Wedding - Pienza or Volterra?

This only answers one of your questions. I suspect it's going to considerably simplify things if you rent a car instead of relying on the Tuscany bus system to get you where you need to be to get all this done. Most travelers choose to drive to Tuscan hill towns, just try to avoid driving in cities/towns like Florence (not fun).

You should realize that there is a lot of red tape involved for American citizens to get married in Italy. It involves steps in the US as well as in Italy. It is a lot more than just showing up a few days early. Here are a couple of links from the US State Dept that outline the steps involved.

This one is for the Consular district of FLorence which would include your choices in Tuscany.

http://italy.usembassy.gov/acs/marriage/marriage-florence.asp

This is a link to the Naples district that seems to do a better job explaining the process.

http://italy.usembassy.gov/acs/marriage/marriage-naples.asp

It appears that you will also have to travel to Florence and appear in the US consular office to get some of the process done.

If you decide to go this route, I would suggest extensive research and making phone calls to the officials in your desired location to make sure you can satisfy everything.

Folks who are planning to get married in Italy appear to fall into three camps.

1. They hire a professional wedding planner in Italy to mange the process for them. Including ushering them through the requirements needed from the US before leaving.

2. They do lots of research, possibly have an Italian speaking friend here or in Italy that can help. Get it done on their own.

3. They give up, Get married in the US in a civil ceremony and then whisk away to Italy where they either honeymonn or perhaps do an exchange of vows ceremony while in Italy.

Good luck.

Volterra, while not large, is larger than Pienza. It offers more to do and I think it's the easier of the 2 towns to reach by public transportation. On the other hand, friends recently spent time at a very nice but slightly pricy hotel in Pienza called Il Chiostro. It might make a great wedding destination. Both towns are a comune, which means both will have the necessary government offices, so your decision may come down to how many options you want for spending your free time.

Thank you all for your information. Don't worry - I have already extensively looked into the legalities of getting married in Italy and have a wedding coordinator who is handling all of the necessary paperwork.

I was hoping for just a little more info to help decide between the two towns.

Anyone else have a preference between the two? I imagine I probably will not go wrong with either one. Thanks so much for all of the information! It is very helpful.

Volterra!!!! But, it depends on what you're wanting. Volterra is larger and more lively. Pienza is very small and quiet. But, oh the cheese!!!!!

If you're open to other options for wedding venue, have you looked at either Siena or Montalcino (just up the road from Pienza!)

Both are lovely and I'm sure you'll have a wonderful wedding, no matter which town you choose!

Your real question: I was hoping for just a little more info to help decide between the two towns.IMO Pienza has an edge on being the more romantic of the two towns!Why is it more romantic? It's smaller, and have you the seen the photos taken from below town shooting pics up the Orcia Valley?Also more romantic because a hundred years ago they changed the names of some of the streets to harmonize more with love instead of war. The streets on the right side of the main thoroughfare are named after Fortune, Love, the Kiss, and Darkness. These streets lead to panoramic walks on the town walls.