When is a bride abroad?

WEDDINGS: More than 800 Irish couples a year now choose to say 'I do' in Italy

WEDDINGS: More than 800 Irish couples a year now choose to say 'I do' in Italy. Deirdre McQuillan accompanies one couple to the village of Sulmona - home of confetti - to size it up as a wedding location.

The smooching started at Dublin Airport. The Alitalia flight to Rome on a Thursday in July was thronged with noisy Italian teenagers returning home after their Irish holiday, many wrapped in deep amatory embraces that continued in the aircraft aisle all the way to Fiumicino, much to the amusement of other passengers.

I was in the company of a more discreet Irish couple on their first visit to Italy, where they are planning to get married next year. Our destination was Sulmona, the self-styled "City of Love" in the Abruzzo, about two hours south of Rome in the centre of what's called the green heart of Italy.

Niall Heffernan and Barbara O'Sullivan are just one of hundreds of Irish couples looking for destinations other than Ireland to tie the knot; in their case, they were interested in alternatives to Rome. And they certainly are a romantic pair; he proposed to her at Niagara Falls last year and bought her a piece of the moon (from www.moonestates.com) as a present. No half measures.

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The first evening was spent in Castel Gandolfo, better known as the home of the Pontifical summer residence, in a small hotel overlooking Lake Albano called Villa degli Angeli. "An Italian version of Killiney," was Niall's opinion of the area. The hotel's terrace restaurant is an alluring location at night, but despite the distracting views and delicious food, the young man at the table next to us never removed his eyes, or his hands, from his female companion the whole evening during which, we were later told, he presented her with a ring and a necklace.

As we left the restaurant, a fireworks display erupted on the other side of the lake; this, apparently, was also part of the young swain's proposal. "It's quite common," shrugged our guide dismissively. "Rich people from Rome live here and can afford such gestures."

The place certainly seems to have a reputation for amatory adventures and sports other than boating and swimming; cars with courting couples and windows covered in newspapers lined the darkened lakeshore drive later that evening as the moon disappeared behind the surrounding hills.

The love theme continued to dominate the next few days. It was an easy two-hour motorway drive to Sulmona, a beautiful medieval city of some 25,000 people set in an amphitheatre of mountains, the highest of the snow-capped Apennines. It is famous for being the birthplace of the great Latin love poet Ovid, and is also the home of confetti, colourful sugared almonds that are given to guests at Italian weddings. (What we call confetti, the coloured bits of paper, they call coriandori.)

The oldest confectionery company of some 10 producers goes back to the early l8th century, and the sweet shops in the town looked like florists, with lavish displays of all kinds of confetti in the shapes of flowers, grapes or other seasonal produce. Some 300 people are engaged in making these arrangements by hand.

For the locals, the fact that an Irish couple wanted to get married in Sulmona was a source of amazement, pride and amused delight, and the pair were welcomed formally by the mayor, who wished them "a long, rich and serene life". They were also interviewed by Italian newspaper and television journalists, becoming overnight minor celebrities.

Later, in the lovely church of St Francesco della Scarpa, Niall and Barbara made a promessa di matrimonio, a statement of intent on the part of the church and the intending couple. If and when Barbara and Niall do say si there next year, they will be the first Irish couple to do so in a city where some 150 weddings take place every month followed by the usual seven- to 10-course celebratory feast, customary in Italy.

Food plays a big part here, where even a simple lunch is a gastronomic experience: zucchini flowers, grilled aubergines, tomato salad, salami and prosciutto comprised our first course in a "slow food" restaurant.

Next morning we witnessed an Italian wedding in Scanno, one of the most photographed medieval villages in Italy, 1,000 metres above sea level. The drive from Sulmona is a spectacular one through the narrow and rocky gorges of Valle del Sagittario, which opens onto the vividly green Lago di Scanno just outside the town.

The women in this village have always been noted for their traditional costumes - heavy, wool skirts and bodices that weigh around 12 kilos and ornate turbans said to be of oriental origin. But the bride in the Santa Maria Della Valle parish church was dressed in conventional white satin and lace, bearing a long train. As the couple emerged from the church, they were showered with rice and they posed for pictures in front of a heart made of rice and rigatoni pasta on the ground in front of them. Fireworks exploded as they walked down the steps to the clapping crowd.

This town is also famous for its gold jewellery, particularly love tokens: cupids, arrows and hearts featured in the windows of Di Rienzo, a jeweller still using 17th-century techniques to create fine filigree items that were inspired by the elaborate buttons worn by the women. The Manucco, for instance, is rather like the Claddagh ring, but with a difference. A wedding ring of three interconnected circles, it shows two hands that open up to reveal a heart.

But despite the most breathtakingly beautiful churches in Sulmona and nearby Lanciano, it was the little 17th-century church of the Annunziata, Madonna del Lago overlooking Scanno Lake that stole Niall and Barbara's hearts. The church was built in 1679 to protect travellers; its altar lies right against the bare rock of a cliff, and its spectacular domed blue and gold ceiling features a dove surrounded by heavenly angels. It can just about seat 30 people on simple wooden benches.

Back in Sulmona, preparations were under way for one of the city's biggest celebrations, the Giostra Cavalleresca, a two-day Renaissance festival with a lavish procession in which hundreds of locals dressed in medieval velvets, with banners, bugles, drums, cavalry horses and standard bearers parade to the city square to watch a jousting tournament. Our couple were given a special dispensation to take part in the parade decked out in velvet.

For Niall and Barbara, the journey had confirmed their decision and their dream. The dolce vita of their first taste of Italy may have finally come to an end, but the huge Shakespearian sign over the departures building at the airport, summed up their brief interlude more sweetly than confetti: "If music be the food of love, play on." What a way to say goodbye!

