about 400 metres apart as the crow flies and close to the marriage office at via della Consolata 23.

Mohammed and Hejrat's civil ceremony seen from the back of the room: her long lace veil spread across a black and white chequered floor, the officer in a tricolour sash reading at the table ahead
Mohammed and Hejrat's civil ceremony, July 2026. The windows were behind the officer, and from the back of the room the veil lit up.

Turin's historic wedding venues and how to book them

The City opens its historic buildings for weddings and civil unions on Saturday afternoons only. To book, email the historic venues office (Ufficio celebrazioni auliche) at matrimoniaulici@comune.torino.it, ideally with a phone number, and agree the venue, date, time, arrangements and payment with them. The fee is paid in full the month before, through a PagoPA notice the office sends you.

Four of the five venues sit around Piazza Castello and Piazza Carignano, no more than 350 metres apart as the crow flies; Palazzo Civico is about 450 metres from Palazzo Madama.

Palazzo Civico, Sala dei Marmi: €800

The Sala dei Marmi is reached by the grand staircase (Scalone d'Onore) and looks over Piazza Palazzo di Città, with a glimpse of Piazza Castello and a view of the Mole. It holds up to 80 people, 50 seated, set up as for the City's official ceremonies. After the ceremony you and your guests may go into the Sala Rossa, where the city council meets, and the Sala delle Congregazioni next door: the Comune itself suggests them for photographs.

Palazzo Madama: €2,000

On Piazza Castello, Palazzo Madama offers the Salone del Senato (up to 150 people), the Gran Salone (120), the Camera delle Guardie (70), the Camera di Madama Reale (60), the Sala Quattro Stagioni (57) and the medieval-style Giardino del Castello (70), moved to the Camera delle Guardie if it rains. The couple and guests receive a free museum ticket, valid for six months.

The museum notes that, to protect the works on the main floor, Juvarra's staircase is reserved for the couple and the photographer, and that the route and room can change, with notice, for exhibitions or building work: the façade and staircase are being restored. Its published 2025 calendar offered ceremonies at 3, 4, 5 and 6 pm in the Sala Feste, which seats 120.

Accademia delle Scienze: €2,000

The ceremony takes place in the Sala dei Mappamondi, with 99 seats, reached up Guarini's staircase: a table and five chairs for the couple, witnesses and officer, plus 94 for guests. Afterwards you can visit the second-floor rooms, except after 6 pm ceremonies. The Accademia can provide other spaces for a reception, on terms agreed with its management.

Museo del Risorgimento: €2,000

The ceremony is held in the museum's event rooms, up the restored monumental staircase, for up to 100 people. The couple and guests receive museum tickets, and a reception in other spaces is agreed with the museum.

Teatro Carignano: €2,000

You say your vows on the stage, with up to 150 people. If you like, a reception can follow in the Sala delle Colonne below, arranged with the theatre.

In these four venues the wedding march can accompany your entrance and classical music the ceremony, changeable on request with SIAE (music rights) authorisation.

Marriage banns in Turin: the pubblicazioni

The banns establish that nothing prevents the marriage, for civil and religious weddings alike. The Comune di Torino handles them if at least one of you lives in the city, and the resident partner applies. You must both be free to marry: single, divorced or widowed.

  1. Online request. On the Comune's online service (Città Facile), with SPID, CIE or CNS (Italian digital identity), attaching a valid identity document. The office then contacts you.
  2. Signing. When you sign, you state your property regime (community or separation of property; after the wedding it can only be changed by a notarial deed), your two witnesses and, if needed, your interpreter. You can change these until twenty days before the ceremony by writing to matrimonicivilireligiosi@comune.torino.it.
  3. The date. For a civil ceremony in the city, the date is set at the signing, depending on which rooms are free.
  4. Display. The banns are posted on the Comune's online noticeboard (Albo Pretorio) for 8 days, plus 3 for any objections. You can marry from the twelfth day and within the following 180; after that, you start again.

Cost: stamp duty of €16 if you both live in Turin, €32 if one of you lives elsewhere, paid through PagoPA if you sign online, or by card or cash if you sign at the office.

Timing: the Comune processes the request within 60 days and completes the whole procedure within 73. As a quality commitment, it offers an appointment within 100 days of the request. For a church wedding, or a civil wedding in another town, the request must be sent no earlier than 180 days and at least 60 days before the date.

If you do not live in Turin

The Comune puts it plainly: couples who marry in Turin without living there request the banns in the town where one of them lives, naming Turin as the place of the wedding, and that town sends the authorisation (delega). The ceremony costs €352 if neither of you lives in Turin. Write to the marriage office about the date and payment first.

