The Legalities of Getting Married in Italy
Italy is an ideal destination wedding location whether an engaged couple wants to wed in Venice, Florence or Rome. A wedding in Italy will be a beautiful celebration that requires a significant amount of planning and paperwork. The language barrier is an important issue to resolve, and it can affect the paperwork getting approved in time for the ceremony. Understanding the legalities of getting married in Italy helps a couple avoid difficulties in the months leading up to the wedding. They will need to look into the residency requirements, documentation, appointments, churches and rules for second weddings.
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Residency Requirements
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Do the majority of the important planning from your home country. According to Italian Destination Weddings, "in some cases you can arrive and get married in Italy within two days." There will be a significant amount of planning to do regarding paperwork and appointments. An engaged couple can make many important decisions from home if they already know what church and reception site they want to use. Flowers, a DJ and a wedding cake might be able to be arranged from home.
Documentation
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Keep a record of the documentation that is required to ensure the wedding goes smoothly. According to Florence Weddings, a couple should not send in documents and certificates until six months before the wedding. Some of the documents required are no different from the documents required for weddings in America. The documents required that can be acquired from home include a birth certificate, official paperwork assuring that a divorce was finalized, passport, an Apostille Stamp that legalizes that the paperwork was translated into Italian, and an Atto Notorio that states that there is no reason the couple should not be married.
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Appointments
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Be prepared to fill out additional paperwork upon arrival in Italy, and consider hiring a translator to help with the appointments. According to Florence Weddings, a woman divorced within the 300 days must provide documentation from the Procura della Republica, or District Attorney, saying that she is not pregnant. All couples need a Nulla Osta, a document from the United States citizen at the United States Consulate of Italy that states that there is no reason the couple should not marry. Making an appointment at the office of the Prefecture helps make the Nulla Osta legal.
Choosing a Church
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Decide whether to marry in a villa, Catholic or Protestant church. Outdoor weddings do not commonly happen in major cities in Italy. Couples who want an outdoor wedding can choose to marry on the grounds of a villa. According to Italy Weddings, performing a full Catholic wedding is difficult to do. The Catholic church insists that couple finish pre cana, or premarital counseling, which may take up to a year at an Italian church.
Second Weddings
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Make sure that all divorce paperwork is finalized, and remember that the Catholic church will not marry a divorced couple in most cases. Divorced women must wait 300 days to remarry and show proof that they are not pregnant. Divorced men have no waiting period and do not have additional paperwork to show before marriage.
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