Paperwork
Paperwork
When we got back to Denmark again, we were not a second in doubt that we had found the church where we would say "I do".
We started to investigate how to get married in Rome, but it proved to be a bit of a maze.
We contacted the Danish Embassy in Rome and they said they knew nothing about the ecclesiastical part of the process, but that they would make the "nulla Osta" (It is a certificate that you must have to get married in Italy and it is similar to the "capacity to marry" certificate).
The Danish embassy suggested that we got married at a city hall at home and then underwent a blessing in Rome.
We considered this option, but very quickly we agreed that we would not get married at a City Hall (neither in Denmark or Rome)... that wouldn't ´t feel "right"!
On the Web, we examined what the rules regarding documents and certificates to be married in a Catholic church in Rome were, but it was difficult to find exact answers.
The actual paperwork is somewhat more complicated than in Denmark (there are a variety of papers and certificates, which must all be in order and they have to go through different agencies, before they can be accepted in both Denmark and Italy).
First we contacted the Catholic Church in Denmark and arranged a meeting with the priest.
To get married in the Catholic Church, one must go through a "wedding preparation course" and the papers must be approved.
The course itself was really educational. We talked about why we would get married and our goals and dreams for the future.
It was a marriage therapist who taught most of the course, and we had to do various exercises, including conflict solving and the similar.
After we had "passed" the course, we should bring our birth certificate and verification certificate to the priest who should see them to allow us to preside. And in light of this, we got a certificate "status liber" which was returned to Bishops office (who also had to approve us).
Then this was sent to the Bishops office in Rome, which then also had to approve us etc. Phew....
This was the Danish part of the paper work.
Now we have to go through the whole thing in Rome to be approved.
Since we did not know either the canonical or legal part (where the different certificates would be deployed and in what order), we decided to seek help from a wedding planner in Italy, because we had a long way to go ..... .....