What are the best places to get married in Italy? I’ve always loved Italy and have really appreciated the relaxed culture, the food, the buildings and the scenery whenever I’ve gone there. I used to teach Italian students English as a foreign language so I’ve travelled around a lot of Italy. I’ve really enjoyed going to Rome, Naples, Pompeii, Venice, Bari, Cisternino, Verona, Pisa and Florence. In fact I proposed to my Wife Kirsty on the bank of the Grand Canal in Venice so that place means a lot to me! I think the five best places to get married in Italy are…
1) Tuscany- the rolling hills and vineyards and pretty Castles and towns in Tuscany really lend themselves to being excellent backdrops for your wedding. Flights are nice and easy to Pisa or Florence from the UK too.
2) Venice- you see Venice on the movies or TV programmes and you think it can’t live up to what you’ve seen but it genuinely surpasses expectations. The beauty of the buildings, tiny streets and canals weaving through the City make Venice a top choice for weddings.
3) The Lakes- Lake Garda and Lake Como are very popular places for destination weddings in Italy. The vivd blue colour of the lakes and the small settlements and venues nestled into the hills around the lakes make for incredible ceremony locations.
4) The Amalfi Coast- There are so many unspoilt elevated positions along the Amalfi Coast to get married. On one side the ocean down below you and the other side beautiful mountains. This is why lots of people choose places near Naples, Pompei and Sorrento.
5) Sicily- Sicily is very untouched and unspoilt and really suits a rustic wedding. It’s a little further to travel as Sicily is an island just South West of mainland Italy. It suits Spring and Autumn weddings as in the Summer temperatures can easily reach the 40s!
To get the chance to mix my love of Italy with photographing weddings it was too good an opportunity to turn down! Over the last couple of years I’ve started taking on destination weddings in Italy as well as my usual Kent and UK weddings. Why? Well I love travelling to different places, I love experiencing the Italian culture, eating the amazing food, seeing different architecture and seeing different light. British couples getting married in Italy will often want an English speaking photographer with a style they love that can travel out with them to photograph their wedding day. My style is very much documentary and photo journalistic. My rates for destination weddings in Italy aren’t usually more than my UK rates but I do ask for my flights and accommodation to be covered. If you are getting married in Italy and are interested in having me to do your wedding photography then please email me with the date and location. I’m a recommended photographer at Exclusive Italy Weddings if you’re interested in booking them to help organise your wedding. Here’s a recent wedding that I photographed in Italy.
Jack & Sophie’s Wedding
Jack & Sophie’s Wedding at Castello il Palagio in Tuscany, Italy was a dream wedding to be part of. James and I travelled out the day before the wedding and spent some time with Jack and Sophie in Florence having a wander around and taking some photos of the two of them (see those photos here.) Then came the wedding day itself! I arrived in my little Fiat 500 (when in Rome… not quite Rome…) at Castello il Palagio to photograph Sophie, her family and Bridesmaids getting ready. It was 36c outside and the castle was a little cooler inside (good news!) There were lots of lovely moments to capture between Sophie, her Parents and Sister Lily (I had the pleasure of photographing her wedding last year). Sophie’s Bridesmaids saw Sophie in her wedding dress as Sophie was up in the Castle balcony and everyone else was beneath. As Sophie and her Dad Gordon walked down the Castle steps I was having to remind myself that this was real and wasn’t a dream. Everything was so beautiful! Jack and the chaps were getting ready in a villa near the town of Sambuca and James photographed them getting ready (James kept me company for the trip, was an all round hero and took a few of the photos I’ve used beneath). The guests made their way by funicular railway up to the top of Certaldo to get to Certaldo Town Hall for the ceremony. The ceremony had the most beautiful light I’ve known. The sun was bouncing off a wall behind us so there was this gorgeous golden glow on everyone’s faces. In Italian ceremonies the Bride and Groom get to kiss twice and the lovely Francesca (who helped plan the wedding for Jack and Sophie) was on hand to translate everything for them too. After the ceremony everyone had drinks outside the town hall (including a local man who definitely didn’t want to move from his regular spot!) before we went back to the Castle for the evening reception. The food was incredible- we all had 5 courses- the pasta, fish, meat and cake were delicious! Bearing in mind that it was 36c for most of the day we were all pretty hot. Also factor into the equation that there hadn’t been rain in Tuscany for 6 months. When the dancing started in the centre of the castle (with no cover overhead) very light rain started. It was amazing to be dancing in the rain after such a hot day. Jack was paraded on his Best Man’s shoulders and also had a go at DJing(!) Jack and Sophie were so lovely to get to know and were so kind to James and I as well. I’ll never forget this wedding because of the stunning place and the great people and I hope to be back out to Italy soon to photograph another wedding. Enjoy my favourites from the day!
Sophie said “Olly was an absolutely amazing photographer for our wedding. We chose Olly due to the excellent photos he took of my sister’s wedding last July. We knew he was the photographer for us as he was easy to get on with right from the start and we didn’t even notice him but the photos he took were amazing and really captured her day.
For our wedding, Olly was excellent from the first meeting. He clearly knows his stuff and was great to chat through things with. He was always excellent at communicating throughout which was particularly helpful as there were lots of logistics involved with our wedding as it was in Italy. Olly has a clear passion for photography and is great to be around, which made us both feel very relaxed. We had a photo shoot in Florence the day before our wedding. It was a really fun day and the photos are perfect. On the wedding day itself Olly integrated well with all the guests and captured some truly amazing shots of all our friends and family enjoying themselves. The USB of our photos arrived extremely promptly and we had a great time watching the slideshow with family. We literally love the photos so much. Olly created a slideshow which summarised the day so well. It was so nice looking over it and being reminded of it all. Thank you Olly. We would recommend him to everyone!!! Sophie and Jack”
