Wonderful locations for a special wedding in Tuscany

In Florence you can have both a civil and religious wedding. Civil weddings in Florence are conducted by an Italian official in many locations and usually last less than half an hour. The Italian government requires certain basic and traditional wedding vows to be exchanged and some articles from the Italian law to be read. Here are some locations:

Palazzo Vecchio
One of the best locations to get married in Florence is Palazzo Vecchio. Here you can get married in the Red Room, Lorenzo’s Room or in the Salone de' Cinquecento. The Palazzo Vecchio is one of the most popular places to get married in Italy, so it's best to reserve as far ahead in time as possible. 

Bardini Museum 
The Bardini Museum opened to the public again after lengthy restoration work that restored the layout that its founder, the antiquarian Stefano Bardini, had originally given the exhibition. The building is remarkable and the collection includes sculptures, paintings, furniture pieces, ceramic pieces, tapestries and more.

Rose Garden 
Twice a month from May to September (August excluded) you can get married in one of the most romantic places in the city. The garden is home to a vast assortment of roses and many other types of plants, and is also known for the permanent exhibit of sculptures by the Belgian artist Jean-Michel Folon.

Villa Vogel 
The Swiss Vogel family have owned the villa since the beginning of the twentieth century and have donated it to the city of Florence. The park has become a huge garden and inside the building there are administrative offices.

Other places that deserve a mention are Florence’s terraces. For example, the terrace of the Hotel Continentale in Vicolo dell'Oro or the Hotel Antica Torre Tornabuoni in Via Tornabuoni can be used for a wedding lunch or dinner as well as blessings.

Giardino Scotto
Called "new" to distinguish it from the older Citadel of Pisa, it's located on the opposite side of Pisa’s city walls in lungarno Fibonacci on the south bank of the River Arno, between the bridges Ponte della Fortezza and Ponte della Vittoria. Its construction begain in 1440 during the first Florentine domination. The fort was damaged and later restored by the Florentine architect Giuliano da Sangallo. At the heart of the ramparts of the fort of the New Citadel there's a large garden built in the early nineteenth century where civil weddings can be celebrated.

San Zeno Abbey 
The Abbey is located near piazza Santa Caterina, in a place where you can find remains of Ancient Roman Pisa. At first it was a Benedictine abbey before being annexed to a monastery of the Order of Camaldoli. At the beginning of the fifteenth century it went through profound transformations. The building - probably built before 1000 AC on a pre-existing pagan temple - is characterized by a layered set of different architectural styles and orientations, as can be seen in the façade. Civil weddings can be celebrated here. 

Villa di Corliano
The Villa Agostini della Seta of Corliano is a fifteenth-century villa decorated with mural art dating to the 1500s that's typical of Florentine mannerist art. The interior contains frescoes from the 16th and 18th centuries. Villa Agostini is part of a larger monumental complex consisting of a chapel, a farmhouse, an oil mill, a “kaffeehaus” and a park of about 3 hectares with age-old plants enclosed within the villa’s walls. It's possible to rent the Gentile chapel to celebrate a civil or religious marriage within the villa.

Lido di Camaiore's pier
A truly evocative place in Versilia; you can get married on the pier that flows into the sea with the wonderful image of the Apuan Alps behind.

Teatro dell’Olivo in Camaiore
This building dates to 1500 and, since 1649, it has been used as a theatre. From 1720, the stage was built as well as the stands. After various events, the theatre was reopened to citizens in 2003 and, as from 2012, weddings have been celebrated here.

Villa Orlando in Torre del Lago
Villa Orlando was built in 1869 in the new Gothic style. It's a hunting lodge on the banks of Lake Massaciuccoli. The surrounding property covers about 40,000 square meters, mainly covered by pine trees and oaks. It includes 150 meters of private lake front as well as a boat house. It's a very secluded and quiet location, sheltered away from the public. Civil weddings can be organized in the villa.

Laugier Cultural Centre
Located in the historic centre of Portoferraio, the Laugier Cultural Centre can be reached with the Salita Napoleone, a long pink stone staircase. Built under Cosimo I de' Medici in the mid 1500s, it was the seat of the Order of the Knights of St. Stephen and later named after Cesare De Laugier, a Napoleonic officer whose mother was from Portoferraio.