Italian civil wedding ceremony: paperwork

The documents required are different depending on the nationality of the bride & groom.

For an Italian citizen abroad who want celebrate an italian civil wedding ceremony,  the procedure follows the same line as an Italian resident. The same will be applied if one of the spouses is an Italian citizen living outside Italy, even those with dual citizenship, or those with Italian parents, who do not hold an Italian passport. Therefore you must contact the Italian Embassy in your country of residence to start the paperwork. (if you need to evaluate some wedding venues in Italy leave us a message in our facebook page)

Most of Europe and a number of other countries adhere to an international agreement (Treaty of Monaco 1980), in this case the documents are simplified.

Paperwork for an an italian civil wedding ceremony for non-EU citizens and citizens of countries not part of the agreement of the Treaty of Monaco conventions vary from case to case; therefore please contact us and we will be happy to assist you in your specific bureaucratic situation.

Catholic marriage with civil recognition called `concordatario’

In this case it is necessary to produce all the documents required for the civil ceremony and in addition  for the religious part you must provide your baptismal and confirmation certificates, and you must have done the premarital course with relevant authorization issued by your church and the permission of your Curia.

Only a Catholic priest or minister of worship of other Christian faiths or authorities of non-Christian religious faiths who have authorization from the Minister of the Interior to conduct religious marriages can celebrate a religious marriage. Besides, if one or both of the spouses do not speak Italian the presence of a interpreter is necessary. This also applies for a civil ceremony  to validate and recognize the marriage.

Declaration of Intention to Marry ‘Dichiarazione di intenti’

All future spouses, regardless of citizenship,  must go to the town hall of the locality where the ceremony will take place and make a declaration of intention to take the vows of marriage.  This declaration must take place at least two days before the ceremony.

Once married

Once married the Italian authorities will issue you a marriage certificate.  For citizens who are within the Treaty of Monaco countries this certificate will be multi-lingual; but for those citizens outside this treaty the certificate will be in Italian with a postscript in English.

You must register the marriage certificate in your home towns to  validate it  in your country.

We can arrange all religious ceremonies, civilian or symbolic ceremonies.

For the symbolic ceremony a couple may use all the fantasy and imagination they like. Whereas this is a promise between the couple there are no constraints that determine the place or manner of the celebration.

A wedding in the Catholic Church is a two part ceremony, as the marriage has to have a civil rite before or concurrently with the church ceremony (called concordatario). A priest can celebrate a “concordatario” only in a consecrated church and will act as the registrar.

A wedding in the Vatican has a waiting list of at least six months. During which time all the bureaucratic procedures should be completed and the civil marriage must be held in your country of residence.

If one or both spouses have previously contracted  a marriage according to the Catholic rite it’s imperative to pass through the cancellation of the marriage vows ‘ Sacred Rota’ before they can marry again in the catholic church.

For a wedding with a Protestant ceremony you can choose between a variety of settings. The only limit is your imagination.

The ministers of Protestant Churches can celebrate the ceremony and act as the registrar throughout Italy. This is straight forward in a private location but for a public location  the local municipal authorities  must give the permission.

Marriages with a Christian Orthodox ceremony require a civil marriage to make them legally valid as with the Jewish marriages.  There are a number of religious faiths and many of these marriage contracts are not recognized in Italy without a civil marriage. Therefore we recommend you to make enquiries.  Most important we suggest to resolve the legal aspects of the validity of you marriage in you own countries, prior to the ceremony in Italy.