Getting married in Como
Como is the city at the southern tip of Lake Como, where the water narrows into a long bay between wooded hills. Most couples who marry on the lake think of the villas of Cernobbio or Tremezzina first and forget the town itself, which has what a wedding needs in one walkable place: a cathedral, a lakefront promenade, a medieval town hall, a villa with a park, a funicular and a railway station with trains to Milan. Guests can arrive without a car, and the photographs do not need a boat.
The town is old. It was refounded as Novum Comum under Julius Caesar in the first century BC, and the two Plinies, the Elder and the Younger, were born here. The cathedral was begun in 1396 on the site of an older church and finished only in 1740: the Gothic nave, the Renaissance transept and the façade from 1457, with statues of the two Plinies beside the portal, and a rococo dome by Filippo Juvarra. Nearby stand the Romanesque basilicas of San Fedele, built around 1120, and Sant’Abbondio, consecrated in 1095. Alessandro Volta, who invented the electric battery, was a native of Como, and the Tempio Voltiano in the lakeside gardens is his museum.
The lake is never far away. The main square, Piazza Cavour, opens straight onto the water, and from the harbour the boats leave for Cernobbio, Tremezzina and Bellagio. Above the town a funicular, in service since 1894, climbs in about seven minutes to Brunate, a village at around 700 metres with a view down over the roofs, the bay and, on a clear day, the Alps. Couples who choose Como tend to want a wedding that feels like a city weekend: elegant, unhurried and close to everything.
Wedding makeup artist in Como: at a glance
- Artist
- Elena Potapenko, bridal hair and makeup, 18+ years of experience
- Based in
- Veneto, Italy; travels to Como for weddings
- Specialty
- Bridal hair and makeup by one artist, with a trial before the day, plus hair and makeup for the mother of the bride and the bridal party
- Languages
- English, Italian, Ukrainian and Russian
- Booking
- Check whether your date is free
Where weddings happen in Como
The town offers three kinds of setting: municipal rooms for the civil ceremony, churches for a religious service, and the lakefront and hills for the photographs.
Palazzo Cernezzi, the town hall
The Comune di Como celebrates civil weddings in its town hall in the old centre, in the Sala Consiliare and the Sala Giunta. Ceremonies are on weekday and Saturday mornings, so a civil wedding in Como is almost always an early start. The rooms are formal and indoors, which makes them a safe choice in any weather. The office of civil registry (Stato Civile) confirms the slot and the paperwork.
Villa Olmo and its park
The neoclassical villa on the lakefront was commissioned in 1780 by the Odescalchi family and finished by the architect Simone Cantoni; the Comune has owned it since the 1920s. Its Sala Ovale is listed for civil ceremonies, and the English-style park of about five hectares, laid out in its present form in 1829, is where couples photograph afterwards. It is a walk or a short drive along the lake from the centre, so the transfer is part of the timeline.
The Duomo and the old basilicas
For a Catholic service the choices are the cathedral in Piazza Duomo, San Fedele, which stands in a small square a few steps away, and the quieter Sant’Abbondio, a little outside the walls of the old town. The church and the hour are agreed with the parish, and the morning is counted back from the time of the service.
The lakefront, Piazza Cavour and the gardens
The Giardini a Lago and Piazza Cavour, the Tempio Voltiano and the stretch of promenade towards Villa Olmo are where most couples take their photographs. Early morning and the last hour before sunset are the quiet times: in the middle of the day the promenade is full of visitors.
Brunate, above the town
The funicular to Brunate takes about seven minutes, and the terraces at the top look over the town and the lake. Many couples go up for an evening session or for the day after the wedding. If you plan photographs there, allow an hour for the ride and the walk, and tell Elena so the look can be touched up on the way.
These are places where couples marry in Como, not a list of Elena’s past jobs. If your ceremony is somewhere else, the plan is the same: tell her the venue and the time, and the morning is counted back from there.