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Planning an English/Italian Wedding
After Felice and I were married at a civil ceremony last September, little did I know exactly what was involved in planning the church service for just 9 months later. During the last few months, as the organisation comes to fruition, I’ve learned more about Italian weddings and their many traditions. An Italian wedding is an opportunity to celebrate big style which is why there are so many venues that specifically cater for weddings.
Before I walk down the aisle in May and say “I do” or “Si”, Felice and I have started attending our ‘corso matrimonio”, the wedding ‘course’ at one of the local churches that couples have to go to prior to getting married. I was apprehensive at the start; imagine the scene, the only English person amongst a group of Italians. There’s Avvocato (lawyer) Anna, who during the first session talked non stop about love and what it means to her for at least five minutes, a girl with a very deep and loud voice, and a 42 year old man who seems to have an opinion on everything. It’s very interesting though and is giving me more of an insight into the mentality of the southern Italians. That’s as long as I continue to get the gist of what’s being said.
On the wedding day itself, it’s naturally normal for the bride to prepare at the home of her parents. That would be fine, until you put an English bride into the mix, whose parents live in Old Catton. “That’s okay though”, I said to Felice, “I’ll get ready at our home and you change at your parents”. When Felice’s very traditional aunt heard about this a few days later, she was most insistent that this should not happen! “No”, she demanded, “you can’t do that, its bad luck, you’ll have to get changed at Felice’s sister’s house”. I bit my tongue very hard and decided to ignore it all.
Once the bride is ready for the big event and has had a number of photographs taken with her parents and the in-laws, there then comes the ‘open house’ scenario which can only be described as a free for all for friends, neighbours and perhaps the occasional stranger to come round and see the bride in all her glory! As long as there’s a few snacks laid out ready for the visitors to eat they’re apparently very content. However if it all gets too much for my parents and I, at least we have the ‘speak English’ card to play to chase people away!
So the scene is almost set. My stunning dress is ready to be brought over from Norwich with my parents, I finally found someone to make me a pair of shoes for my wide feet, the ‘bomboniere’, the gifts that are given to the guests have been ordered, and there’s a nice number of English (and several American) guests attending.
On the day itself there will be plenty of food, drink, dancing and a mix of accents and languages which should all make for an unforgettable experience!