TOGHRUL NABI
Planning guide

How to get married in Italy as an American: documents, flights, budget and guests

US citizens can marry legally in Italy with two sworn documents, the Atto Notorio and the Dichiarazione Giurata, plus apostilled records from home and a short appointment at the town hall. Here is the whole process in order, with nonstop flights, time zones, a budget in dollars and what your guests need.

Toghrul NabiUpdated 2026-10-0412 min read
A couple seen from behind walking along a harbour wall towards pastel houses on Lake Como

If you are wondering how to get married in Italy as an American, you are in large company: an industry report by Convention Bureau Italia, presented in Rome in February 2026, found that the United States sent 31.7% of all foreign wedding requests to Italy in 2025, more than any other country. What surprises most couples is the order: one document is sworn in the US, the other only once you land in Italy. I'm Toghrul Nabi, a wedding photographer and filmmaker in Turin, and this is the guide I would give an American couple at our first call.

A civil ceremony is performed by the mayor or a delegate, in the town hall or a room the comune has designated, with two witnesses and, if needed, an interpreter. A Catholic ceremony is legally valid too: the US Embassy notes that the priest registers the marriage with the civil authorities, so no separate civil ceremony is needed. Weddings by non-Catholic clergy need a civil ceremony first. A symbolic ceremony has no legal effect, and the same report found it was the choice of 65.4% of foreign couples in 2025: sign at home, celebrate in Italy.

My honest view: the legal route is very doable, but it needs about a week in Italy first. If you cannot spare it, a symbolic ceremony takes nothing away from the day. My guide to civil weddings for foreigners explains the Italian side in more depth.

US citizens' marriage documents for Italy, in order

1. Ask the comune for its list

The US Embassy notes that the law is the same across Italy, but town halls may interpret it differently and waive some requirements. Ask the marriage office (ufficio matrimoni) for its list and how many days before the ceremony to submit it.

2. Gather your records from home

You will usually need a valid US passport, proof that any previous marriage ended (a final divorce decree, an annulment or a death certificate) and, if the comune asks, your birth certificate. Each US record needs an apostille from the Secretary of State of the state that issued it, and an Italian translation. One rule catches people out: according to the Embassy, Italy treats public documents from outside the EU as valid for only six months from issue, so do not order them too early.

3. The Atto Notorio, before you fly

This is a declaration, made before an Italian consul, that nothing in the law you are subject to prevents your marriage. The Consulate General of Italy in San Francisco describes it this way: two witnesses for each American partner, who know you well and are not close family (it accepts cousins and friends, while the US Embassy says no family members at all, so ask your consulate); issued the same day; valid for 90 days, so you must marry within that time. It asks couples to get in touch no earlier than 90 days before the wedding; book with the Italian consulate for your area.

You can also make it in Italy, at the court (tribunale) for the town where you marry. The Embassy lists two €16 revenue stamps and one of €10.62, with the document ready in four to ten days, or a same-day version with a €31.86 stamp in place of the €10.62 one. Turin's own list asks for four witnesses when the Atto Notorio is made in Italy, before the Tribunale di Torino or a notary.

4. The Dichiarazione Giurata, once you are in Italy

This affidavit, sworn before a US consular officer in Italy, states that your state's laws do not prevent the marriage. Book a notarial appointment at the US Embassy in Rome or the Consulates General in Milan, Florence or Naples, or contact the consular agents in Genoa, Venice or Palermo. Download the form for that office, fill it in, and sign it only in front of the officer. The fee is $50 per notary seal.

Then take it to the legalisation office of the prefettura, generally in the same consular district, with a €16 revenue stamp (marca da bollo) per document, sold at any tobacconist.

5. The declaration at the comune

With everything in hand, you make the declaration of intention to marry before the civil registrar, with an interpreter if you do not speak Italian. When neither of you is Italian or lives in Italy, the Embassy says banns are waived or posted for a short time, from one day to a week depending on the town hall. The San Francisco consulate describes the declaration two or three days after you hand in your documents. Your two witnesses must be over 18 with photo ID, of any nationality, and a witness cannot also be the interpreter.

