Nude weddings to boost tourism — one Italian town is giving it a try

Something borrowed, something nude.

Nudist couples hoping to celebrate their nuptials au naturel have an open invitation from officials in at least one beautiful Italian coastal destination.

Is Benas beach, located halfway up Sardinia’s west coast, is already famous for its tan line-free tanning opportunities. Soon it will also allow nude weddings, according to CNN.

Local authorities decided to make the move after a German couple wrote a letter to leaders of San Vero Milis, the closest town, and asked to be married on the beach without any clothes.

Although visitors have been shedding their scanties on the sands of Is Benas for years, San Vero Mills’ Mayor Luigi Tedeschi, whose been in office since 2015, officially designated the beach a clothing optional spot two years ago and recently announced the plan to begin hosting weddings.

He believes that these events will inspire freedom and attract thoughtful tourists.

“Nudity has nothing to do with sex. For [naturists] it’s a philosophy of life, and is linked to nature,” Tedeschi said to CNN.

“It should be respected — so why not? We have this beach, a place that lends itself brilliantly to naturism. And then we thought, let’s make a beach for weddings. If people want to marry nude, they can.”

The dedicated and self-declared antifascist believes that Europeans’ need to have their rights to freedom and self-expression reaffirmed at the moment.

“I think we’re living in a delicate moment for people’s freedom, with the nationalist movements in Europe,” he said.

“People protest and get rounded up by the police, or they’re intimidated. So I think we need to do things to show that people are free. Most people want freedom, not a regime.”

The local leader also hopes that naked weddings will attract more tourism, specifically from naturists — those who practice a lifestyle of non-sexual social nudity.

“They are more in touch with nature,” Tedeschi said of naturists noting that “the area set aside for naturists is always pristine.”

Europe is estimated to be home to around 20 million practitioners of naturism, with about 500 thousand living in Italy, according to L’Unione Sarda, who leaders of San Vero Milis believe their residents will gladly allow to come and strip down for their nuptials — but if not, Tedeschi has a simple solution.

“If anyone has a problem, they can walk on past, or look at the sea,” Tedeschi said.