Amore Italiani
7 Italian Quotes for Love and Marriage in Modern Ceremonies
Seven Italian quotes for weddings and vows, from Dante to Alda Merini, with sources, English translations, plus wedding wishes and proverbs for cards.
Updated
L’amor che move il sole e l’altre stelle.
Dante Alighieri, Paradiso, canto XXXIII, c. 1320
"The love that moves the sun and the other stars." This is verse 145 of the last canto, the final line of the whole Divine Comedy, finished in Ravenna shortly before Dante died in 1321. After a hundred cantos of travel through Hell, Purgatory and Paradise, the poem ends by naming love as the force that turns the heavens. That is why the line turns up so often at Italian weddings: it is short, everyone in the room has heard it, and it sets the marriage inside something larger than the couple. Below are six more Italian lines for vows, readings and cards, each with its source, an English translation and a note on when it works. Translations are ours unless stated.
Vows Require More Than Simple Declarations
Couples standing at an altar have to sum up decades of future intentions in a few minutes, and the pressure to sound profound often produces borrowed clichés. The Italian lines that work best in vows are the plain ones: they describe how love behaves rather than how it feels. If you want older, Latin-flavoured phrasing, see how Romans phrase devotion.
L'amore è un'erba spontanea, non una pianta in giardino.
Ippolito Nievo, Le confessioni di un italiano, 1867
"Love is a wild herb, not a garden plant." Nievo wrote his long novel in 1857–58, fought with Garibaldi's Thousand, and drowned in a shipwreck in 1861; the book was published only in 1867. The narrator, Carlo Altoviti, looks back on a life shaped by his love for his cousin Pisana, a love that never followed the rules anyone set for it. The line suits a couple whose story did not go to plan, and it reads well in a speech by a friend who knew them before they were "official". (You will often see it online as "una pianta da giardino"; Wikiquote gives "in giardino".)
Siamo angeli con un'ala soltanto e possiamo volare solo restando abbracciati.
Luciano De Crescenzo, Così parlò Bellavista, 1977
"We are angels with only one wing, and we can fly only by holding each other." The line comes from chapter 23 of De Crescenzo's comic novel about Professor Bellavista, a retired philosophy teacher in Naples, and it reappears in the 1984 film adaptation and in his later books. It is probably the most quoted Italian line at weddings today, and it often circulates in a shortened form without a source. Its point is mutual need rather than romance, which makes it a strong closing line for vows: say it to each other, not to the guests.
Poetry Offers a Blueprint for Lasting Devotion
Many civil and secular ceremonies replace the liturgy with readings, which puts a lot of weight on the chosen texts. Italian pop songwriting is a good hunting ground here, because its best lines were written to be sung aloud and land well when spoken. Keep lyric quotations short (a line or two), and name the song and album in the programme.
E ti vengo a cercare, con la scusa di doverti parlare.
Franco Battiato, "E ti vengo a cercare", Fisiognomica, 1988
"And I come looking for you, with the excuse of needing to talk to you." The song goes on to give the real reasons: because he likes what the other person thinks and says, because he sees his own roots in them. It is often read as both a love song and a spiritual one, which makes it suitable for couples who want something warm but not sentimental. It works best as a reading by a friend, or as the opening of a written vow that then explains your own "real reasons".
Sei nell'anima e lì ti lascio per sempre.
Gianna Nannini, "Sei nell'anima", Grazie, 2006
"You are in my soul, and there I leave you forever." "Sei nell'anima" was the lead single from Nannini's 2006 album Grazie and became one of her best-known songs. The line is a flat statement of permanence with no conditions attached, which is exactly the register of a ring exchange. It is short enough to engrave inside a band or print on a place card.
The Language of Commitment Defies Translation
Some phrases lose their rhythm in English, so for the solemn moments many couples keep the Italian and give the translation in the programme. For the lighter moments, a toast or a card from a friend, a funny Italian line for the wedding toast balances the tone.
Beati coloro che hanno / due fedi al dito / una quella degli sponsali / e l'altra quella dell'arte. / Beati coloro che si baceranno / sempre al di là delle labbra / varcando dei gemiti / il confine del piacere / per cibarsi dei sogni.