6. After the wedding

The Embassy states that a marriage valid in Italy is automatically valid in the US. The Italian certificate is enough to prove it once it carries an apostille, which the prefettura for the area where you married provides. One rule for women who were married before: if the previous marriage ended within the last 300 days, Italian law requires a waiver from the court's prosecutor first.

Hejrat's long lace-edged veil spread across the lawn as she holds Mohammed, in front of the brick facade of the Reggia di Venaria
Mohammed and Hejrat married at the town hall, then came to the Reggia di Venaria for portraits. July 2026.

Nonstop flights from the US

Transatlantic routes change every season, so check current schedules with the airlines before you set the date, and before your guests book. As a guide:

  • Rome Fiumicino has the widest choice, from the New York area and many other US hubs, several of them summer only.
  • Milan Malpensa (for Lake Como, Lake Maggiore and Piedmont) has nonstops from the New York area, with more cities added in summer.
  • Venice and Naples (the Naples flights serve the Amalfi Coast) are mostly summer routes.
  • Turin and Florence: plan on a connection through a European hub, or land at Malpensa, about 140 km from Turin (roughly an hour and a half by car) and about 50 km from Como.

For guests, compare fares into Rome and Milan as well as the airport closest to the venue; a fast train or a transfer covers the last leg, so price the whole journey.

Ali and Zariyat facing each other by a red railing over Lake Como, flower boxes and blue sky behind them
Ali and Zariyat by the water during their engagement session on Lake Como.

Time zones and planning from the US

Italy is 6 hours ahead of New York, 7 of Chicago, 8 of Denver and 9 of Los Angeles for most of the year. For a few weeks the gap is one hour shorter, because the US and Europe change their clocks on different dates: in 2027 the US moves forward on 14 March and back on 7 November, Europe on 28 March and 31 October.

In practice, your morning is the Italian afternoon: 3 pm in Turin is 9 am in New York and 6 am in Los Angeles, so East Coast couples can call the comune or a venue before work, and West Coast couples are better off writing in the evening and reading the replies at breakfast.

Budget in dollars and euros

Dollar figures use the European Central Bank's reference rate for 2 October 2026: €1 = US$1.1225, rounded.

Item Euros Dollars
Average spend per foreign couple's wedding in Italy, 2025 (Convention Bureau Italia report) €67,000 about $75,200
Turin civil ceremony, neither partner resident €352 about $395
Turin historic rooms (Sala Marmi / Palazzo Madama and others) €800 / €2,000 about $898 / $2,245
Dichiarazione Giurata, per notary seal about €45 $50
Prefettura revenue stamp, per document €16 about $18
My photo and film collections, up to 6, 8 or 12 hours quoted personally

Card payments abroad can carry a foreign transaction fee, so ask your bank before paying large deposits in euros. I send my collections and prices personally once I know your date and venue, with travel and accommodation added openly to the quote, and my guide to photographer prices in Italy shows what the market charges.

Your guests: passports, EES and ETIAS

American guests do not need a visa for a short stay of up to 90 days in any 180-day period. The EU's official guidance asks that passports be valid for at least three months after the day they leave and issued within the last ten years. Since 10 April 2026 the Entry/Exit System has been fully operational: at the first crossing, guests register fingerprints and a photo, so allow extra time for connections.

ETIAS, a €20 online travel authorisation for visa-exempt travellers, is not in operation yet. The EU had aimed for the last quarter of 2026, but no start date had been announced by October 2026, and it has promised several months' notice. The European Commission uses US citizens as its example: once the system runs, they apply before travelling, and must have the authorisation before boarding. Send guests to the official europa.eu site only.

A man in a dark suit with a white orchid buttonhole wiping a tear from his eye
The moments I wait for are rarely on the schedule.

Where American couples marry in Italy

The Convention Bureau Italia report puts Tuscany first among regions in 2025, then Lombardy, Campania, Piedmont and Sicily, with Lake Como, the Amalfi Coast and Chianti leading the specific areas. It does not split regions by nationality, but with the US at almost a third of requests, it is the best picture available of where Americans marry.

Flights narrow the choice: Rome and Milan have year-round nonstops from the New York area, Venice and Naples mostly seasonal ones. My Lake Como page shows where you can legally marry on the lake, and my month-by-month guide covers weather and light.

