By David Biller and Dario Arte
Italy’s Florence (AP) Along with their family and friends in Florence, James Atkinson and Samantha Fortino visited a Tuscan winery and learnt how to prepare pasta and Bolognese sauce. Fortino went for Italy’s hugo spritz, a cocktail that didn’t have the potential to ruin her wedding gown on July 24, while Atkinson developed a taste for chianti.
In the last ten years, Italy has played host to several high-profile weddings, including the lavish wedding of Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez in Venice. In recent years, tens of thousands of regular Americans have set their sights on the nation for their big day, away from the spotlight.
According to Fortino, 28, a neonatal nurse from Skaneateles, New York, weddings in America can be a touch too huge and a little too spectacular, and they don’t really center around the couple. All we really wanted was something personal and significant.
According to market data conducted by Florence’s Center of Tourist Studies, almost 15,000 international couples got married in Italy last year, a 64% increase from 2019, the year before the pandemic. U.S. couples, who make up about one-third of that total, spearheaded the growth.
According to The Knot, a wedding planning website located in Maryland, Italy was the second most popular foreign destination for American couples, after Mexico.
Italy represents the uncomplicated, lovely romance of a bygone period to many Americans. Its diverse vistas, from the sea to the mountains, are breathtaking, and the weather is pleasant. The cuisine is well-known and popular. Perhaps the main factor behind the current increase, however, is the abundance of options for various activities, which, when combined with the wedding celebration, appeal to those searching for one-of-a-kind, unforgettable experiences as part of a market trend known as the experience economy.
According to Atkinson, 31, who owns a concrete company, “everything is just more expensive in the United States for one night and we wanted to make an experience, so we did two nights here.” We simply felt that doing that and taking a journey with our loved ones and family was far more worthwhile.
A guest who had never been to Italy was thrilled to receive the invitation and used it as an opportunity to add side trips, first to Venice and then to Cinque Terre with the bridal party. Due to a backlog of work at his paving company, Gary Prochna almost skipped the event. Eventually, he changed his mind and was astounded by the location, a villa from the 15th century that overlooked Florence and the city’s well-known Duomo.
The location of my wedding in the United States was lovely. “I believe we had the best wedding up to this point,” Prochna, 68, said, adding that he now hopes his daughters would marry elsewhere.
In a January 2024 Mastercard survey, over half of Americans stated that they would rather spend their money on experiences that create memories, and over one-third stated that they would organize an entire vacation around a single encounter.
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Nearly 90% of the international weddings that Marcy Blum, a well-known luxury event planner from Manhattan, arranges take place in Italy.
“Your guests want to go to Italy, which is why it’s so popular,” she remarked. Everyone shows up when you send out invitations to get married in Capri or Positano. Everyone. They wish to attend. No one cancels.
According to Jack Ezon, CEO of Embark Beyond, a Manhattan-based luxury travel and destination event firm, 60% of his company’s events took place outside of the United States prior to the epidemic. Nearly 90% of it is now divided equally between France and Italy.
Destination weddings have benefited from the possibility of tariffs under President Donald Trump. This year, Ezon has rescheduled six events from the United States to Europe because attendees were worried that alcohol tariffs would drive up their bar bills.
Local vendors and planners with networks throughout Italy have profited from the move to destinations. The husband-wife team who organized the Atkinson wedding, Wedding Italy, claims that because of their multi-day schedule of festivities and more ornate wedding décor, American customers spend three times as much as Italians.
According to The Knot, the average cost of hometown weddings in the United States was $32,000 last year. In contrast, according to data from the Center of Tourist Studies of Florence, foreigners’ weddings in Italy usually have dozens fewer guests and cost an average of 61,500 euros ($70,600).
As the bride emerged from the chapel, beaming in her lace mermaid-silhouette gown, cypress trees swung in the breeze in the garden where the Atkinsons held their service. As speakers played the Star Wars theme tune, she made her way down the aisle. Making the groom cry was her cunning tactic, and it was a huge success.
Before the lovers put their arms around each other and exchanged rings, their officiant said:
I would question, traditionally, if there is any reason why this pair shouldn’t get married. However, for heaven’s sake, none of us can get our points back because we all flew to Italy! Instead, I’ll ask: Does anyone here support this union?
Cheers to everyone.
