Wedding in Umbria

[Suzie-sunflower]

Hi, we are getting married in Umbria, Montone, in September 2008. I was wondering if any one could pin point what it is we need to do legally paperwork wise. We are having a catholica ceremony and are also struggling to find an English speaking priest - any ideas?
I dont want to use a wedding planner as so far we have organised everything ourselves - and im loving the alterative wedding planning that my partner and i can both enjoy.
however i dont want to mess up the legal side of things, any tips anyone has would be great,
thanks in advance
Suzie x

[Skichi]

Hi Suzie,

Montone is beautiful - I'm sure you'll have a lovely wedding there - we're just 10 minutes up the road.
As for your ceremony, unless you're extremely confident with the language etc., I'd really recommend that you find a planner who will quote you for just sorting out that part of the day for you. Although in principle, it's not too difficult to diy, if you get it wrong, you won't be getting married. You don't want to find that out 2 days prior to your ceremony! A locally-based planner will know the system for that area & they'll possibly know of the english-speaking priests who would be prepared to perform the ceremony. We've found that often, British couples bring a priest with them - it still takes some negotiation though to do this and gain the agreement of the local priest.

A planner may give you a good quote for just doing the basics. If you do use them for anything other than that, make sure you ask them exactly what they're charging their vendors for commissions. The good planners don't charge commission - they charge fairly for their service up front and don't rely on 'back-handers'. The ones which operate a commission system have an obvious conflict of interests - completely unethical and you can guess whose interests they really have at heart (hint: it's not the happy couples'!)

[Casajulian]

There is an English speaking priest in Castiglione del Lago _ Dom Jean Lucca is his name, I think. He performed my late husband's funeral mass in a mix of English and Italian and took endless trouble. He has the English prayer book as well as the Italian, but I don't know if he would travel to Montone. Good luck for the future.
Jan