How much will an Italian wedding cost in 2024?

Jul 12

Not to bum you out from the start, but prices have risen again and will likely continue to do so. Working out how much to spend on a wedding and what to allocate on each part is a lot to get your head around; and let’s face it money chats do not bring the romance! But budgeting has to be done; and it is much better to sort from the start. We recommend getting yourself a Budget Tracker from our Shop and taking control of some big decisions. In this article we’ll try and discuss minimum spends and average spends. A minimum spend is our benchmark, anything under seems very low and possibly (but not always) too good to be true. The factors which also influence price must be consider as well….time of year, the region of Italy, competition, what you’re asking of suppliers and fluctuations in external markets (fuel, flowers etc). Let’s go!

The years 2022 and 2023 saw every single vendor increase their prices. Many price rises were long overdue, but with the pressure of increase fuel and travel costs, as well as literally all materials: flowers, food, drinks and more, suppliers have been given no option to make these increases to keep their businesses going. But what does this mean for you? Well, clearly there is going to be greater thought on what your wedding priorities are and decisions to be made over which suppliers you include in your ‘must-haves’.

Working across both La Lista and our sister company, Wiskow & White, allows us to recognise the huge breadth of budgets when planning weddings; with W&W managing budgets from 40k-300k euro. The cost of each supplier or budget area will vary greatly between each wedding, based on size, style and priorities.

Destination wedding photographer Daniel Knight Harris. Italian wedding photographer — Photo: Daniel Knight Harris

‘Wedding staples’ may well differ from couple to couple, but on the whole these include: venue and catering - as without these you wouldn’t really have a wedding - just an awkward gathering of hungry guests!

The majority of venues increased their prices in 2022 and for a 3 night stay you can expect to pay 15,000 - 40,000 euro. To make matters more confusing, different venues lay out their costs in differing ways; for some the total amount for the 3 night stay includes everything you will pay, for others, they charge for the venue and accommodation on-site and then charge additionally for wedding fees. The minimum spend in the table below would secure you a day rental or with some of your guests staying on-site.

Catering saw huge jumps in price post-covid, thanks to increases in materials, transport and more. Expect to pay from 150-300 euro pp including bar, which is obviously completely dependent on the amount and style and quality of food you are choosing.

Catering for other events also saw a huge leap and one of the biggest percentage increases. For the catering for a pre or post pizza party you should budget for 40-50 euro pp. Any event where you are having caterers come in is going to be significant in cost.

SIAE tax - non-negotiable licence fee paid for live and recorded music in Italy

There are some budget areas that continue to rise, driven by costs of raw materials completely out of the suppliers’ control.

Flowers
Transport (buses for guests to and from the events or venue)
HMU - the quality of this service is very high now and the cost often surprises couples. Travel expenses can apply within Italy and those coming from abroad, so be sure to get this clear from the initial quote.

Trust us when we say having a clear budget from the start really will make the world of difference to the ease and enjoyment of planning. Our Budget Tracker has a section for each element of your wedding, to keep you on track with your budget along the way. Oh, and it’s free to download btw - now go forth and punch in some numbers!