Deirdre McQuillan travelled to Sulmona as a guest of Holiday 2 Pescara.

Why 800 Irish couples a year marry in Italy

The number of Irish couples getting married in Italy has almost doubled in the past four years. According to figures supplied by the Department of Foreign Affairs, 496 couples from Ireland got married in Italy in 2000, the vast majority in Rome. By the end of this year, that figure is expected to be around  Cyprus, Prague and Spain are also popular.

The foreign wedding boom in Italy is also attracting couples from other countries such as the UK and the US, and some 80 wedding agencies have opened up in Italy in the past four years. Here in Ireland the number of agencies and tour operators developing wedding packages is growing.

For Irish couples such as Niall and Barbara, the advantages are many. Firstly, numbers can be limited, prices kept down and access has become easier. The Caribbean and Barbados may be dream destinations, but not everybody wants to travel that far.  is a major factor in these decisions. In Ireland, the costs of many weddings now run to €25,000, whereas weddings in Italy can cost as little as €5,000.

And Italians are quickly responding to the demand and learning how to cater for foreign weddings. In Rome the fees for civil and church administration costs amount to around €300-€400 and a private donation to the priest is at the couple's discretion, but is usually around €100.

"Cheaper travel has been a huge factor," says Franciscan Father John O'Keeffe of St Isodore's Church in Rome, who conducted some 30 weddings there last year. "Now families are coming for the marriage, whereas before it was just the couple. Weddings are becoming more international. We had one couple recently where the groom was Irish and the bride was from Tokyo. The world is small for young people." But he cautions about the cost of  in Rome.

For Fr Denis O'Brien of the Basilico di San Silvestro in Capite in Rome, another popular Irish destination, who conducted 270 weddings there last year, the increasing numbers from Ireland represents "a protest vote against a very complicated system of weddings in Ireland and the tremendous social pressure to invite all family members almost to second cousins.

"I really believe that the commercialism of marriage in Ireland is rampant and decadent. Many who come here want to place the emphasis on the essentials with a ceremony that concentrates on what Christian marriage is all about. People can get married for considerably less; much more should be done to simplify marriage at home. People themselves have upped the ante too much. There is a need to take back the ground that has been lost and recover a sense of the spiritual in marriage," he says.

The demand has also brought its own problems with only two people working in the church and a mountain of paperwork to be done for each wedding. "Italy is famous for its ," says Fr O'Brien. "The ceremony itself is the easiest part."

According to Andrea Lepore, consul of the Italian Embassy in Dublin, interest in getting married in Italy is "huge". "We receive at least five inquiries a week, and a lot are marriages between Italians and Irish. We are pleased because the two countries don't know each other enough. People usually go to , but there are less expensive alternatives."

In the US, it has been estimated that one third of all "destination" nuptials combine wedding and honeymoon into a "weddingmoon" with friends and relatives. In the UK, more than 10 per cent of couples now choose destination weddings.

Who goes where?

Companies offering wedding packages include:

www.Holiday2pescara.com (01-8248555) organised Niall and Barbara's pre-wedding trip. This small Irish-Italian company specialising in the Abruzzo, organises holidays and weddings in the area (as well as Rome and Tuscany). Paola Shanahan is from Pescara in the Abruzzo and has been living in Ireland for 11 years so has the advantage of familiarity with both Irish and Italian customs and cuisine and can offer couples "an alternative Italian experience to the traditional Irish/Roman wedding".

Cara Holidays, D'Olier Street, Dublin. (01-6794283) "Costs are driving people away from Ireland," says travel consultant Orla Hogan. This company specialises in weddings abroad, including the Caribbean, Mexico and South Africa. In Italy, they offer Sorrento, Amalfi, Rome, Tuscany and Sicily. Prices start at €4,600 per couple, depending on accommodation and itinerary.

Topflight, Jervis House, Jervis Street, Dublin (contact Valerie Clifford on 01-2401777) organised 30 weddings in Italy last year. They tailor arrangements for weddings and honeymoons in Italy, as well as civil and church ceremonies in Sorrento, Rome, Lake Garda, Amalfi and Tuscany.

Curragh Travel, Newbridge, Co Kildare (045-447575) has been organising weddings in Rome for 20 years. "We notice a lot of younger people getting married," says Andre McHugh. The company provides lists of churches, hotels and restaurants and claims a Rome wedding can be organised for €2,000.

Travel Studio, Bride Street, Kildare (045-530662) has been specialising in church weddings in Rome for three years.

Weddings by Franc (a.k.a. Peter Kelly) is a young Cork company "specialising in the wow factor". Kelly has organised two Irish weddings in Tuscany, liaising with an Italian counterpart. "Italy is very much in vogue," he says. (www.weddingsbyfranc.com, 025-32005)

Newbridge Travel, Main Street, Newbridge, Co Kildare (045-449522, newbridgetravel.ie) Contact Tim Carey, who has been specialising in Italian weddings for 10 years. He expects a 30 per cent increase in weddings in Italy next year and organises weddings in Sorrento, Amalfi, Tuscany, Umbria and the Lakes area in northern Italy, as well as Rome. Packages, tailored to customer requirements, can include wedding and honeymoons. Consultation fee of €65.

Joe Walsh Tours (01-2410800, contact Nuala Brady) only caters for groups and uses the regular weekly flight to Rome on Fridays. The company does not book wedding ceremonies, but provides customers with lists of churches, priests and telephone numbers. A lot of weddings in Rome, they say, are second marriages.