Ischia Wedding Planner
Ceremonies on the Island the Romans Loved First
Ischia is the oldest Greek colony in the western Mediterranean, a volcanic island of thermal springs, dense pine forests, and a coastline that changes character completely from one village to the next. It sits at the northern tip of the Gulf of Naples, larger and wilder than Capri, with a different kind of beauty less immediately glamorous, more layered and surprising.
Couples who choose Ischia for their wedding choose it deliberately. They have usually visited, fallen for a specific village or a specific view, and decided they want their celebration to take place in that particular landscape. The island rewards that specificity it has the venues, the food, the light, and the logistical infrastructure to support a genuinely memorable wedding at any scale from two people to thirty.
I am Giuliana, a destination wedding planner based in Campania.
I plan intimate weddings and elopements across the Gulf of Naples and the Campania coast, and Ischia is a location I know well its venues, its seasonal rhythms, and the qualities that make each of its six municipalities distinct. If you are considering a wedding here, I can help you find exactly the setting that is right for your particular vision.
The Six Faces of Ischia and Which is Right for Your Wedding
Ischia is not one place but six distinct municipalities, each with its own character, aesthetic, and ceremony possibilities. Understanding the difference between them is the first step in finding the right setting.
Ischia Porto and Ischia Ponte
Ischia Porto is the main port town: busy, animated, and well-connected. A short walk along the waterfront leads to Ischia Ponte, the older, quieter medieval village built around the causeway leading to the Aragonese Castle. This is where the island's most iconic wedding venue sits, rising from a volcanic rock above the sea.
Sant'Angelo
Sant'Angelo is the most romantic and private of Ischia's villages a car-free cluster of pastel houses built around a tiny piazza, connected to the shore by a narrow isthmus. It has a handful of exceptional boutique hotels, candlelit restaurants on terraces above the water, and a pace of life that slows even the most anxious guest. For couples who want a multi-day experience that feels like a genuine escape, Sant'Angelo is the first village I recommend on the island.
Lacco Ameno
Lacco Ameno is known for its distinctive natural landmark — the Fungo, a mushroom-shaped volcanic rock rising from the sea at the edge of the bay — and for its concentration of quality hotels. I will find for you the best-positioned wedding venues on the island, with terrace space, thermal facilities, and sea views that photographers consistently rate among the finest on Ischia.
Forio
Forio is on the western coast, facing the open sea and the sunset. The Church of Santa Maria del Soccorso a whitewashed chapel perched on a promontory above the water is one of the most beautiful and distinctive ceremony settings in the entire Gulf of Naples. For symbolic ceremonies at sunset, there is almost nowhere else on the island I would recommend instead of this.
Barano and the Maronti Beach
The southern coast of Ischia, dominated by the long stretch of Maronti beach, is the island's most wild and geologically active shore with natural hot springs emerging directly from the sand where the volcanic heat meets the sea. For couples who want a ceremony in a genuinely raw, elemental setting, the Sorgeto hot springs cove (accessible by boat or on foot) offers something unlike any conventional venue.
Practical Information: Getting Married in Ischia
The Castello Aragonese, Ischia's most iconic setting
The Aragonese Castle is the defining image of Ischia: a massive medieval fortress built on a volcanic rock island, connected to Ischia Ponte by a causeway, rising from the sea to a panorama that takes in the entire Gulf of Naples. On a clear day, Vesuvius, Capri, and the Amalfi Coast are all visible from its upper terraces.
The castle contains within its walls the ruins of a Baroque cathedral: an open-sky space of arched stone and weathered elegance that serves as one of the most extraordinary symbolic ceremony settings in southern Italy.
Access to the castle is by a tunnel elevator through the rock. Guests arrive by boat from Ischia Ponte, with views of the castle growing larger as you approach. For couples who want ceremony drama: the scale of the setting, the weight of the history, the visual impact there is nothing on the island that competes.
The castle is best for symbolic ceremonies (intimate weddings with up to 20–25 guests max). For larger ceremonies are better suited.
