Italian Wedding Planning Guide

The night before the wedding, the groom serenades the bride beneath her window with love songs, accompanied by hired musicians and close friends. The bride eventually appears at the window or balcony to accept the tribute, and neighbours often gather to witness the spectacle.

Significance: A deeply romantic tradition where the groom makes a final public declaration of love before the wedding. It signals his eagerness for the following day and honours the bride before she crosses the threshold from her family home into married life.

La Serenata is primarily a central and southern Italian custom, particularly associated with Puglia, Calabria, Campania, and Sicily. The tradition was codified as a formal wedding ritual during the 20th century, though its roots in courting serenades are far older. The bride may playfully refuse to appear at the window at first, heightening the drama for onlookers.

Five sugar-coated almonds (confetti) are given to each guest as wedding favours, packaged in decorated bomboniere containers — traditionally small boxes, tulle bags tied with ribbon, or ceramic keepsakes. The number five is deliberate: odd numbers cannot be divided evenly, symbolising the indivisible union of the couple.

Significance: The five almonds carry five blessings: health, wealth, happiness, fertility, and longevity. The bitter almond beneath the sweet sugar coating represents the bittersweet nature of married life. Confetti almonds have been a staple of Italian weddings since at least the 18th century.

The town of Sulmona in Abruzzo has been the capital of Italian confetti production since the 18th century, and its confettieri still supply wedding almonds across the country and worldwide. The word confetti derives from the Latin confectum (confection), referring to the sugared almond itself — a fact that surprises many English speakers who associate the word with paper. Confetti are also given at baptisms, First Communions, and graduations in Italy.

A lively, fast-paced southern Italian folk dance performed at the reception, in which guests form a circle and dance together to tambourine-driven music. The couple traditionally begins in the centre of the circle before other guests join. The term Tarantella covers a family of related dances including the pizzica (Puglia) and tammurriata (Campania).

Significance: The Tarantella sweeps all generations into shared, joyful celebration. It is the energetic centrepiece of the Italian reception and a moment that unites the two families. Even guests who do not know the steps are drawn into the circle.

The Tarantella takes its name from Taranto in Puglia and is distinct from the historical therapeutic practice of tarantism, which involved frenzied dancing as a cure for a tarantula bite. The wedding Tarantella is purely celebratory. Regional variants — the pizzica in Puglia, the tammurriata in Campania — are danced with slightly different steps and instrumentation but share the same exuberant spirit.

Instead of a gift registry, Italian wedding guests traditionally give monetary gifts in sealed envelopes (buste). The unspoken expectation is that the gift should cover at least the per-head cost of the reception (the coperto) plus a generous additional amount reflecting the relationship with the couple. Close family typically give significantly more.

Significance: La Busta reflects the Italian custom of helping newlyweds establish their home and life together. It is practical, rooted in community solidarity, and avoids the awkwardness of duplicate gifts. Regional variations exist in expected amounts and presentation.

The coperto at an Italian wedding can range from 80 to 200 euros per person depending on the region and venue. Guests are generally aware of this and calibrate their busta accordingly. The couple typically assigns a trusted family member to collect and secure the buste during the reception.

After the ceremony, the couple breaks a glass or ceramic vase together. The number of pieces it shatters into is said to foretell the number of happy years they will share. The assembled guests count the shards aloud and toast: "Per cent'anni!" — to one hundred years.

Significance: The ritual is a dramatic, joyful omen inviting abundance and longevity. The more pieces, the better the augury. It marks the exuberant threshold between the solemnity of the ceremony and the celebration to come.

This tradition is more prevalent in southern Italy and should not be confused with the Jewish breaking of the glass at the wedding ceremony, which carries entirely different theological significance. Some Italian couples use a thick decorative plate or ceramic vessel to maximise the number of pieces. The toast 'Per cent'anni' is a standard Italian good-luck wish meaning 'for one hundred years'.