October 5, 2021 /
Getting Married in Florence
How to get married in Florence as a foreigner and plan your civil wedding.
Book your wedding in the “Sala Rossa”(Red Room) in Florence.
As explained several times in our blog, to get you legally married in Italy, we must check which international Convention or bilateral agreement that correctly applies to your citizenship and then follow the Italian general law, especially the article 116 of the civil code that refers to Nulla Osta.
It is also essential to consider that each town hall has its internal practices.
Therefore, as your local wedding planner in Italy, we can surely help you investigate the availability of the best town hall to get married in Tuscany and all the rules applicable in that specific municipality.
Let’s do an example:
How to get legally married in Florence?
In regards to the celebration of civil marriage of non-resident foreigners in the municipality of Florence, you have to:
A declaration is required, which shows that there are no impediments referred to in art. 85, 86, 87 n: 1-2-4, 88, and 89 of the Italian Civil Code.
This sworn declaration is made at this Office without witnesses, with an interpreter if necessary, at least two days before the wedding, by appointment (all must have a valid identity document).
In this case, (non resident spouses), no banns of marriage will be requested according to art—116 of the Italian Civil Code.
Provide the Nulla Osta issued by your Consulate in Italy legalized in Prefettura (if required for your country of origin).
Two witnesses must be present (1 for each spouse) with a valid identity document for the civil ceremony.
If the spouses or one of them do not know the Italian language, they will need to be assisted by an interpreter (with a valid identity document), who will have to intervene at the declaration mentioned above and the civil wedding ceremony.
It should be noted that the Italian public Office does not provide an interpreter.
Therefore you can easily entrust this to your wedding planner in Florence.
A multilingual marriage certificate/license will be issued and delivered to the couple depending on the Convention applicable to your specific case.
Suppose the municipality needs more time to issue your marriage certificate. In that case, as your wedding planner in Florence, will take care of it and deliver it to you in a second time.
When do the couple need to wait for banns of marriage (notice) in Florence?
If one or both spouses are even foreigners but resides in Italy, the town hall where they live will need to publicized for 11 consecutive days the banns of marriage in order to inform anyone who may be interested in the opposition to the celebration.
Only after the banns expire the civil wedding ceremony can take place.
Where the civil wedding or civil union can take place in Florence?
Celebration of weddings or civil unions take place in the Sala Rossa (Red Room) and in the Santa Maria Novella complex.
The room institutionally dedicated to celebrating civil marriages is the Sala di Cosimo I, the so-called “Red Room” in Palazzo Vecchio.
For citizens residing in Florence (or registered with the AIRE of Florence), marriage / civil union is guaranteed free of charge
in the Red Room in the mornings during the following days:
– Wednesday from 9 to 12 (12.30 and 13 hours are also available in case there are no reservations for the Santa Maria Novella Complex)
– Thursday from 9 to 12 (12.30 and 13 hours are also available in case there are no reservations for the Santa Maria Novella complex)
– Saturday from 9 to 13
in the room located inside the Santa Maria Novella Complex on the following days:
– Wednesday at 1 pm (for both 2020 and 2021)
– Thursday at 1 pm (only for 2020)
In the complex of Santa Maria Novella, some rooms are available for rent upon reservation, for the organization of a toast, a buffet, or a reception after the celebration of the wedding / civil union.
Those who do not reside in the municipality of Florence or are not registered with the AIRE of Florence can get married in the Sala Rossa or the hall of the Santa Maria Novella Complex by paying a rate, diversified and graduated according to the place of residence, which increases (in a modular) based on three criteria:
1. if one of the spouses is a resident of the Province;
2. if one of the spouses is resident in Italy
3. if the spouses are both residents abroad and are registered with the AIRE of other Italian municipalities.
Marriages and civil unions can be requested, even by residents, for a fee-only one Saturday afternoon per month and only one Sunday morning per month (excluding the month of August).
- Celebration of weddings / civil unions in other monumental rooms
The other rooms available for weddings / civil unions, for anyone and a fee, are:
– Bardini Museum (two Wednesday afternoons a month, from 3 to 4 pm)
– Sala di Lorenzo (two Thursday afternoons a month, from 3 to 4 pm)
– Salone dei 500 (one Thursday afternoon a month from 3 to 4 pm)
– Rose garden (two Tuesday mornings a month from May to September, from 10.30 to 12.30)
– Villa Vogel (one Tuesday morning a month, from 10.30 to 12.30)
How do I book the civil wedding in the Florence Municipality?
Reservation of the date is made at the request for publications/constitution of a civil union.
The timing of the legally binding ceremony in Florence or the civil union must be agreed upon with the Office, considering the availability indicated above.
The future spouses, one week before the celebration, will have to:
– confirm the marriage / civil union booked;
– communicate the choice of the property separation regime (Article 162 of the Italian Civil Code) or the choice of the Law to be applied to Property Relations (Article 30 and 32 ter c.4 ‘Law No. 218/1995 / EU Regulations 1103 and 1104 of 2016) to be declared in the marriage / civil union certificate.
The spouses who will celebrate the marriage/civil union in Florence at the request of the Mayor of another Municipality or Italian Consul abroad must present themselves one week before the celebration with:
– request from the Mayor of the Municipality of residence or the Italian Consulate abroad;
– identity documents and tax code of both
Who will be your Planners
Due to our experience in law firms and the foreign offices of the Italian public administration, we gained significant expertise in Consular affairs, and we are trained to solve the most complicated procedure such as:
1) Same-sex couples that want to celebrate a civil union in Italy as in their country the union is forbidden;
2) Couples that come from countries where divorce is not allowed;
3) Italians living abroad registered at AIRE that need to recover their document to start the marriage banns in the Italian Consulate;
4) Assistance with people that come from countries that do not release the nulla osta;
5) American and Australian couples who needs assistance with “atto notorio” in an Italian Court or the Italian Consulate in the USA or Australia.
6) People with refugee status who have requested asylum in Italy.
Our team of wedding planners and a legal consultants will assist you throughout the entire procedure..
