You undoubtedly have all the questions. We have many answers. The ones that we don't immediately have, we will get them for you as quickly as we possibly can. However, we do get a lot of the same questions that we will address here to hopefully get you started on your planning!
Do you book everything?
When booking your wedding with Elope Italy, there are three stages of planning that we will guide you through:
The first stage is booking flights. Without an established arrival and departure date, it is difficult to plan any other aspect of your destination wedding. We are registered travel agents and can generally find better deals than most websites. However, you are not obligated to purchase your travel through us. We offer it as a convenience only.
The second stage is booking your wedding day. Your entire trip will revolve around your wedding day. Once you book your wedding day with us, we will book all of the vendors and providers for your wedding date and time. With a single click, your complete wedding day will be booked!
The last step is booking accommodations and Italian travel experiences. We can book any accommodations – from four-star hotels to AirBnBs. We can book Vespa tours, biking tours, Italian cooking classes, wine tastings, and more! Your Italian dream is what we specialize in!
Again, we do not require you to book anything through us – you can even bring your own photographer if you wish! Everything we offer is based on decades of travel experiences, wedding planning, and feedback from over a thousand happy couples to make your destination wedding (and honeymoon) complete!
How much does it cost?
I will answer this by saying how much it won’t cost.
The average wedding in 2015 cost $32,641. This is just for the wedding day: venue rental, DJ, caterer, decorations, etc.. It does not include the honeymoon, which averages over $8,000.
Instead, most of our couples spend an average of ten days in Italy and spend less than $7,000. This includes everything: airfare, rental car, accommodations, a complete wedding day, and tours/experiences.
The cost of your all-inclusive wedding depends on the length of stay, your tours, departure city, and more. You can contact us today to get your custom, no-strings attached quote!
When is the best time to go?
Italy is a relatively large country with a very large difference in topography. In the north are the Alps that spill cold, dry air into the Italian foothills. In the south is the warm, humid Mediterranean which makes the summers and winters a little less dramatic.
In the north of the country – the area between the Alps and the Tuscan-Emilian Apennines – the climate is harsh, with very cold winters and very hot, particularly humid summers. In central Italy the climate is milder, with a smaller difference in temperature between summer and winter and a shorter and less intense cold season than in the north; summers are longer, but the sultriness of the northern cities is mitigated by the sea. In southern Italy and the islands winters are never particularly harsh, and spring and autumn temperatures are similar to those reached in the summer in other areas of Italy.
It really depends on what you ultimately want for your destination wedding. If you aren’t completely sure, that’s ok as well! We will be more than happy to offer suggestions based on what you have in mind!
Will my wedding be legal in the United States?
There are two options for your wedding in Italy:
You can opt to go through the full process of having a fully legal wedding in Italy. We will walk you through the full process. Be aware that this is a very tedious, bureaucratic, and expensive process that will involve contacting multiple government agencies both domestic and abroad. You will need to get documents like your birth certificate and passport translated by an officially recognized translator. We will not turn you away if you wish to go through this process, however…
You can opt to have your wedding legalized in your town’s courthouse before you leave or after you return. When you are in Italy, you will have a full wedding ceremony that will be exactly like you would have for a fully legal wedding. It will just be legalized in America instead of Italy.
If you do choose to get fully legally married in Italy, your wedding will be recognized in the United States. All you will need to do when you return is to file your document with your local Probate Court or Register of Deeds.
Can other people come with us?
Absolutely!
While we are not a large-wedding event planning business – all of our weddings are informal, yet small, intimate, romantic, and beautiful – we do encourage you to bring close family members and/or friends to share the excitement and sentiment of your day. While their flights, tours, etc. may not be covered in your costs, we can put together similar travel packages for them at equally competitive pricing.
Where can we have our wedding?
This answer – for the most part – is as open as your wildest dreams and fantasies.
However, there can be some limitations based on how legal your actual ceremony will be. Many legal ceremonies will require a recognized venue or legal location to have the legal ceremony. We will work closely with you to find the perfect legal venue to have your wedding.
Blessing ceremonies, though, have much more flexibility when deciding where you wish to say, “I do!” If you tell us what you imagine, we will do everything possible to make your dream a reality!
