Getting married in Arezzo

The Fiera Antiquaria has run without interruption since 1968, on the first Sunday of every month and the Saturday before it, filling Piazza Grande and the streets of the historic centre with hundreds of exhibitors and visitors from across the world.

This is the most useful thing to know about Arezzo's calendar, because it is not an annual event you can simply avoid — it recurs twelve times a year, and it takes the city's best square with it. A wedding in the centre on the first weekend of any month is a wedding inside an antiques market.

The rest of the month, the same square is quiet. Check which weekend your date falls on before anything else.

• Ferragosto — 15 August every year. Much of Italy closes. Suppliers are away, offices are shut, and the roads to the coast are full. It is not a weather problem, it is an availability problem.
• Fiera Antiquaria — First Sunday of every month, and the Saturday before it. The antiques fair fills Piazza Grande and streets across the historic centre with hundreds of exhibitors. Expect constrained vehicle access, busy public spaces and heavy demand for nearby accommodation on each fair weekend.
• Giostra del Saracino — Penultimate Saturday of June (evening) and first Sunday of September (daytime). The historic joust occupies Piazza Grande and brings processions and spectators into central Arezzo. Couples considering either weekend should confirm access, traffic restrictions and accommodation availability before booking.

The Giostra del Saracino is run twice a year in the main square: the penultimate Saturday of June, at night, as the Giostra di San Donato, and the first Sunday of September, in daylight, as the Giostra della Madonna del Conforto.

Both are the city's own events rather than tourist spectacles, and both take the centre for the day and the days around it. Between the Giostra and the monthly fair, Arezzo's historic centre is committed on a predictable schedule — which at least makes it easy to plan around.

Arezzo publishes a tariff for every setting, split by residency and by whether the ceremony falls in office hours. For non-residents:

Residents marry free at the Sportello Unico during office hours. The Palazzo di Fraternita settings carry an additional payment to the Fondazione Guido d'Arezzo or the Fraternita dei Laici on top of the comune's fee, so ask for the total rather than the headline. Talzano Eventi is €800 for non-residents plus the venue's own costs.

The comune asks for at least 45 days' notice of the date you want.

Against Florence's €2,500–5,100, Arezzo is inexpensive; against neighbouring Cortona, which starts at €100, it is not the cheapest in its own province. The full comparison is in our cost guide.

Arezzo sits on the main line between Florence and Rome, which makes it one of the few Tuscan wedding destinations a guest can reach by train from either city without hiring a car. Florence and Pisa are the nearest airports; Rome is a realistic alternative for some guests.

That rail connection is the practical argument for Arezzo. For a guest list arriving from several countries at different hours, a town on the main line removes most of the transfer problem.

As everywhere in Tuscany, the historic centre restricts vehicle access — arrange it through the venue rather than assuming.

The regional pattern holds: July and August hottest and driest, May and early June most comfortable, September and October wetter. Our best months guide has the figures.

Arezzo's own calendar is the more binding constraint. First weekends are the fair; the penultimate Saturday of June and the first Sunday of September are the Giostra. What remains is most of the year, at prices well below the famous towns.

The comune's settings, which are unusually varied — a modern civic office, a council chamber, a cloister, and historic halls run by the city's old institutions.

Historic palazzi within the walls for dinners rather than large parties.

Country estates and agriturismi in the Valdichiana and the hills around, generally less expensive than their equivalents in Chianti.

Vineyard properties towards Cortona and the Valdarno.

The venues guide covers what to ask, and Cortona is the obvious neighbour to compare against.