Tips for Planning a Destination Wedding in Italy (From a Bride Who Planned Hers From California)
Last Updated on October 18, 2026 by Lauren Belzer Sanford
Planning a wedding is a lot. It’s often called one of the most exciting and stressful times in a couple’s life, and adding a destination brings a whole new level of both. Let me put it this way: being a destination bride is absolutely worth it, but it isn’t for the faint of heart.
All photos by Courtney Linden Photography
There’s so much that goes into it: picking the location, travel logistics, different currencies, and more. I’m not the first American bride to marry abroad, but as someone who planned our June 2025 wedding in Puglia from California, I’d love to share what I learned. Here are my main takeaways.
The Essentials at a Glance
Start Booking
18–24 Months Out
Popular venues book whole seasons early
Hire
A Local Planner
Someone who knows the vendors
Pay Vendors By
Bank Transfer
Few vendors take credit cards
Plan For
Three Days
Welcome dinner, wedding, farewell
To plan a destination wedding in Italy, start 18 to 24 months out (popular venues book whole seasons early), hire a local wedding planner who knows the vendors, expect to pay most vendors by bank transfer rather than credit card, and plan a multi-day guest experience, since your guests are traveling far to be there.
Start Early (Seriously)
This was one of the most crucial lessons I learned. The moment you decide on a destination wedding, especially across the globe, the clock starts ticking, fast. You’re competing for dates not only with local couples but with destination couples from all over the world. It isn’t impossible on a shorter timeline; it just limits your options.
Max and I got engaged in December 2023. I’d always wanted a spring or early summer wedding, when my favorite flowers are in bloom and the weather is warm but not too warm. Spring 2024 was out (we wanted to enjoy being engaged for longer than a few months), so we set our sights on May and June 2025.
About a month after we got engaged, we dove headfirst into researching venues in two regions: Tuscany and Puglia. And when I tell you I have never felt more behind in my life while still being more than a year out. Almost 16 months ahead, in January 2024, nearly every venue we liked was already close to fully booked for May and June 2025.
Our venue, Masseria Grieco, a farmhouse turned country resort outside Ostuni, had exactly one three-night window left for the whole 2025 season, other than a single slot in September. If you’re planning for guests who’ll make a vacation of it, my guide to where to stay in Puglia is a good place to send them.
Planning from afar? I made a Wedding Planner Spreadsheet for Google Sheets to help you keep every detail in one place.
Hire a Wedding Planner
If it’s in your budget (and I highly recommend making it so), hire a wedding planner. You won’t want to take this on alone, especially with a full-time job. Without a planner, or at the very least a day-of coordinator, you become the coordinator on your own wedding day.
There’s plenty of debate in destination wedding Facebook groups about hiring a planner from home versus one at your destination. We hired a local planner. It mattered to us to have someone who lived there and knew local vendors, but who also had experience with destination couples.
Our planner, Giusy D’Ambrosio, was both. She lives in Ostuni and has planned for couples from the U.S., UK, Germany, and beyond. Originally from Naples, she also knows weddings on the Amalfi Coast. With a nine-hour time difference, she made everything so much easier: handling vendor communication, forwarding contracts when they needed our attention, and so much more.
Join Facebook Groups
Odds are, you’re the first person in your circle to get married across the globe. (If you’re not, lucky you!) That can feel confusing and isolating. The good news: you’re not the first ever.
Destination wedding Facebook groups are invaluable for questions, vendor recommendations, and talking with brides in the same boat. Join travel groups too; they’ll help you share destination tips with guests and spark ideas for your wedding week itinerary. The ones I joined:
- Help! I’m Getting Married in Italy!
- Planning Your Italian Wedding – La Lista
- Wedding Planning Advice And More
- Italy Destination Wedding Babes
- Visit Puglia
Not All Vendors Take Credit Cards
None of our vendors took credit cards, aside from our venue once we were there. Every deposit and payment was a bank or wire transfer.
It’s frustrating to forfeit those points if you have a great travel rewards card. If you’re chasing points for the honeymoon, put your dress and anything you buy at home on your card, and maybe your groceries and everyday expenses in the lead-up. You’d be surprised how quickly they add up.