A checklist for American couples

  • 12 to 15 months before: choose legal or symbolic, the region and the comune; ask the comune for its list in writing.
  • 9 to 15 months before: book the venue, then your photographer and filmmaker (earlier for Lake Como).
  • 4 to 5 months before: check passports; confirm two witnesses each for the Atto Notorio.
  • About 3 months before: order certified birth certificates and get apostilles from the issuing states; book certified translations.
  • Within 90 days of the wedding: swear the Atto Notorio at your Italian consulate.
  • Before you fly: book the Dichiarazione Giurata appointment in Italy and a prefettura slot.
  • The week before: Dichiarazione Giurata, prefettura, declaration at the comune with your witnesses and interpreter.
  • After the wedding: apostille on the Italian certificate at the prefettura.

How I help

I photograph and film the day myself, on one timeline, so you brief one person and cover one person's travel. I speak English with you, Italian with the venue and the comune, and Russian, Turkish or Azerbaijani with family who need it. I would rather you forgot I was there than felt posed.

You send your date and venue, I reply personally within a day or two, and a free 20-minute video call can follow, in that Italian afternoon window. Every collection includes a pre-wedding consultation: the timeline around the light, photo spots and a rain plan, shared with your planner if you have one. The legal route keeps you in Italy for about a week before the wedding, and that week is a good moment for a short engagement session in Turin or on Lake Como.

If you want to see how a full day looks in my hands, start with Daniel and Adekunbi's wedding in Bellagio on Lake Como, then Mohammed and Hejrat, married at the town hall with portraits at the Reggia di Venaria near Turin. For a May to September Saturday I suggest booking 9 to 15 months ahead, earlier for Lake Como.

Adekunbi in a short birdcage veil and a white gown with a long train, looking back over her shoulder beside a red railing on the lake
Adekunbi on the lakefront in Bellagio, 2023.

FAQ

What documents do US citizens need to marry in Italy?

Usually a valid passport, an Atto Notorio from an Italian consulate (or an Italian court), a Dichiarazione Giurata sworn at a US Embassy or consulate in Italy and legalised at a prefettura, and, if the comune asks, a birth certificate. If either of you was married before, add proof that the marriage ended. US records need an apostille and an Italian translation, issued within six months.

What is the Atto Notorio?

A sworn declaration, made before an Italian consul with witnesses, that you are free to marry under the law you are subject to. The San Francisco consulate asks for two witnesses per American partner, not close family, and says it is valid for 90 days. You can also make it at a court in Italy, though some courts have waiting lists.

What is the Dichiarazione Giurata?

An affidavit sworn before a US consular officer in Italy, stating that the laws of your state do not prevent your marriage. You book a notarial appointment in Rome, Milan, Florence or Naples, or with a consular agent in Genoa, Venice or Palermo, pay $50 per seal, then have it legalised at a prefettura with a €16 revenue stamp.

Is an Italian marriage legally valid in the United States?

Yes. The US Embassy states that a foreign marriage valid in the country where it took place is automatically valid in the US. To use the Italian certificate in the US, have it apostilled at the prefettura for the area where you married, and ask the comune for several copies before you leave.

How long do we need to be in Italy before the wedding?

Plan on about a week. You need time for the Dichiarazione Giurata, the prefettura and the declaration at the comune, and banns for non-residents may be posted for up to a week. If you make the Atto Notorio in Italy instead of at home, allow four to ten days more.

Can we marry in a Catholic church in Italy?

Yes. The US Embassy notes that a wedding by a Roman Catholic priest is legally valid and the priest registers it with the civil authorities. The Church adds baptismal and confirmation certificates; start with your own parish. For English-language weddings in the Vatican, the Embassy points to St Patrick's Church in Rome, and the Dichiarazione Giurata then needs no prefettura legalisation.

Do American guests need a visa or ETIAS?

No visa for stays of up to 90 days in any 180. ETIAS is not in operation yet, and as of October 2026 no start date had been announced; once it runs, US citizens apply online before travelling, for €20, and only on the official europa.eu site. The Entry/Exit System already applies, so guests register fingerprints and a photo at their first Schengen airport.

Ready to plan?

The affidavits are between you, the consulate and the comune. For the day itself, send me your date and venue, with the comune if you already know it, and I will reply personally with my availability. My free planning guide covers the rest of the logistics for couples planning from abroad.

Sources

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