The Church of Santa Maria del Soccorso, Forio
The Soccorso church is perhaps the most photographed building on Ischia, a whitewashed, entirely white church on a clifftop above the sea at Forio, traditionally decorated with votive offerings from sailors and facing directly west into the sunset. For symbolic ceremonies conducted in an outdoor setting of concentrated beauty, at the hour when the light turns gold and the silhouette of the church against the sky becomes something close to extraordinary, this is one of the finest settings available anywhere in Campania.
Civil ceremonies in Ischia
Civil ceremonies on the island are registered with the Comune di Ischia (which covers the municipality of Ischia Ponte). The process follows the Italian standard: documents prepared and submitted in advance, ceremony conducted in Italian with a certified interpreter, two witnesses present. The Aragonese Castle terrace and several hotel venues on the island are among the settings that can be coordinated for civil ceremonies.
Documents required (for US, UK, and Australian citizens): The standard Italian civil ceremony document set — Certificate of No Legal Impediment (called Nulla Osta for US citizens, CNI for UK citizens), valid passport, translated and apostilled birth certificate. Previously married applicants require additional documentation. I coordinate the entire process from initial contact to day-of logistics.
Getting to Ischia
Ischia is reached by ferry or hydrofoil from Naples (Molo Beverello or Pozzuoli), Pozzuoli, and in summer from Sorrento and Positano. The journey from Naples takes 35–80 minutes depending on the vessel. Hydrofoils are faster; ferries are more comfortable for luggage and larger groups.
Private yacht charters from Naples or from Sorrento are increasingly popular for wedding parties who want a scenic, exclusive arrival at the island — something I can arrange and coordinate as part of the overall day plan.
Best time of year
April through October is the primary season on Ischia. May and June are ideal — warm, uncrowded, and with the island's natural vegetation at its most lush and colourful. September is consistently excellent: the thermal waters are warm, the crowds of July and August have thinned, and the light quality is exceptional for photography. October has a particular golden quality that is increasingly valued by couples who want something different from the high-summer aesthetic.
January through March sees most hotels and restaurants close; ferries continue to run but the island has a quiet, slightly melancholy character that some couples find beautiful for an off-season elopement — if that resonates, it is absolutely worth discussing.
Where to stay
The island has a strong range of accommodation from the boutique, Sant'Angelo's small hotels, clifftop pensioni above the sea to the genuinely luxurious: Mezzatorre, the San Montano in Lacco Ameno, and the Il Moresco in Ischia Porto. For wedding parties, I coordinate room blocks and recommend properties based on location relative to the ceremony venue, quality of service, and the aesthetic alignment with the couple's overall vision for the days surrounding the wedding.
Ischia vs Capri: Which is Right for You?
Both islands are reached by sea from Naples and both offer exceptional beauty. The differences are ones of character and context.
Capri is more compact, more immediately glamorous, and more immediately recognisable. It is associated with a specific kind of Italian luxury designer boutiques, the Piazzetta, the Faraglioni. Couples who want those specific associations, and who have the budget for Capri's premium pricing, find it irreplaceable.
Ischia is larger, more varied, and more genuinely volcanic, it has a wildness and a depth that Capri, for all its beauty, does not quite match. It also has better value across accommodation and catering, a wider range of ceremony settings, and in villages like Sant'Angelo and Forio a sense of local authenticity that has been harder to preserve on Capri.
I work on both islands and have a clear view of which suits each couple. That conversation usually takes about five minutes.
Working with Me: What to Expect
I plan weddings with up to 30 guests. On Ischia, this typically means a ceremony at one of the locations described above, a private dinner at a venue I select based on your brief, and a day organised around the specific light and landscape of whichever part of the island you have chosen.
All communication is in English. I work across US, UK, and Australian time zones and have planned weddings for couples who visited Italy once and planned everything remotely and for others who used the planning process as an excuse to visit Ischia three times (I fully understand and support this approach).
If Ischia feels right to you, I would love to hear about it. The first call is free, unhurried, and always a genuine conversation.