Where you can legally marry on Lake Garda

This page covers eight comuni on Lake Garda that legally marry couples who live abroad: Limone sul Garda, Malcesine, Riva del Garda, Gardone Riviera, Salò, Torri del Benaco, Lazise and Garda. Each comune (the local council) has its own villas, terraces and gardens, its own fees and its own rules. They are a selection: most comuni around the lake hold civil weddings for couples from abroad, and venues, fees and days change from year to year.

A legal wedding in Italy has to take place somewhere the comune has approved: one of its own buildings or gardens, or an outside venue it has authorised, such as a villa or hotel. Everything below is on a comune’s approved list, so a wedding there is legal and counts at home.

Limone sul Garda: a lemon house above the lake

Limone has two outdoor settings, both booked through the comune. The Limonaia del Castèl is an old lemon house on stone terraces above the water, bought in 1995, restored and used for weddings since 2018. The park of Villa Boghi, the comune’s headquarters, has a gazebo among the flowers. If it rains, the Sala Giunta in Villa Boghi takes about 25 standing, and the hall of the Tourism Museum in the old centre seats up to 25 with a view of the lake.

The comune charges couples who live elsewhere €700 on a weekday and €1,000 at weekends and on public holidays (2026 tariff), with €500 more to take the whole park for a buffet. Ceremonies for non-residents are at 11:00 only. The documents go in between six months and one month before the date, and the fee is paid at least 30 days ahead.

Malcesine: a terrace below the castle tower

Malcesine marries couples at its Scaliger castle, which sits on a rock above the water on the eastern shore. The Rivellino is an open terrace below the tower, looking across the lake to the mountains. Inside the castle, the Casermetta hall seats 40 to 50 with a lake view, and the Palazzo dei Capitani in the old town has a first-floor hall on the lake for up to 99.

For couples who live elsewhere the comune charges €600 on a weekday, €800 on a Saturday and €1,300 on a Sunday, with the Rivellino 20% more and €450 in the winter months (2025 tariff). There are three ceremony times a day, at 11:00, 14:00 and 17:00.

Riva del Garda: a park by the old castle

At the northern tip of the lake, Riva holds weddings outdoors in the park of the Rocca, the moated castle on the harbour, with the Rocca’s own wedding hall kept free as the wet-weather option. Indoors, it also marries couples in the municipio and in the frescoed hall of Palazzo Martini.

In the Rocca park, couples who live elsewhere pay €650 on a weekday, €900 on a Saturday and €1,000 on a Sunday. Palazzo Martini costs €400, €500 and €600, and the municipio €300, €400 and €500 (2017 tariff, VAT included, in the disciplinare the comune still links). Riva marries in morning and afternoon slots, never two weddings at once, and the booking stands once the fee is paid. Couples from abroad sign their declaration on the day, 10 to 15 minutes before the ceremony.

Gardone Riviera: D’Annunzio’s estate and lakeside terraces

The Vittoriale degli Italiani is the hillside estate of the poet Gabriele D’Annunzio, where civil weddings take place in the park: in the colonnades, the lemon house, the amphitheatre, or beside the warship he had set into the hillside. The comune also approves several lakeside hotels and villas, among them the terrace of the Savoy Palace, the panoramic terrace of Villa Florida, and Villa Fiordaliso, new for 2026.

At each of these the comune charges a flat €1,000. The venue adds its own hire on top: at the Vittoriale, €1,500 on a weekday or €2,000 at weekends, and at the Savoy Palace €800 to €1,000 for the terrace, depending on the slot (convention extract updated February 2023, on the comune’s site). Villa Florida sets its own charge. At Villa Fiordaliso, from 2026, the comune’s €1,000 is the whole fee.

Salò: a palazzo on the water

Salò’s Palazzo Municipale, built in 1524, stands on the lakefront, and the comune holds weddings in its halls. The Sala dei Provveditori seats about 100 and has windows onto the lake; the Sala della Giunta, also facing the water, holds about 10 and suits a couple with their witnesses. Both are indoors.

For couples who live elsewhere, the Sala dei Provveditori costs €600 and the Sala della Giunta €200, with €200 more on a Saturday (2026 tariff).

Torri del Benaco: a castle by the harbour

Torri del Benaco, on the eastern shore, marries couples at its Scaliger castle on the harbour. The limonaia, the castle’s lemon house, is open to the air on one side and holds up to 90, and the top of the castle tower takes 10. Outdoor ceremonies move indoors in bad weather. The comune confirms its fee when you book.

Lazise and Garda: a customs house and a villa

In Lazise, the comune has authorised the Dogana Veneta, the old Venetian customs house by the harbour, as a place for legal weddings, along with its own council chamber. For couples who live elsewhere, the comune charges €400 at the Dogana Veneta in service hours, €500 outside them and €700 on public holidays, with the venue’s own hire on top; the council chamber is €300, €400 and €500 (2013 tariff, still on the comune’s page in 2026).

Further along the eastern shore, the town of Garda holds civil weddings in the wedding hall of Villa Carlotti, which seats 30, and in the council chamber of the municipio, which seats 50. Both are indoors. When neither of you lives in or was born in Garda, Villa Carlotti costs €400 and the council chamber €300, paid in advance (2016 information sheet, still linked from the comune’s page). Garda marries from Monday to Saturday: weekday mornings, Tuesday and Thursday afternoons, and Saturday at noon, with no weddings on public holidays.

What these have in common

In every case the registrar conducts the ceremony in Italian, and if either of you does not speak Italian, the law requires an interpreter, who cannot be one of you. The paperwork you need depends on your nationality and is the same whichever comune you choose. What changes from one comune to the next is the setting, the price, the days it marries and how far ahead it takes bookings. The outdoor settings on this page are Limone’s lemon house and park, the Rivellino at Malcesine, the Rocca park at Riva, the Vittoriale’s park and the hotel terraces at Gardone, and the limonaia at Torri, which is open on one side.

If one of these places is the one you are picturing, or you have somewhere else on the lake in mind, book a call or message us on WhatsApp with your date and roughly how many guests, and we will find out what the comune there can offer.

Checked October 2026.

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