Italy doesn’t have one landscape. It has dozens, and most couples start by choosing a famous one. I’d start somewhere else: how do you want the day to feel? Quiet, wild, grand, slow? These eight ideas come from places I photograph, grouped by the kind of day they give you.
In the city
Cities feel crowded until you see them early. At 7am, the most photographed places in Italy belong to a handful of people walking to work, and to you.
Rome among the monuments, at dawn
Best for: couples who want history in every frame.
The Colosseum, the Forum, the Pantheon. In the middle of the day you share them with thousands of people. At sunrise you share them with the street sweepers. The stone turns pink, then gold, and for about an hour the city is quiet enough to hear your own vows.
Dawn moves with the year. In summer the sun is up around 6am, so we start early — and it’s worth it. The light is the best of the day, there’s almost nobody around, and you’re done before the heat arrives.
When: any month except January and February, when the days are short and cold. For the fewest people, October and the first days of November.
On a baroque staircase
Best for: couples who love art more than scenery.
Rome’s palazzi were built to impress, and their staircases most of all. At Palazzo Barberini you can’t photograph inside the museum rooms, but the two great staircases off the portico are another story. One is Bernini’s, square and solemn. The other is Borromini’s oval spiral, paired columns winding up towards a single skylight — it looks like it was designed for a dress.
It isn’t only the shape. Light falls from the top and in through the windows, and it moves across the columns as you climb, so every turn looks different. I shoot it from above, from below, straight on. Few places in Rome give you so many photographs in so few metres.
A private villa, just the two of you
Best for: couples who want the city without the city.
Rome is full of villas behind high walls. Some can be booked for a few hours: a garden, a staircase, a terrace above the rooftops, and nobody else in it. It’s the most private way to marry in Rome, and the light inside these places is soft all day.
In the countryside
Here the landscape does the work. You don’t decorate a hill.
Among the Tuscan hills
Best for: couples who picture cypress trees and long dinners outside.
Tuscany is the Italy people imagine before they arrive. Rows of cypresses, wheat fields that change colour every month, a villa with a pool looking over the valley. Come in late afternoon, when the hills go amber and the shadows get long.
When: May and June, or September and October. July and August are hot and the fields are already burnt.
In an ancient beech forest, in autumn
Best for: couples who want silence.
About an hour and a half north of Rome, above Soriano nel Cimino, there is a beech forest on top of an old volcano. The Faggeta of Monte Cimino sits at around 1,000 metres, and its trees can grow past 50 metres tall. Since 2017 it has been part of a UNESCO World Heritage site (Faggete Vetuste).
Walking in feels like an immersion. It’s quiet, the trunks are enormous, and if you have any connection with that world, you can feel the spirit of the trees. In autumn the whole forest changes colour, yellow, then copper, and the light comes through the leaves like through stained glass. It’s the best place I know to watch it happen. The photographs are unreal.
When: mid-October to early November, for the colour.
By the water
Water changes everything: the light, the sound, the pace of the day.
A colourful village in Sardinia
Best for: couples who want somewhere nobody they know has been, and anyone who loves a road trip.
Bosa sits on a river, a few minutes from the sea, under a castle. The houses are painted pink, ochre, blue and green, stacked up the hill. Walk the riverfront in the evening and the whole town reflects in the water. It feels like a place that hasn’t decided to be famous yet.
The couple in these photos had a house here, and it’s easy to see why. It’s a quiet town. Old ladies sit outside their front doors, talking, keeping an eye on the street and on each other.
Getting there is half of it. If you love the open road, come in from Alghero. I’ve ridden that coast road on a motorbike, with the sea beside you the whole way, and it’s one of the most beautiful drives in Italy. Arrive like that, and the day has already begun.
On the Sardinian coast
Best for: couples who want wind in their hair and the sea at full volume.
Just outside Bosa, the coast turns wild: low walls, wildflowers, waves breaking on dark rock. No beach clubs, no umbrellas. Bring a jacket for the wind and shoes you can walk in.
When: May, June or September. The sea is warm enough, and the island is yours.
On Lake Como, by boat
Best for: couples who want elegance without a crowd of guests.
Como is villas, gardens and wooden boats. Arrive at your ceremony by water, have a glass of something cold on the deck, and spend the golden hour moving between villages. The mountains around the lake are always there, doing nothing, making everything look better.
When: April to October. September is the softest month.
Which idea fits you
| You are… | Look at | Best months |
|---|---|---|
| Art lovers | Rome at dawn, a baroque staircase, a private villa | Any month but January and February |
| Slow and quiet | The beech forest, the Tuscan hills | October, May |
| Adventurous | The Sardinian coast | May, June, September |
| Elegant and relaxed | Lake Como by boat | April to October |
| Off the map | Bosa | May, June, September |
Not sure yet? That’s normal. Tell me how you want the day to feel, and I’ll tell you where to find it.
From the photographer
Tell me how you want it to feel.
I'll find the place, the hour and the permits, then photograph the day as it happens. You only have to show up for each other.
Plan it with meQuick answers
What is the most unique place to elope in Italy?
The one your friends haven’t seen on Instagram. Bosa in Sardinia and the beech forest of Monte Cimino near Viterbo are two of my favourites: both are beautiful and still quiet.
Can we have our photos at Palazzo Barberini?
Yes, on the staircases. You can’t photograph inside the museum rooms, but Bernini’s square staircase and Borromini’s oval spiral staircase, both reached from the portico, are among the most elegant backdrops in Rome.
When is the best time to elope in Italy?
For most places, May, June, September and October. For fewer people and soft light, October and the first days of November. I avoid January and February: cold, short days.
Can we elope in Italy at sunrise?
Yes, and it’s the best way to have famous places to yourselves. In Rome, a sunrise ceremony means the Colosseum and the Pantheon with almost nobody around.
Do we need to be legally married in Italy to elope here?
No. Many couples sign the paperwork at home and have a symbolic ceremony in Italy, at any place and any hour. My legal requirements guide explains both options.
