How Early Should You Start Planning Your Wedding In Italy

Celebrations, parties, champagne, cakes…and some more champagne…Congrats! You are now engaged! 

Now that he popped THE question, and after basking in engagement bliss, comes the time for the second big question: How soon should I start planning my wedding in Italy? Am I too early or too late to start planning a destination wedding?
But worry not, our expert wedding organizers are here to help! 

The best time to start planning a wedding in Italy depends on a few variables.

Photo courtesy of Stefano Cassaro Photography

We recommend our brides to start answering the following questions to assess their situation and timeline expectations.  

  • Where in Italy are you looking to get married?
    The number of choices, the flexibility of your providers, the variety of options available, etc. will affect your planning timeline.
    Is it a highly touristic area like Rome or Venice where flights and accommodations will be booked a while ahead? Or is it an out of the box location where options are more flexible? How many venues are available in your favorite region?
  • What is the size of your dream wedding?
    This is an important point as it will highly impact your planning. In fact, a smaller intimate elopement will require far less logistics than a 200 guest wedding. Same as a simpler wedding will require less liaising with providers than a detailed oriented theme wedding. 
  • Where do you and the majority of your guests live?
    The further you are from Italy the more you will need time to plan. Depending on where you live, inviting your friends and family to a wedding in Italy will require them a long weekend off of work to attend. However, if they live in the US or any other continent, then they will likely prefer knowing way ahead of time in order to schedule their time off work and book their trip at more affordable rates. 
  • What are the legal requirements for getting married in Italy?
    Aside from the flowers, the glitz, and the glam, there is a downside to wedding preparations that is a tad less fun and romantic: legalities and documentation. Indeed, to obtain a marriage license you will need time to prepare several documents which will obviously impact your wedding planning timeline. Luckily you can rely on the following articles to check all the needed requirements whether you opt for a religious, civil, or symbolic wedding ceremony in Italy. 

Now that you have taken time to reflect while answering these questions, we can move on to the practical and tangible factors that will indicate to you the best time to start planning your wedding in Italy. 

Photo courtesy of  Jardin Divers

Here is a summary of the pros & cons of planning early vs planning later your Italian wedding. 

Pros & Cons of planning your wedding in Italy at least 1 year ahead

To put it simply, the more time you plan ahead, the better it is for everyone!! 

  • Planning well ahead will give your guests enough notice to be able to organize their finances and days off to be able to meet and celebrate with you your wedding in Italy.
    Your guests will have a smooth, seamless, and memorable experience by having detailed information ahead of time: location, time, planned activities, etc.
    Your efforts will be highly appreciated by your friends and family who will have all the time to be ready and fully enjoy their trip! 
  • The earlier you start planning, the more date and venue availabilities you will enjoy!
    Good and essential providers such as the best caterers, florists, photographers are highly valuable and in demand and might be booked way ahead of time. By having a wide set of options, you can ensure making your Italian wedding vision come true! 
  • You will be able to explore and organize every detail of the ceremony and party, and get the best Italy has to offer! You can respect your budget (speaking of which, we recommend you check out this article to efficiently budget your wedding in Italy) and even make the most of it with the time you have to research the best services and providers! 
  • You will have time to ship your dress and other items you want to take with you to Italy without worrying about delays or shipping constraints
  • Your wedding dreams will become real and no idea will be too crazy. With the time you have, you can source every detail you need to make any idea happen! 

However, as with everything in life, there are bound to be some details to consider. 

  • Too much can happen in a year and you have to expect the unexpected; like new life events happening to some of your guests that will keep them from attending, or even a pandemic hitting the globe – yeah, not so unrealistic now!
    So be ready to remain flexible, ride the wave and adapt! 
  • Some of your providers might change their processes, the nature of their services, etc. while it is rather unlikely, but it is better to keep this in mind and keep track of your conversations with your providers (our chat & messaging tool will come in handy!), and make sure to include this matter during your negotiations! 

Wedding in Italy table setup under an old olive tree

Photo courtesy of Riccardo Pieri

 But can you plan your wedding in Italy in 6 months?

While destination weddings might seem to require a lot more time than local ones, you shouldn’t forget that nowadays a lot of tools are available on the market to make your experience seamless. Even the biggest wedding can seem like a walk in the park when you have the right service providers. 

A platform like WedBoard will help you build the Italian wedding you always dreamt of with the best and most experienced wedding planners in Italy, a curated list of venues, florists, photographers by region, and a state of the art messaging tool so that you can have conversations with your wedding partners in real-time.

Of course, there are some disadvantages with starting your planning late which include : 

  • Not being surrounded by all of your favorite and closest friends & family, given the short notice period.
  • Your favorite providers might not be available at that time 

Outdoor Wedding in Italy - Tuscany

Photo courtesy of Stefano Santucci

So, when should you start planning your wedding in Italy?

As we already mentioned, the earlier the better. However, there isn’t one correct answer, as it will all depend on your expectations, location, and providers. 

If you want to know more just head to WedBoard and start building out the Italian wedding of your dreams. 

Wedboard's Logo linked to the website's homepage

Feature photo courtesy of La Dolce Vita Events

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