Their Big, Fat, Italian Wedding

In my relatively short 19 years of life, I have attended few weddings with even fewer that I remember clearly (due to very young age that is, not bad drinking habits!) So when I found out that I would be attending an Italian wedding I could hardly wait for the day to come, and when it did it exceeded all expectations and definitely set the bar high for future weddings. Better still, being the au pair to the sister of the groom, I got a front row seat to it all.



The arrival of the bride



The arrival of the bride

After a relatively stressful morning of putting hair up and then down and then somewhere in the middle, experimenting with make-up and finally hurrying into our clothes and shoes we were finally ready to leave. Squeezing all five of us in our best clothes in our Mini was a bit of a mission but we managed to arrive just on time at the beautiful Church in the centre of Censenatico. Having passed it numerous times over our beach summer holiday I was keen to finally get a look inside. It was gorgeous. Simple and slightly abstract stained glass windows shed colourful light from the back and white flowers and candles decorated tables and pews alongside the permanent statues and pictures of the Virgin Mary, Jesus Christ and God. The bride looked stunning in her white, lace-backed dress in contrast to the dark navy blue suit of the groom whose pink tie matched the sash of their two daughters, the bridesmaids. Though I understood very little of the actual ceremony as my Italian is still very basic and I do not start school until October, it was nonetheless beautiful. The meaning behind the words was clear, and hearing them in the lyrical Italian tongue added enchantingly to the overall atmosphere. When the ceremony drew to a close I managed to sneak in right beside the official photographer and was able to snap a few perfectly placed shots of the newlyweds before heading out to take my own little cone of rice to throw as the bride and groom exited. Though I have never really understood this tradition, not being particularly superstitious I don’t see how throwing hard (technically grass) seeds brings good luck but seeing the way in which the groom brought the bride lovingly into his arms, protecting her as much as he could from the onslaught of rice was a good enough reason for me. Once everyone but a few of the children had lost interest in the grains (except when one fell out of your hair on found its way into your shoe) the couple had their first, arms intertwined drink, threw white doves skyward and ridden off in their Just Married bicycle-bath it was time to head off to the post ceremony celebrations which where to take place at Villa about 30 minutes away.

The marriage ceremony

Church decorations

Post ceremony "prime spot" photo

My rice cone

 

Raining rice!

Protection in the arms of her husband

Only the kids still playing with the rice



First drink.



First drink.

Releasing white doves

 

The Just Married bike-bath



The location for the celebrations was stunning. Up in the hills it offered a wide view of the town and beach far below and contrasting rolling hills, trees various shades of green and wild flowers. The tables were set out around a large pool (in which the groom did end up in before the end of the night!) decorated in pink and white with ribbons, roses and petals. The children’s tables were strategically places away from the pool and the kids were kept happy with face painting, games and their own menu of chips and chicken. But while the children had simple foods, the adults had more than enough to feed an army!

 

The Villa

View out to sea

Lunch seating arrangements

Table Decorations

Table Decorations

Over the past 5 months it has becoming very obvious to me that food is always at the heart of every Italian celebration and this wedding was no exception. Let me just start by saying I don’t think I have EVER eaten that much food in one afternoon. EVER! I am just glad I was wearing a loose fitting dress that day! When we arrived the starters were already being served which included cheese platters, chicken, pork, salads, rice, piadini (this AMAZING Italian flat bread), fancy sausage rolls and a vast selection of wines. It was so good by the time it was time to actually start lunch I was already starting to feel full. And then I saw the lunch menu. Not one, but TWO main courses, lasagne and another pasta dish, followed by meat with potato chips, then the wedding cake and last of all a buffet of other sweet treats. And again there was ample wine on our table and an open bar available. Just looking at the list made me feel dizzy! But somehow I managed to eat at least a bit from every course which of course always tasted amazing, as well as tasting the wines and a few of the stronger post-meal, stronger liqueurs – grappa and lemoncello. However, before I was able to photograph this amazing feast, horror of horrors, my camera battery died. So I must apologise, from her on out you must try and visualise everything yourself!

Cooling off in the pool

Because it really would have been impossible to eat all that food at one time, in between each course was some for wedding entertainment, speeches, dancing and the constant arrival of gifts at the sweetheart table. Similarly to the ceremony, I was unable to understand much of the speeches, but some of the wedding games needed no translation to understand or enjoy. The first that really brought laughter to my lips was when first male guests were invited up and the blindfolded bride had to identify her husband by the feeling each man from the nape of his neck to his buttocks. Naturally, the groom kept being moved around the line so that she reached the end of the line and had to repeat the process before finally identifying her hubbies behind. And then it was the girls turn. Seeing as the bride was wearing a flouncy dress I didn’t see how the same method would work but my confusion was soon put to rest when the blind folded groom got a kiss on the check from each female guest that had come forward before he finally identified his lips of his wife.




A kiss at the Sweetheart Table

By the time the night ended, everyone was full, happy (some tipsily so) and more than anything ready for a good night’s sleep, or at least I definitely was! It was an absolutely amazing wedding, my first Italian one, and a day I will never forget!