Documents for foreign partners: what Turin asks for

The general route for couples from abroad (nulla osta, apostilles, translations, the declaration) is in our guide to a civil wedding in Italy for foreigners, and Russian citizens have a guide of their own: getting married in Italy from Russia. Here are only the Comune di Torino's own requirements:

  • Nulla osta issued by your country's consulate or embassy in Italy, showing surname and first name, place and date of birth, father's and mother's names, residence, citizenship and marital status.
  • Legalisation of the nulla osta at the Prefettura in Turin, except for countries party to the London convention of 1968 or the Brussels convention of 1987.
  • Munich convention of 1980 (Austria, Germany, Greece, Luxembourg, Moldova, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey): the multilingual certificate of capacity to marry is enough, with no legalisation.
  • Identity document: an identity card for EU citizens, a passport for everyone else.
  • Special cases: the Comune publishes a separate sheet for Australia, Denmark, Finland, the United Kingdom, Lithuania, Mexico, Norway, Poland, the United States and Sweden.
  • Divorce or widowhood must appear on the nulla osta, with the previous spouse's name and the dates and places of the marriage and of the divorce or death.
  • Interpreter: if you do not understand Italian, bring an interpreter with a valid identity document to the appointment.

Under the Civil Code, a foreigner with neither domicile nor residence in Italy does not have to make banns, so two foreigners who live abroad normally make none. Turin's pages, though, are written around the banns and describe no separate route: in that case, ask the marriage office in writing how to make the declaration and book the room.

Mohammed kisses Hejrat on the forehead as they hold hands, in front of a large dark painting in the ceremony room
A quiet second just after the vows.

Witnesses and interpreter

You need two adult witnesses with a valid identity document on the day; the Civil Code allows them to be relatives. If either of you, or either witness, does not understand Italian, an interpreter you nominate with the banns must be present, at the historic venues too. Whoever photographs or films the day cannot also interpret: those are two full-time jobs at the same moment.

How the ceremony works and how long it lasts

The ceremony is public and led by a civil status officer. The Civil Code sets out its core: the officer reads articles 143, 144 and 147 on the rights and duties of spouses, receives each partner's consent, declares you married, and the record is drawn up at once and signed by you and your witnesses.

The Comune does not publish a duration. The legal part is short; music, readings, embraces and signatures add to it. A concrete reference: Palazzo Madama's 2025 calendar spaced ceremonies an hour apart in the same room, so plan on an hour in all, from arrival to walking out.

Afterwards the officer sends the record to your town of residence, if it is not Turin. Certificates and extracts are requested from the town where you married or the one where you lived at the time.

Rice, petals and toasts: the rules at the exit

The Comune is very precise, and the sentence is worth reading as it stands: «All'interno dell'edificio (sia nelle sale sia nei cortili) non è consentito il consumo di cibo o bevande e quindi non è possibile alcun rinfresco o brindisi. Ugualmente il lancio benaugurale di riso, coriandoli, petali di fiori o quant'altro non può avvenire nelle sale e nei cortili, ma solo sul marciapiede esterno.» In English: no food or drink inside the building, rooms or courtyards, so no reception or toast; and rice, confetti or petals may be thrown only on the pavement outside.

In practice: no bottles in the courtyard, and the rice is thrown in the street. Hand rice or petals to guests before they go in, so they are ready on the pavement when you walk out. At venues with reception spaces (Accademia delle Scienze, Museo del Risorgimento, Teatro Carignano), the toast happens there, on the terms agreed with the venue.

Photos and video during the ceremony

The Comune publishes no rules on photography or filming during the ceremony. What it does say is encouraging: at Palazzo Civico the City itself suggests the council rooms for photographs, and at Palazzo Madama Juvarra's staircase stays open to the couple and the photographer. For the rest (where the photographer can stand, flash, a microphone for the film), ask the office when you book.

A few practical notes from our own work:

  • Sound. The "yes" is the most important line in the film and often the quietest. At Mohammed and Hejrat's ceremony the groom wore a small microphone on his lapel.
  • Backlight. In the room where they married, the windows were behind the officer's table. From the back of the room the veil and their silhouettes stood out against the light, and that frame became one of the images of the day.
  • Drones. Toghrul Nabi, our founder and creative director, is a registered EU drone pilot (ENAC, A1/A3), but in central Turin we only plan aerials where the rules allow, after checking the official D-Flight map.

