Budget wedding in Italy?

Have you checked with the Canadian consulate for the rules on Canadian citizens getting married in Italy?
I do know that for Americans, it makes a big difference whether you want to have an actual, legally effective wedding in Italy, or just a "ratification" of a legal marriage that you have already had over here.
The requirements for Americans to have a legally effective wedding in Italy are so burdensome that most Americans (reporting in here) appear to choose to have a legally effective marriage here and then a "ratification" ceremony in Italy.

Thanks for the heads up, Kent. The legalities are definitely a little tricky, but possible to handle as long as you do a lot of research. I ended up receiving the best advice from the Canadian consulate in Italy. According to them, we must swear and affidavit in Canada before a notary person or a judge to prove we are legally elligable to wed, we then submit this affidavit to the Italian officials who issue us a document called a "nulla osta". This is all done by mail a few months prior to our ceremony. We present the Nulla Osta (which is valid for up to 3 months from the date of issue) to the officials at the town hall where we are being wed, and apparently this is all we need. We are fairly confident that everything will go according to plan :)

Rebecca

Just curious: Who will officiate in Italy, a religious officiant or a civil officiant?

Civil servant. We have booked our wedding at the town hall in the small village that we plan to wed in.

Ah, a civil wedding in Italy. Sounds romantic!
Well, congratulations and best wishes!

I hope someone here will be able to help you with your specific questions about a photographer and classical guitarist. Not so many of our Forum contributors get married in Italy, so if you don't hear from anyone here, you may want to post (if you haven't already) a similar question on TripAdvisor or other travel forums.

Posting to trip advisor as we speak! I'm new to forums, so if you can think of any other good places to gather info on the Italian wedding industry I'd gladly use the advice! Thanks for the nice chat, Kent :) (funnily enough, "Kent" is going to be my new surname after marrying my fiancee on August 31st!)

Rebecca,
Well, then double congratulations are in order!
And may I perhaps be the first to address you as Mrs. Kent.
A good name, I like it.

I believe Fodor's also has a travel forum.
And then of course there is Google, an almost infinite source of information.

Rebecca,
The other thought I had is: If, after some further research, you're just not coming up with the answers you need, you can always decide to hire an Italian wedding planner.
I realize this is not your first choice, and hopefully you won't have to do it.
But it's always available as a choice, if all else fails.

Regards,
Kent

Rebecca,

Your budget for €750 may be a bit low for wedding photographers, but you may be able to find someone that will work in that range. If you do a Google search for "Petritoli Italy wedding photographers", you'll get at least six names to start with. The key will be to find one that speaks English.

For the classical guitarist, you could send an E-mail to your hotel as someone in the staff may know of a local musician. If that doesn't work, you may have to at least consult a wedding planner.

When is this wedding taking place?

Tanti Auguri e Buon Viaggio!

Ken,
The wedding is in late August.

Kent,

Thanks for that. I just skimmed over the previous replies so I missed that. In light of that, it would be a good idea to get arrangements in places, as many Italians take holidays in August.