Italy remains one of the most popular destination wedding countries for British couples, and that hasn't changed since Brexit. What has changed is that UK citizens are no longer EU citizens, which means some of the paperwork and entry assumptions that applied before 2020 may no longer apply in the same way. None of this should put you off getting married here — thousands of British couples still do it every year — but it's worth going into planning with clear eyes rather than assuming everything works exactly as it did for your parents' generation or an older blog post you found.

Don't assume pre-Brexit ease still applies

Before Brexit, British citizens moved through Italian bureaucracy more or less like any other EU citizen. That's no longer automatically the case, and requirements around documentation, visas for longer stays, and how long you and your guests can remain in Italy are the kind of thing that can shift. I'm a makeup artist, not an immigration adviser, so I won't try to lay out current rules here — and honestly, neither should any wedding blog, since these things do get updated. The reliable places to check are the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office's travel advice for Italy, the Italian consulate serving your area of the UK, and the comune (town hall) in the Italian town where you plan to marry. Confirm the current picture directly with them before you finalise anything.

The same two paths as other foreign couples

Once you look past the citizenship question, British couples marrying in Italy generally weigh the same two routes that most non-Italian couples consider:

A legally binding ceremony in Italy. This means working with the comune to register your marriage under Italian law, which typically involves translated and apostilled documents and a formal declaration of your legal freedom to marry (sometimes referred to as a Nulla Osta, though the exact process and terminology can vary and is worth confirming with the consulate). It's entirely possible, and plenty of couples do it, but it adds administrative steps and lead time.

A symbolic ceremony in Italy, with the legal marriage registered in the UK. Many British couples choose this route specifically because it sidesteps the extra Italian paperwork — you have a small legal ceremony at a UK register office before or after the trip, then hold your "real" ceremony in Italy purely as a celebration, with no legal weight attached to it. This is often the simpler option logistically, and it opens up far more flexibility for venue and setting since a symbolic ceremony isn't tied to a comune's requirements.

For a fuller walkthrough of how these ceremony options work in practice, and how venues and timelines differ between them, have a look at my guide to civil wedding ceremonies in Italy — it covers the ceremony logistics side in more depth than makes sense to repeat here.

A realistic planning timeline

Whichever route you choose, give yourself more lead time than you think you need. If you're pursuing a legally binding ceremony in Italy, document gathering, translation and apostille steps often take several months, so starting well over a year out is common. If you're going the symbolic-ceremony-plus-UK-registration route, the Italy side moves faster, but you'll still want to book your venue, suppliers and travel well in advance, particularly for a popular season or location like the lakes or Tuscany in peak summer.

Your beauty timeline stays the same either way

Here's the good news: whichever legal path you choose, it makes no difference to how your wedding-morning hair and makeup are planned. A trial, a realistic get-ready schedule, and long-wear products that hold through photos and an evening celebration matter exactly the same whether your ceremony carries legal weight in Italy or is a symbolic celebration backed by a UK register office wedding. If you haven't mapped out how the beauty side of a destination wedding actually comes together, my destination wedding beauty timeline guide walks through it step by step.

A few practical tips

As always, please treat this as a general starting point rather than legal advice — confirm the specifics with the FCDO, your local Italian consulate, and the comune you'll be marrying in, since requirements can and do change.