Italy

You'll have to fly into Malta Luqua airport, so look at all the airlines that fly into there from Italy. That will help you determine which city to fly in from. I flew to Malta from Istanbul and then flew to Catania to see Sicily. Catania was a very short flight - 40 minutes - so getting to mainland Italy will take a bit longer.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malta_International_Airport

To get to Gozo (separate island with no airport), you'll have to get to the northernmost part of Malta (by car or bus - the latter is easy) and then take a ferry. Even though Malta is small, it has lots of traffic and it took at least 2 hours to get there from Valletta.

Since Rome is currently the only city you can fly into Malta from how about Rome to the Amalfi Coast area or Rome to Florence and tour the Tuscany area. It looks like your trip to Malta will be a separate plane ticket from your flight from the United States to Rome (I am assuming that is where you are coming from).

Rome is not the only city in Italy from where you can fly into Malta. There are others like Naples, Milan, etc. See Air Malta and Ryan Air websites:
https://www.airmalta.com
https://www.ryanair.com/us/en/

Thank you, I will look further. Great advise.

Also check Ryan Air and Easy Jet. I know they have flights to Malta from Naples.

Check Ryan Air, Air Malta, and Alitalia websites for potential cities (there may be other airlines as well, I didn't check everything).

Thank you Phillip and Agnes and yes we would be flying in from the US.

You are right Milan and Naples is currently listed as seasonal though. This gives you more variety options in your travel in Italy

Because Malta (and more so Gozo) is so remote and off most people's radar, I highly recommend spending time there before the wedding. Gozo is very different than Malta and both are very interesting (if you like archeology, you can see structures there that are older than Stonehenge and Egyptian pyramids, and you can see original Caravaggio pieces and incredible churches). It's not inexpensive or super fast to get there from the States, so you may consider spending some time there. There are lots of interesting places to see, many concentrated in Valletta and others out in the middle of Malta. Truly unique places like Mdina and Rabat, for example. The only downside is that I was there at roughly the same time and it was scorching hot, as you can imagine (but there are great places for diving and swimming). Gozo is cooler and greener. Malta has a very good bus system and it's easy to get around. Even Gozo does, although it's much more rural of the two. Check out either Lonely Planet or the Bradt Guide to Malta, and seriously consider spending some time there. I'm really glad I did! It's not likely you'll be in the same "neighborhood" again, so give it some thought.

Thank you Agnes, I have been to Gozo several times as I have friends there so very familiar with Both Gozo and Malta. Love, love, love it there. Have seen most of what you described. We were just hoping to spend some time in Italy or maybe Scicily prior. I have been to Scicily as well but would love to spend more time there as well. Thank you so much. You sound well traveled. Yes were were there one yea4 for the festival in San Lawrenz in August and it was HOT. Sounds great right now tho as I live in Wisconsin.

Wow! You're the first person I've met who's been to Gozo multiple times (who isn't from the UK). Lucky you! I thought it was so beautiful, and was sad we were only there for one day. That was not enough. Next time, I'd like to rent a house with a pool in some village and just enjoy the slow life. Good luck picking a place either in Sicily or Italy prior to your trip! Catania was a great jumping point to Sicily from Malta for sure. I think Air Malta may even fly into the small Comiso Airport which is closer to Ragusa. I'd highly recommend seeing that (southeastern part) of Sicily as well, if you haven't already: Ragusa, Modica, Noto, Scicli, Siracusa, etc.

Thank you so much. Sicily is looking more attractive and the hydrofoil to Malta would be so easy. Like I said I have friends on Gozo so have been very fortunate to have them show us around the entire island. They have a boat house on the inland sea and a flat in Marsalforn. I do hope you get back and are able to spend more time. Thank you for the advice about Sicily as I do think that may be our best option.