Portraits after the ceremony: where to walk

Every historic venue is a few minutes' walk from some of the city's best places for photos:

  • Galleria Subalpina, a step from Piazza Castello: soft light under a glass roof, good even in the rain.
  • Giardini Reali, the Royal Gardens behind the Royal Palace: tree shade at any hour. For a professional shoot, the Musei Reali ask you to agree times and terms in advance with their documentation office.
  • Via Po's arcades, towards Piazza Vittorio and the river: even light for a walk.
  • Piazza San Carlo, at its best when nearly empty.

For sunset, the classic choice is the Monte dei Cappuccini across the Po. In mid-June the sun sets around 9:17 pm, in mid-September around 7:41 pm and in mid-October around 6:45 pm. Places, timings and permits are in our guide to the best wedding photo spots in Turin.

Gabri and Mada walking hand in hand under cherry trees in full bloom in Turin, on a path covered with pink petals
Gabri and Mada under the cherry trees in Turin, in spring. In this city a few steps change the whole scene.

From the ceremony to the reception: realistic timings

A Saturday afternoon at a historic venue pairs well with dinner in the city or on the hill. The Reggia di Venaria, by its own account, is 10 km from the centre of Turin; our guide to wedding venues in and around Turin covers the others, with distances.

An example for a 4 pm ceremony at a historic venue in mid-September:

  1. 3:30 pm Guests arrive; the couple goes in last.
  2. 4:00 pm The ceremony, then the signatures.
  3. 4:45 pm Out onto the pavement for the rice, then family group photos.
  4. 5:00 pm Portraits on foot: Galleria Subalpina, Giardini Reali, Via Po.
  5. 6:15 pm On to dinner and the aperitivo.
  6. 7:15 pm A few minutes alone in the last light; sunset is around 7:41 pm.

Mohammed and Hejrat chose another shape that works well: their civil ceremony at the town hall in July 2026, then the rest of the day at the Reggia di Venaria. Their story, with photos and film, is on Mohammed and Hejrat's page, and the Reggia has a guide of its own: a wedding at the Reggia di Venaria.

Hejrat and Mohammed standing in the Galleria Grande of the Reggia di Venaria, her long veil lifting in the air
After the town hall, the Galleria Grande at the Reggia di Venaria.

How we photograph a civil wedding

A town hall ceremony is short and gives no second chances: the look before the "yes", a hand reaching for the other, the laugh on the way out. We guide you calmly, photograph and film the day as one team, and keep a calm, discreet presence: documentary moments and elegant, guided portraits.

Every collection includes a consultation before the wedding: the timeline around your ceremony slot and the light, places for portraits, a rain plan. We speak English, Italian, Russian, Turkish and Azerbaijani, so family from far away have someone to talk to. For a May to September Saturday, book 9 to 15 months ahead. We send our collections and prices once we know your date and venue; more on our Turin wedding photographer page.

FAQ

How much does a civil wedding in Turin cost?

A ceremony in the standard rooms is free if at least one of you lives in Turin; if neither does, it costs €352. The historic venues cost €800 (Sala dei Marmi at Palazzo Civico) or €2,000 (Palazzo Madama, Accademia delle Scienze, Museo del Risorgimento, Teatro Carignano), paid the month before. The banns carry stamp duty of €16 or €32.

How far ahead should we do the banns in Turin?

You can marry from the twelfth day after the banns go up and within the following 180 days, so there is no point starting too early. The Comune processes requests within 60 days and offers an appointment within 100. For a particular Saturday, check the room first and start the banns four to five months before.

Can we marry in Turin if we do not live there?

Yes. Request the banns in the town where one of you lives, naming Turin as the place of the wedding; that town sends the authorisation. If neither of you lives in Turin, the Comune charges €352 for the ceremony, plus any historic venue fee. Write to the marriage office about the date before you start.

Can guests throw rice outside the town hall in Turin?

Yes, but only outside. The Comune forbids throwing rice, confetti or petals in the rooms and courtyards: it happens on the pavement. No food or drink is allowed inside the building either, so no toast in the courtyard. Some historic venues offer spaces for a reception, agreed with the venue.

How long does a civil ceremony in Turin last?

The Comune gives no duration. The legal part is short: the officer reads three articles of the Civil Code, receives your consent and the record is signed. Palazzo Madama's 2025 calendar spaced ceremonies an hour apart in the same room: plan on an hour in all, from arrival to walking out.

Marrying at the town hall in Turin?

Send us the date, time and room, even if they are not confirmed yet. We reply within a day or two and, if you like, we can talk it through on a free 20-minute video call. Send us your date and venue.

Sources

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