Who could forget the ultimate romantic celebration that was the wedding of George Clooney and Amal Alamuddin in Italy? The Hollywood superstar and the human rights lawyer weren’t the first celebs to marry in Italy, but their nuptials set a gold standard for glamour and elegance. The couple married in an intimate Venice ceremony in September 2014, about one year after they were first photographed together. Other stars have followed their blissful path to celebrating love in Italy. Here are just a few who tied the knot in the land where amore abounds.
The year 2014 was a big one for celebrities marrying in Italy. Neil Patrick Harris and David Burtka wore matching Tom Ford tuxedos at the September nuptials. A performance by Elton John capped off the intimate event celebrating the grooms’ 10-year relationship. Festivities for the May nuptials of Kim Kardashian and Kanye West started in Paris and wound up at the 16th century fortress known as Forte di Belvedere in Florence.
Venice has been a favored destination for celebrity weddings. Salma Hayek and French billionaire Francois-Henri Pinault threw in a masked ball to cap off their April 2009 wedding weekend in Venice. Guest included Charlize Theron, Penelope Cruz and Bono. The happy couple actually first made it legal in a civil ceremony on Valentine’s Day in Paris.
Venice was popular again as the site of a welcome dinner when Jessica Chastain and Gian Luca Passi de Preposulo greeted guests before their June 2017 nuptials. The couple followed up with a ceremony at the Passi de Preposulo family estate Villa Tiepolo Passi in the northern Italian city of Treviso.
Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes helped set the trend with a fairy tale wedding in November 2006. They chose a sunset ceremony at Odescalchi Castle in Lake Bracciano to cap off a whirlwind romance that sadly ended in divorce. A power outage didn’t stop Melissa Joan Hart and musician Mark Wilkerson from marrying in Florence in 2003.
Jessica Biel and Justin Timberlake must have been suitably impressed by the 2008 nuptials in Ravello that joined in matrimony 7th Heaven star Beverley Mitchell and accountant Michael Cameron. Biel, who was in the bridal party, made a $2,800-a-night villa in Positano her headquarters with then-beau Justin Timberlake. Biel and Timberlake returned to Italy four years later for their own wedding.
A big win in the 2017 World Serie was just the runup to happiness for Houston Astros pitcher Justin Verlander. Days later he married supermodel Kate Upton in an outdoor ceremony in Italy. “I feel so lucky that I got to marry my best friend!!” she tweeted after the wedding.
Lake Como was the setting for the 2013 exchange of vows between singer John Legend and Chrissy Teigen. Teigen was in the forefront of brides wearing several gowns for her big day; she wore three different dresses throughout the night. All were designed by Vera Wang. Legend serenaded his new bride with a sweet song during the reception.
Most recent stars to take their weddings to Italy are former Baywatch star David Hasselhoff followed by Cooking Channel host Katie Lee. Lee wed her producer boyfriend Ryan Biegel in a September ceremony on the Amalfi Coast, while Hasselhoff exchanged vows with model Hayley Roberts last July in a small ceremony in the southern region of Puglia.
Read More: All the Stars Who’ve Married in Italy
