A couple in northern Italy have been told they cannot have their dogs carry their wedding rings during their planned wedding, Eco di Bergamo reports.

Gigliola Breviario, mayor of Pontirolo Nuovo, said she “would have been willing to accept the dogs in the hall, on a leash and muzzled”.

But she insisted that allowing the dogs to play a role in the sacred ceremony was “over the top”, no matter how attached the couple are to their dogs.

The rejection has spurred the couple to relocate their wedding to another, more dog-friendly town.