It doesn’t hurt to ask vendors whether they’ll take a card, but the answer is usually no, given the fees on their end. If you’re set on using a card, many American and Australian brides married in Italy recommend paying through Wise. You’ll pay a transaction fee, but you keep your points, and the fees are often lower than you’d expect. There’s a fairly low daily and weekly limit for card payments, so tell your vendor you’ll be splitting it up.
Also know that your vendors’ banks will likely charge them a fee on a wire transfer, even if yours doesn’t. In the U.S., we tend to see that as the cost of doing business; your European vendors may see it as being shorted €5 to €10. Work it out with your vendor and planner ahead of time. Usually, the fix is an international money transfer app like the Wise app, which lets you set the exact amount the recipient receives. Some vendors may ask you to add the difference to your next deposit or bring it in cash on the day; others won’t ask at all.
This isn’t unique to Italy, either. One of my best friends had her wedding at Flora Farms in Mexico in July 2024 and paid her vendors by bank transfer too.
Paying Italian Vendors From the U.S.
Expect bank transfers: most vendors won’t take credit cards.
Put home purchases on your card: the dress, travel, everyday expenses.
Use Wise for card payments: small fee, points kept, daily limits apply.
Cover the wire fee: send the exact amount the vendor should receive.
Guest Experience Matters
This wasn’t so much a lesson as a priority for us throughout planning.
A wedding is ultimately about the couple, but a destination wedding is a little different. Guests may take five to ten days off work instead of zero to two, and spend far more on travel. So it’s important to make them feel special.
We wanted guests to be part of all three days, if they chose: a welcome dinner, the wedding, and a farewell pizza party, so we had real time with our favorite people in the Italian countryside. We also gave everyone “One Thing” notes as place cards on the wedding night, simple notes that began with their name and “one thing we love about you is…” (more on that in the intentional details we chose for our wedding).
“One thing we love about you is…”
On the place cards at our wedding
We also built a robust wedding website from our research, our planner’s recommendations, and tips from my cousin and his wife, who honeymooned in Puglia. We wanted guests to have the full picture: the wedding itself and everything to do before or after. Most of our guests traveled through Italy and Europe around the wedding; many saw it as the excuse they needed for a European vacation they’d always wanted.
For a guest activity guide, Puglia experiences on Viator are a great starting point: cooking classes, boat tours, olive oil tastings. Or send guests straight to my 10 things to do in Puglia and Ostuni travel guide. And for anyone renting a car between events, my guide to driving in Italy covers what to know before they hit the road.
Ask for Help
Even with a planner, you’re more than justified in asking your future spouse, parents, siblings, and bridal party for help. Planning a destination wedding alone can be overwhelming and isolating.
Delegate to people you trust. A friend who travels constantly can help with the travel page of your website. Someone with an eye for photography can help you research wedding photographers. If your partner is a foodie, let them lead on catering. Your people know you best and are genuinely excited for you, so let them help.
It’s Okay to Change Your Mind
Read that again: it’s okay to change your mind. If you don’t love something anymore, and there’s time and it won’t cost a fortune, change it.
I had so long to plan that I stopped loving my bridesmaid dress situation. There was too much pink. Luckily, only my sister had bought her dress, so I could change course before anyone else purchased theirs. A simple swap, adding green and taking away a little pink, made a big difference (here’s how I curated our mismatched bridesmaid dresses).
Take Breaks
You’ll likely think about your wedding nonstop from the moment you start planning, and engagements can last one, two, even three years. That’s a long time to think about every detail.
Take real breaks: from the budget spreadsheet, the planning notes, even your planner (they need a break too). We tried “12-month date nights”: a date on your wedding day’s date each month, starting a year out. For us, that was the 11th of every month, beginning June 11, 2024.
12-Month Date Night Rules
Go somewhere or do something new: a restaurant you’ve never tried, a day trip, painting plates at a ceramics studio, a museum or aquarium, volunteering together. On an inconvenient weeknight, keep it simple: a new recipe at home, a walk somewhere unexplored, coffee at a new shop.
