Civil and Church Weddings

[CiaoBella1313]

Ciao,

I know in Italy couples were married twice. Did they do the civil wedding first then marry in church? Or, marry in church then marry in town later or when children were born? Was there a rule which came first back in the 1900s? What about today?

Did this also mean they had marriage bans twice?

I assume they didn't have two wedding anniversaries. What is the usual custom for wedding anniversaries in the 1900s and today? If they do celebrate their anniversary, I guess it would be the day when they married in church.

Maybe there in a book that discusses marriages in Italy?

[Tessa78]

You may be interested in reading this previous thread on the subject!

http://www.italiangenealogy.com/forum/i ... ture/22753

T.

[Italysearcher]

The civil wedding in Italy is considered by many to be equal to our buying a marriage license. It is legal and those who do not marry in the church make much more of it. If you look at the civil marriage record, essentially the Mayor reads the document, then everyone signs and its over.
I have seen in Rome records that the priest was authorized to do both civil and religious ceremonies simultaneously. There was no rule about which came first, but the religious one is the one celebrated as an anniversary.
I did a civil ceremony in Toronto and a religious ceremony in Italy 9 days later. The ceremony in Toronto was also a protestant religious ceremony, the one in Italy was Catholic.

[liviomoreno]

Ann, I thought that a marriage license was a document issued, either by a church or state authority, authorizing a couple to marry.
In Italy, since 1929, the religious marriage is also valid for civil purposes.
In the past many couples did marry first in the Church and later (often after some years) at the Town Hall. This second marriage was needed to legalize the children born.

[Italysearcher]

You are absolutely right Livio. A marriage license is a document issued by the State authorizing the couple to marry in a civil ceremony and/or a religious one.
However, my husband was taken once to City Hall in Canada with his about to be bride (he thought) they paid the fee, got the license (which she pocketed) and he thought he was married. It seemed to him much like the civil marriage in Italy. Very formal, no ceremony etc. To the point that when they broke up, he went to a lawyer to get a divorce.
I have noted, that in Italy, the couple who plan to marry in church treat the civil marriage much like North Americans view the obtaining of a license.