The start of Pittsburgh's 250th anniversary year will be marked with a giant renewal of wedding vows, by an estimated 1,000 couples, with hopes to get the city into the Guinness Book of World Records, it was announced this morning.

Plans are to stage the "World's Largest Wedding Vow Renewal" on Feb. 10, 2008, the weekend before Valentine's Day, at Carnegie Music Hall in Oakland. The plans -- unveiled at an Allegheny Conference planning summit -- are still being drafted, but the conference's Pittsburgh 250 committee plans to fly in a judge from Guinness to oversee the event, and will start registering couples in the fall.

Next year is the 250th anniversary of the naming of the city in 1758. Part of the year-long festivities will include a series of reunions -- by families, film stars and sports greats -- and plans for the mass vow renewal were hatched during the reunion discussions.

More details in tomorrow's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.