Alda Merini, poem for Lillo Gullo and Flora Graiff, Clinica dell'abbandono, 2003
"Blessed are those who wear two rings on their finger, one of marriage and the other of art. Blessed are those who will always kiss beyond the lips, crossing with their sighs the border of pleasure, to feed on dreams." Merini, the Milanese poet who spent years in psychiatric hospitals and wrote about love with unusual frankness, addressed this poem to a married couple of friends. The second half circulates widely on its own (often with "varcando dei gemiti" dropped), but the opening about the two wedding rings, "due fedi", is what makes it a wedding poem. Read it whole; it is the closest thing in modern Italian to a secular blessing for a couple.
La misura dell'amore è amare senza misura.
Italian rendering of Bernard of Clairvaux, De diligendo Deo (On Loving God), chapter I, 12th century
"The measure of love is to love without measure." In Italy this saying is usually credited to Saint Augustine, but we could not find it in his works. It comes from the opening of Bernard of Clairvaux's treatise on the love of God, in Latin "Causa diligendi Deum, Deus est; modus, sine modo diligere" ("the reason for loving God is God; the measure, to love without measure"). Bernard was writing about God, not marriage, so if you use it at a religious ceremony, credit him rather than Augustine; at a civil one it works as a closing line for the officiant, since it asks the couple to stop keeping score.
Italian Wedding Wishes, Toasts and Proverbs for Cards
The quotes above suit vows and readings. A card, a toast or a short message needs something lighter. These are everyday phrases and traditional proverbs, not anyone's quotation, so they need no attribution.
- "Auguri agli sposi!" (Best wishes to the bride and groom.) The standard opening for a wedding card.
- "Viva gli sposi!" (Long live the newlyweds!) What guests shout when the couple arrives at the reception or cuts the cake.
- "Cent'anni!" or "Per cent'anni!" ([To] a hundred years!) A toast, especially common in Italian-American families.
- "Che il vostro amore cresca ogni giorno." (May your love grow every day.) A simple line to finish a card.
- "Felicitazioni per il vostro matrimonio." (Congratulations on your wedding.) More formal, for a colleague or an older relative.
One to avoid: the old formula "auguri e figli maschi" ("best wishes, and may you have sons") still turns up, but most couples now find it dated, so leave it out of a card.
| Proverb | Literal meaning | Where it fits |
|---|---|---|
| Sposa bagnata, sposa fortunata. | A wet bride is a lucky bride. | A card or toast when it rains on the wedding day. |
| Tra moglie e marito non mettere il dito. | Don't put your finger between wife and husband (don't meddle in a couple's affairs). | A light line in a best man's or maid of honour's speech. |
| L'amore non è bello se non è litigarello. | Love isn't beautiful unless it is a little quarrelsome. | An anniversary card for a couple who bicker happily. |
| Né di Venere né di Marte non si sposa né si parte. | On Friday (Venus) or Tuesday (Mars), one neither marries nor sets off. | Trivia for the programme; skip it if your wedding is on a Friday. |
A simple way to build a card: one Italian line, its English translation, then two sentences of your own about the couple. If you want to write something longer, our guide on how to write a love letter covers structure, and these deep love quotes for letters and anniversaries work for the first anniversary card.
Questions Readers Send In
How do I incorporate a foreign language quote if my guests only speak English?
Print the original Italian alongside a careful English translation in your ceremony programs. You can also have the officiant read the English version immediately after you speak the Italian phrase, ensuring the meaning lands with the audience while preserving the intimacy of your chosen words.
Are these quotes appropriate for secular ceremonies?
Yes. Dante and Bernard of Clairvaux wrote from a religious point of view, but their lines about love are widely used at civil weddings. De Crescenzo, Merini, Battiato and Nannini wrote for a general audience, so their lines fit any ceremony.
Can I use a song lyric as a formal wedding vow?
Yes, a line or two works well, because lyrics are written to be said aloud. Quote it exactly, keep it short, and name the song so guests can find it later; Battiato's and Nannini's lines above are short enough to use this way.
