How much does a wedding in Sicily cost? It is one of the first questions we hear from UK couples, and it is a fair one. A bespoke wedding here is shaped by your guest list, your venue, the season and the kind of day you want, so there is no single figure that fits everyone.
What we can share is a realistic guide to overall wedding spend, including planning. These are not quotes, and they are not a price list for our work. They are the bands we use to help you see what is realistic before we talk in more detail. Every wedding is tailored, and a private consultation is where we look at your own numbers properly.
For a broader overview of marrying here, start with our complete guide to getting married in Sicily as a UK couple.
A realistic overall spend guide
These figures are a guide to the wedding itself — the venue, catering, planning, photography, flowers, music and the other elements of the day. They include planning. You pay your venue and suppliers directly.
- Elopement (just the two of you, or up to about 10 guests): from £10,000
- Intimate wedding (up to 30 guests): from £15,000
- Small wedding (up to 50 guests): from £25,000
- Wedding (50 guests and above): £40,000 and above
Your guests' own flights and hotel stays usually sit alongside this, rather than inside it, although many couples choose to help with transfers or a room block. Our guest accommodation and travel guide covers that side of the weekend.
What each budget typically looks like
An elopement, from £10,000
This band is for a day that is intimate by design: just the two of you, or a handful of the people closest to you, up to about ten guests. It might be a civil elopement in Taormina, or a symbolic ceremony in a garden, on a terrace or at a countryside estate, followed by a beautiful meal and photography.
It is not a large wedding scaled down. It is a carefully planned, personal celebration, with the essential details looked after. You can read more on our elope in Sicily page, and Sabina also offers a celebrant service in Sicily for symbolic ceremonies in English and Italian.
An intimate wedding, from £15,000
With up to 30 guests, the day usually opens out a little: a ceremony, a long lunch or dinner, flowers, music and a photographer, in a setting that still feels close and unhurried. You have enough people to make a real gathering, without needing the scale of a large reception.
This is often where couples start to think more carefully about where everyone will stay and how they will move between the ceremony and the meal.
A small wedding, from £25,000
At up to 50 guests, catering, space and logistics shape the weekend more clearly. Many couples look at a courtyard, a garden or an exclusive-use corner of an estate, a fuller supplier team, and sometimes a welcome drink or dinner around the wedding day.
This is a lovely size for a countryside estate in the south-east, around Siracusa, Noto and the Val di Noto, as well as for certain hotels and terraces on the Taormina coast. Our guide to how to choose a wedding venue in Sicily will help you match the place to the size of your celebration, and you can browse the venues we love.
A wedding for 50 guests or more, £40,000 and above
A larger celebration usually needs a venue that can host everyone comfortably, often on an exclusive-use basis, more substantial catering, and a wider team — photography, florals, music and guest transport among them. Some couples turn it into a two-day gathering, with a welcome evening and a relaxed lunch the day after.
At this scale, the earlier you start, the more choice you have, particularly for Saturday dates in the most popular months. Our Sicily wedding planning timeline sets out the usual rhythm.
What actually drives the cost
Guest numbers are usually the starting point, because they affect almost everything else, especially catering. From there, these are the things that tend to move the overall spend:
Venue exclusivity. Taking a whole estate, palazzo or hotel area for yourselves is a different proposition from sharing a property or using a single terrace. Exclusive-use venues that host one wedding at a time are also often booked earliest for peak Saturdays.
Catering. In Sicily, the meal is the heart of the celebration. How many guests you have, the style of service, the number of courses, drinks, and whether you add a welcome dinner or a next-day lunch, all make a real difference.
Season and the day of the week. May, June, September and early October are the months most UK couples choose for warm light without the fiercest midsummer heat. Those dates, and Saturdays in particular, are the most sought-after. Our month-by-month guide to the best time to get married in Sicily will help you weigh the seasons.
Location. A wedding in Taormina — cliff towns, sea-view terraces, Etna on the horizon — can sit at a different level of investment from a countryside estate in the Val di Noto, depending on the property and the season. Neither is better or worse; they simply offer a different setting and a different kind of weekend.
Photography, florals and music. These are the details that give the day its atmosphere, and the right suppliers for a ten-guest elopement are not always the same as those for a much larger celebration. The scale, the number of hours and the level of design all play a part.
Guest travel. Flights, transfers and where people stay sit alongside the wedding budget. Destination weddings need more notice than a wedding at home, and a clear plan for airports and room blocks makes the weekend calmer for everyone.
Full planning, compared with being there only on the day
Day-of coordination is being with you on the wedding day, once the big decisions have already been made. Full planning is different.
It is finding the right venue and the right suppliers, managing those relationships in English and in Italian, keeping the legal paperwork on track if you are marrying legally in Sicily, arranging a celebrant when you want a symbolic ceremony, and being there on the day itself.
That is how we work. Lina plans with you from the UK; Sabina is on the ground in Sicily. We have been doing this since 2010. We recommend suppliers and coordinate everything; you pay those suppliers directly.
Ready to talk about your wedding?
If you would like to plan a bespoke wedding in Sicily, enquire with us and tell us roughly how many guests you expect and the overall budget you have in mind. We will arrange a private consultation, and then prepare a tailored proposal and a brochure for you.
You do not need to have chosen a venue or a date first. There is no pressure, just a clear next step.
FAQ
How much does a wedding in Sicily cost?
It depends on your guest numbers, venue, season and the suppliers you choose. As a realistic guide to overall wedding spend, including planning: an elopement (just the two of you, or up to about 10 guests) from £10,000; an intimate wedding (up to 30 guests) from £15,000; a small wedding (up to 50 guests) from £25,000; and a wedding for 50 guests or more, £40,000 and above. These are guides, not quotes.
How much does an elopement in Sicily cost?
As a guide, an elopement for just the two of you, or up to about 10 guests, is from £10,000 in overall wedding spend, including planning. The exact figure depends on the setting, the ceremony type and the suppliers you choose.
Do these figures include planning, and who pays the suppliers?
Yes, these bands are a guide to overall wedding spend, including planning. They are not a price list for our work, and they are not a package quote. You pay your venue and suppliers directly. After a private consultation, we send a tailored proposal and brochure.
Does it cost more to get married in Taormina than in the Val di Noto?
The location makes a difference, but it is not as simple as one area always being more than the other. A sea-view terrace in Taormina and a countryside estate near Noto can sit at quite different levels of investment, depending on the property, the season and whether you take the place exclusively. We shortlist venues that suit your guest numbers and the overall budget you have in mind.
How do we get a clearer figure for our own wedding?
Enquire with us and include your guest count and the overall budget you have in mind. We will arrange a private consultation, then prepare a tailored proposal and a brochure. You do not need to have chosen a venue first.