Hosting an Italian wedding this summer? Here’s the rules you need to follow.
Sinalunga, Tuscany, by Ed Peers
It’s official, weddings can take place in yellow and white zones in Italy from 15th June. The below is our interpretation of the rules, which we hope will become a little clearer in the next week or so.
1. Anyone entering the wedding premises must show a ‘green pass'. This is proof of whether you have had 1 or 2 shots of the vaccine, a negative PCR test within 48 hours, or had covid recently. Anyone entering your wedding must have proof of one of these three things. If they don't, they will not be allowed to attend. Temperature checks must also be done on entry.
Right now the pass is on paper and can only be obtained in Italy. The missing piece of information is how foreigners delcare their status. The digital green pass is due mid-June and we assume this will integrate with other country's testing/vaccine proof/certificates.
What's certain is that all guests and staff will need proof of any one of the 3 criteria to enter a wedding location. If guests need to be re-tested in Italy to have a valid negative test within 48 hours of the wedding, they can do so at various clinics (in most towns) at a cost of around 80 euro.
All names and proof off pass must be held for 14 days after the event.
2. From 15th - 20th June, the curfew is 12am. From 21st June there is no curfew.
3. 1m distancing must be kept at the table unless seated in your household. You may therefore want to consider individual tables and plan for this scenario even if your wedding is in a few months.
4. When inside, guests must have 2 metres square per person. ie. seating 30 people for dinner would need 60m sq and be well ventilated.
5. Buffets must be served by staff, they cannot be self service.
6. Any performers must be at least 3 metres from guests.
7. Masks are currently required inside and outside. We hope that there will be flex on the use of them outside before 15th June.
8. As much as is possible, the whole event should be outside. When music must move inside, it can be for 15 min chunks. After 15 mins the room is ventilated and guests leave the space, then another 15 mins can commence.
Not abiding by these rules (read laws) comes with hefty fines and it's largely the responsibility of the venue to uphold them.
If an area of Italy is graded orange, weddings will become illegal in that part of Italy.
For now, we must plan with the information we have and this is it! It is slightly open to interpretation so you may find your suppliers and/or venue have a different take on things. These are the rules we'll be using for the weddings we deliver in June and July.
As usual, the couples Facebook group is the place to be for the most up to date information and we'll take questions and deal with individual scenarios in there.
Written by Lucy White, Founder of La Lista & Wiskow & White, with over 5 years and 150 weddings worth of experience.
