Obtaining Italian citizenship by marriage to an American-born Italian?

I've searched a bit but can't find a definitive answer to this -- I
wonder if anyone here has faced a similar situation and knows the
answer.

Here's the background: I have been married for about five years to the
daughter of Italian immigrant parents, born (as I was) in the USA in
1968. Only her mother was an Italian citizen at the time of her birth,
as her father had already been naturalized as a US citzen.
Nevertheless, a review of Italian nationality law makes it
unequivocally clear that my wife is entitled to Italian citizenship. In
fact, as I understand it, she already *is* legally an Italian citizen,
by virtue of having been born to an Italian mother post-1948 and not
having renounced her claim to citizenship. The process she must
undergo, e.g. to obtain an Italian passport, is more one of
"acknowledging" her Italian citizenship than of "acquiring" it.

My wife is currently making the necessary application, here in the USA,
where we reside. There's no reason to think it will be denied, so she
will presumably be recognized as an Italian citizen in the near future.

Now, my question is this: as I read the Italian nationality law, the
spouse of an Italian citizen residing abroad is entitled to acquire
Italian citizenship after three years of marriage. Does "Italian
citizen" here also apply to foreign-born persons, such as my wife, who
are citizens by descent and have never resided in Italy? In
particular, given that the law seems to say that my wife has been
Italian since birth, does that mean that (since we've been married more
than three years) I could actually apply for Italian citizenship
myself, as soon as her citizenship is formally recognized, and without
either of us ever actually moving to Italy?

It seems somewhat unlikely to me but I can't seem to find anything in
the law that would contradict this.

If it is in fact possible, can anyone think of any disadvantages, or
advantages, to my acquiring Italian citizenship in this way? As I
understand it there is no longer compulsory military service (and I'm
in my late 30s anyway), so I wouldn't be instantly drafted next time we
visit Italy :-) I don't have any familial connection to Italy other
than by marriage, though I do speak Italian and love the country.

We're not specifically planning to move to Italy at the moment, but
it's not out of the question. On the other hand, we have considered
moving to (somewhere else in) Europe -- this is part of what prompted
my wife to start the ball rolling on her Italian citizenship. However,
I myself am already a dual citizen of the US and of another EU country
(the United Kingdom, to be specific) so I already have the right to
live and work in the EU.

In other words, if it is in fact possible for me to acquire Italian
citizenship in this way, and I were to do so, I'd end up with three
passports, two from EU countries. (Note that the UK is *not* party to
the Strasbourg convention limiting multiple citizenships -- I believe
one can't be e.g. a citizen of Germany and of Italy at the same time,
but otherwise there doesn't seem to be any theoretical bar to dual or
even triple citizenship, e.g. USA-UK-Italy in this case.)

I just can't see a compelling reason to do this -- on the other hand, I
can't see a compelling reason *not to*, and it never hurts to keep
one's options open. I tend to operate on the pessimistic assumption
that any manner of thing can go wrong in the future and one should
seize opportunities even when their significance isn't too clear. Who
knows, maybe they'll change the law and require residency in Italy.
Maybe, God forbid, the U.K. will withdraw someday from the EU and I'll
be glad I have an Italian passport after all.

It seems like the process of acquiring citizenship by marriage amounts
to a a fair amount of bother and fees here and there, but not so much
as to make it not worth doing. I am a little in the dark about the
requirement that our marriage be registered in Italy -- would that be
satisfied if my wife were to notify the appropriate office that she's
married, once her citizenship has been recognized?

In sum (whew),

- is it *really* possible for me to acquire Italian citizenship in this
way?
- if so, is there any good reason (other than cost and bother) *not* to
do so?
- but also, *is there* any good reason (other than "the more, the
merrier," which I'm not at all sure applies to nationality :-) to do
so?
- anything I need to know about the process?

I realize I've posted quite a bunch of questions, any enlightenment
partial or detailed would be highly appreciated!