4th September 2013

Wedding 58 had snuck up on us hard and fast. It was a pretty unbelievable achievement to have left England with a hairbrained idea (and not much else) and in just over 2 years to have celebrated 58 weddings in 40 countries; but the biggest, most heartwarming achievement in our minds was not the weddings, not the countries, not the miles travelled, but the people we had become friends with.

Mitra and Fabio fast became friends. They were so torn during our time together and seeing them struggle with the pain of constant worry for the life of their elderly pet Chihuahua was heart breaking. At 14 years old Lukas was not his usual self and needed constant care and attention which we were happy to give along with Mitra and Fabio. He came with us in a little carry bag, snuggled close to his loving mum and receiving all the love and attention he deserved.

We loved having him with us and were so happy to have him along to our 58th wedding. He sat with us on a blanket in the shade in the sprawling Tuscolo Park overlooking Rome in its entirety, the location for our Italian wedding.

We had waited until almost sunset to head to the park and Mitra and Fabio set us up a picnic blanket with a bottle of wine and Lukas to keep us company while they went to set up the ceremony.

Fabios parents came along to help with the preparations and to join us for the wedding and a great friend of Mitras had come to hold the ceremony for us. Jonathan, an actor in Italy and also a tour guide in his spare time was intrigued by our adventure and we chatted with him, his wife Jana and their baby daughter annabel while ‘We are the planners‘ were busy just out of our sight.

We drank our wine and sat excitedly anticipating the wedding, the weather was perfect and the gnarly old tree that protected us from the hot sun was the perfect picnic companion.

Soon Mitra returned to us with a dress and suit bags and hung them on our tree. We changed there as the sun slid slowly down towards the horizon behind us. The wedding was eco inspired, everything made from sustainable materials, including my dress! The stunning gown was made entirely from Ingeo fabric which is silk made from corn and coloured using tea! The silky material hung perfectly around me like a hazy dream and trailed far out behind me! It was beautiful! Designed and made by Atelier Franco Francesca such a unique, effortlessly stunning dress and one that I fell in love with instantly!

I lifted the skirts into the sun to inspect the delicate fabric as Alex changed into his suit and Mitra handed me a clutch bag which doubled as my bouquet as it was completely covered in dried flowers. Again, so unique and unusual and completely made from natural products, I felt positively like a magical being, like a nymph or a fairy that lives at the bottom of the garden and uses moss as a pillow! The finishing touch was a pair of handpainted recycled paper flowers made by Alessandra Fabre Repetto of Eco Wedding Designs which hung from my ears! I loved them! Everything was so thoughtfully planned and I was giddy to see where we would be holding the actual ceremony!

A small crowd had gathered and watched us walk along the track through the park over the hill and (not so) far away to our altar!

An old tree perched on a ridge in the park with a fantastic view of Rome below us. The tree was embellished with ribbons and tinkling mobiles and a paper flower aisle appeared in the grass leading us to Jonathan our celebrant. The flowers were like my earrings but all different colours and made completely from recycled paper. They sprouted proudly and prettily from the ground, wound their way around tree limbs and lounged around with fairytale-esque toadstools dotted delicately around the ground under the tree!

Tears pricked my eyes and my vision blurred a little at the beauty of the wonderland around us. So simple, so gentle and natural and all bathed in the golden light of the sunset! It was perfect!

Jonathan beckoned us to the altar and seemed a little nervous but proceeded with the ceremony. He read us a poem selected by Mitra which was so perfect I have to share it and finally we exchanged simple vows.

And Now You’re Mine (Love Sonnet LXXXI) by: Pablo Naruda

Now, you are mine. Rest with your dream inside my dream.
Love, pain, and work, must sleep now.
Night revolves on invisible wheels and joined to me you are pure as sleeping amber.
No one else will sleep with my dream, love.
You will go; we will go joined by the waters of time.
No other one will travel the shadows with me, only you, ever green, ever sun, ever moon.
Already your hands have opened their delicate fists and let fall, without direction, their gentle signs, your eyes enclosing themselves like two grey wings, while I follow the waters you bring that take me onwards: night, Earth, winds weave their fate, and already, not only am I not without you, I alone am your dream.

It was all over so fast but the lasting memory of the scene will never fade! It was just beautiful and completely different to how anyone could envision a wedding in the city of Rome yet the perfect way to celebrate a unity, away from the hustle and bustle of city life, yet surrounded by its energy and its beauty! We are the Planners specialise in destination weddings all over Italy and focus on intimate gatherings with a difference, they, like us think outside of the regular shaped box and clearly create magical, unique celebrations.

We hugged, kissed and thanked everyone for making our 58th ceremony so special and then went to wander with Mitra to try to make the most of the last of the magical orange glow spreading all around us as the sun disappeared. As we stepped over the brow of a hill we stumbled into a huge herd of sheep with bells clanging and bleating at each other, they were perfectly timed and just enforced the entire natural theme of the wedding!

We hiked back to the cars and drove back into the city to a gorgeous little restaurant between two old Roman aqueducts. We were led to a table in a secret garden, under yet another fabulous old olive tree. The old crumbling bare brick wall was covered in candles, low lights twinkled all around and the table was adorned with more beautiful paper flowers and flowered vines wound their way around our napkins…it was all just incredible and completely took my breath away!

Wine was poured and more food was served to our table as we all sat around talking than I ever knew existed, and all divine! We ate champion pizzas, incredible local meat and cheeses all of course washed down with local wine in the traditional Italian family run restaurant. We laughed into the night until our throats were horse and until we could not physically face another morsel of food and after so many utterances of thanks we were taken back to our luscious apartment to collapse with our full bellies and our full hearts!

Planning – We are the Planners | Photography – Mitra Talarman | Dress – Franco Francesca | Flowers, table decor and bag – Eco Wedding Design | Restaurant – Il Giardino Segreto | Celebrant – Jonathan Silvestri

And the BEST news is…there are more pictures to come! Due to unforeseen circumstances we just have a sneak peek for now! We will make sure to post more pictures of this beautiful wedding the minute we get our mitts on them!