Sunday, July 15, 2012

An Elegant Summer Wedding

beautifully  behaved-and dressed- children 


Last weekend as the only foreigner  at  a family  wedding in Vetralla I was able to catch some of the important moments from the sidelines. 

plaque, dated 1512, shows the town's English connections


The wedding  took place  in the City Hall, directly across from the main church. Most young couples seem to prefer  civil weddings nowadays, much to the chagrin of the local priest. 

The sister  and brother in law of the groom came down from London and   were surprised  to find the coat of arms of  King Henry VIII adorning the stairwell of our City Hall. 




The  bride and groom  enter  the City Hall while  crowds of friends and curious  fill the piazza



mother and aunt of the groom
note the wedding gawkers at bar tables and balcony



Champagne and chilled white wine awaited  the guests for a post-ceremony aperitvo


tableaux with  table assignments

 Then guests and the wedding party  moved on to a nearby location for the wedding banquet dinner: La Branda  agriturismo on the outskirts of town. 

 Parking attendants  helped  organize  the cars  under the olive trees and the resident donkeys  were surprised  at the traffic, for over  200 guests were present. 
a rich antipasti buffet was served in the garden 
one of the  marquees set up in the garden 

half way through dinner, jackets were  discarded 

 midnight -time to cut  the cake
dessert table  at the end of the  3 hour dinner




Scene from the wedding ceremony --with  the ever present  telefonino



5 comments:

  1. One thing I will never get used to is the battalion of bridesmaids and groomsmen that appear in American weddings. All matchy-matchy, they ook like a small, well dressed, wedding day army. Oh, and the tongue-in-cheek group pictures (everyone jumping, groomsmen holding up the bride...)
    I think all of these things are slowly making their way into Italian weddings because of movies and tv shows.

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    1. thanks for your comment, Giulia. There are bridesmaids (witnesses) in this wedding...see the three girls with flowers in their hair in the last photo... but they are dressed as individuals.

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  2. I can't resist temptation of showing you the pictures of my wedding!

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/joyfulit/7588872560/

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  3. Daniela, what beautiful photos... I am sure readers will be very happy to see what a church wedding in the Veneto area is like. Your dress is magnificent!

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  4. Similarities to a recently attended wedding in the UK but the registrar made sure to remind everyone to turn off their mobile phones before the bride arrived!

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