The wedding ceremony itself is an
informal and a good-humoured
affair, set in a mediaeval (I'm having to use that word a lot!) chamber upstairs in the town hall. As we enter, the string trio, Helen and Dan's friends, are playing, and there's the customary confusion about who sits next to whom, whether we leave the front row empty and, "Whose idea was it to wear THAT hat?" The bridesmaids look more nervous than the bride and groom,
and Fabio and Alun most nervous of all. The mayor, with a dashing red, green and white sash across
his chest, conducts the business smartly in Italian, and Fabio provides a running translation into English. They make a good double-act, and I get the distinct impression that the Mayor is milking it for all he's worth, while Fabio does a good line in patter at his side; he two of them laugh and quip as the proceedings move on. The vows
are given in Italian, and taken in English, the two mothers give
readings, Sue's is from Louis de Berniere, while Sian reads a poem that she's written for the day (I notice a lot of Middle Earth imagery, which Helen loves). When, at last, the first married kiss comes, the Mayor has a wide grin, Fabio and he shake hands,
and there,s general happiness all around. It's outside now, for photographs and posing and more chatter, before parading back up the hill and onto the coach for ....
Castello di Sorci and the wedding meal. By now, it's warm early evening and in the courtyard there are two rows of beautifully set tables just waiting for our attention. The meal
is gargantuan but, thankfully, staged into many courses, and there's p
lenty of wine to ke
ep the conversation flowing. Just for the record, we ate: cold meats, gnocchi, soup, pasta, steak, duck, chicken, sausages, salad, sweet cake, wedding cake .... and fruit salad.
By 11:00 p.m. we are enjoying happyand
wide-ranging conversation (though I doubt if any of us can remember now what we are talking about), and at midnight Helen and Dan begin the dancing, to a Shostakovich waltz ..... and after that, it's every man for himself!
informal and a good-humoured 
affair, set in a mediaeval (I'm having to use that word a lot!) chamber upstairs in the town hall. As we enter, the string trio, Helen and Dan's friends, are playing, and there's the customary confusion about who sits next to whom, whether we leave the front row empty and, "Whose idea was it to wear THAT hat?" The bridesmaids look more nervous than the bride and groom,
and Fabio and Alun most nervous of all. The mayor, with a dashing red, green and white sash across 
his chest, conducts the business smartly in Italian, and Fabio provides a running translation into English. They make a good double-act, and I get the distinct impression that the Mayor is milking it for all he's worth, while Fabio does a good line in patter at his side; he two of them laugh and quip as the proceedings move on. The vows
are given in Italian, and taken in English, the two mothers give
readings, Sue's is from Louis de Berniere, while Sian reads a poem that she's written for the day (I notice a lot of Middle Earth imagery, which Helen loves). When, at last, the first married kiss comes, the Mayor has a wide grin, Fabio and he shake hands, 
and there,s general happiness all around. It's outside now, for photographs and posing and more chatter, before parading back up the hill and onto the coach for .... Castello di Sorci and the wedding meal. By now, it's warm early evening and in the courtyard there are two rows of beautifully set tables just waiting for our attention. The meal 
is gargantuan but, thankfully, staged into many courses, and there's p
lenty of wine to ke
ep the conversation flowing. Just for the record, we ate: cold meats, gnocchi, soup, pasta, steak, duck, chicken, sausages, salad, sweet cake, wedding cake .... and fruit salad. 
By 11:00 p.m. we are enjoying happyand 
wide-ranging conversation (though I doubt if any of us can remember now what we are talking about), and at midnight Helen and Dan begin the dancing, to a Shostakovich waltz ..... and after that, it's every man for himself!
1 comment:
Hello, I'm planning a wedding in Anghiari and was wondering if you would be willing to answer some questions...
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