My husband and I are going to staying outside of Siena for a week in mid June. We will be celebrating our 10th anniversary. Does anyone know about how to arrange either a renewal of vows or at least a blessing, at one of the Catholic churches in the area? It could be in Siena or one of the hillside towns nearby. Thanks for any suggestions.
Posted by
bergamo
401 posts
It depends how you want to do the renewal, just a thing between the two of you, or something with lots of people. If it is something that is private you may be able to go into a church and just have the priest bless you, though it will depend on his level of English and your Italian when trying to explain yourselves!
It would also depend on the priest. Some may have no problems, other may hold to the idea that it should be YOUR parish priest to do this kind of thing. Also, it is very likely that the vows would be said over you Italian, is that OK?
Having said all this,I would suggest getting in touch with one of those "wedding in Italy" sites that are always posted here, they would know who would be a good church to contact, and maybe would do it for you. Or maybe in the area around Siena there is an American Catholic parish of some kind with an American priest who could help you out. Sorry to have been of little to no help! Happy Anniversary!
Posted by
Whitby, Ontario, Canada
9 posts
My husband and I will be the area during May celebrating our 25th Wedding Anniversary. I did look into a couple of the "wedding in Italy" websites and from the look of it the cost is about 1500 Euro for a ceremony without guests and without any certification. It is simply a ceremony. I'm no expert and I'm sure there are others to choose from.
We've opted to stand together while in a simple church and speak to each other about our true and continued love!
Have a enjoyable time and Happy Anniversary!
Susan
Posted by
St. Louis, MO (formerly, Windermere, FL)
340 posts
Congratulations on your anniversary! Last fall we celebrated our 25th in Venice. I tried contacting several parishes to ask about renewing our vows or being blessed by a priest on our anniversary. I received no responses. So, what we did is this: all active Catholic churches (those with an active parish, not just a museum) celebrate morning mass, usually before 8:30am. We went to morning mass at St. Marks Basilica on our anniversary. After mass we explained to the priest that it was our anniversary and could he say a blessing for us. Not only was this very special but we actually attended mass in St. Marks before the doors opened to tourists. Only about 10 people were in attendance. We had the opportunity to experience that beautiful space for the reason it was created! Since you will be in Italy for a week, perhaps you will have time to scout out a church prior to your anniversary and go to the parish office to explain your situation. Best of luck! Have a beautiful trip!