Do not talk about the wedding: not the most fun rule, but the most important. At least one night a month, your brain gets a rest (from the honeymoon, too, if you like).
Take a photo: print them for a little book or a “wedding box.”
At the end of the day, make time for things that have nothing to do with planning, so you can enjoy this season of life and look back on it fondly.
Unfollow Wedding Accounts One to Two Weeks Before
This applies to every wedding. One to two weeks out (or earlier), unfollow or mute wedding accounts on Instagram and TikTok, and take a break from Pinterest. Nothing will change that close to the day, and stumbling on things you didn’t choose is a needless stressor, and maybe a post-wedding bummer. At that point, your only job is getting to your destination and marrying your person.
Sorry, Style Me Pretty, but it’s for our own good!
You don’t have to unfollow your own vendors, but I’d mute their posts and Stories until after the wedding (or the honeymoon). Nothing personal; it’s for your sanity.
Learn to Let Sh*t Go
Easier said than done, but a destination wedding comes with plenty of frustration. People may leave a day early or back out altogether, you might not fit everyone on-site, and you might never find the tablecloths you dreamed of (IYKYK). It’s all going to be fine, it’s all going to be beautiful, and the moment you stop taking things so personally, you’ll be better off. At the end of the day, you’re marrying your best friend.
I once heard someone say, “If you have a hard time making decisions, make your decision the right decision.” Train your brain to trust the choices you’ve made, so the what-ifs don’t follow you.
And with people: everyone is the main character in their own life. They’re not leaving early to hurt you; they’re just not thinking about how it affects you. If it’s worth saying something, say it. If it’s not, let that sh*t go, baby. Elsa that energy out of your life. Your mental health will thank you.
Our Vendors
For anyone marrying in Puglia (or anywhere in Italy), here’s our full vendor list, in case another destination bride’s experience helps:
- Wedding planner: Giusy D’Ambrosio
- Venue: Masseria Grieco
- Photography: Courtney Linden Photography
- Videography: Marco Denigris, Foto Vision Produzioni
- Hair: Massimo Moro
- Makeup: Vania Tommasi
- Dress: Alena Leena, via Love and Lace Bridal Salon
- Florist: Rollo Fiori
- Catering: Rotondo Catering
- Bar: LELÉ Momenti Memorabili
- Rentals: Saponari Eventi (ceremony chairs)
- Music: Alex Sisto, Sisto Events & DJ
- Stationery and signage: Pulp Templates Co. (I used the elements to design a lot myself)
Frequently Asked Questions
How far in advance should you plan a destination wedding in Italy?
18 to 24 months. We started 17 months out, and most venues we liked were nearly booked for our dates.
Do you need a wedding planner for a wedding in Italy?
When planning from abroad, I’d say yes. A local planner handles vendor communication across the time difference and knows which vendors are reliable.
How do you pay wedding vendors in Italy?
Mostly by bank or wire transfer. Few vendors take credit cards; services like Wise let you pay by card for a fee, or send the exact amount the vendor should receive.
How many days is a destination wedding in Italy?
Typically three: a welcome dinner, the wedding day, and a farewell event. Many venues require a two- to three-night minimum stay.
What’s the best month for a wedding in Italy?
May, June, September, or October. We married in June; many southern Italian venues avoid July and August because of the heat.
Do you have to get legally married in Italy?
No. We married legally at Laguna Beach City Hall in May 2025, then held a symbolic ceremony in Puglia in June, which kept the paperwork at home.
At the end of the day, you’re marrying your best friend.
Planning a destination wedding is full of ups and downs: excitement, stress, moments of panic, moments of pure joy, and lessons you’ll keep. Stay true to your vision, don’t take everything on yourself, and you’ll create a celebration that speaks to your love and stays with everyone who was there. Embrace the adventure. You’ll never want to forget it.
Still choosing where? Start with the best wedding venues in Puglia and where to stay in Puglia. For the story of how it all unfolded, read our destination wedding in Puglia, and if you’re stretching it into a honeymoon, here’s our 12-day Italian honeymoon itinerary.