Travel Stories >> Florence (Firenze) >> The Wedding

THE WEDDING

May 12, 1998 - How happened….

It all began on April 27th..... The US consular grunt behind the window in Firenze exhibited the true essence of US government bureaucratic facelessness as he sighingly told us we didn't have the right atto notorieta (ours was issued in Sarajevo and was missing a sentence, apparently) and basically sent us on our way. Not before faxing our incorrect atto notorieta to the Matrimoni Office at the Uffizi, then calling and saying to them, "it's not right, is it, yeah, I didn't think so, just thought I'd check." Putz. Our concierge and now dear friend, Angelo Lemmo spent his day off, drove us (the next morning) to a little town called Pontesieve where, for a few sheckles and a really expensive bottle of champagne, the clerk there typed us a new "atto notorieta", and back we flew to Firenze to the town hall in the Uffizi....in time to turn in all the "correct" paperwork. Curiously enough, the sweet woman (named Myriam) behind the desk at the Matrimoni office turned out to be the wife of the gentleman from whom Roger bought six suits five weeks earlier (Mauro).... ah, Italy, doncha just love it!

So the paperwork now in the right hands - we have the feeling we MIGHT actually be getting married! Legally!!
In the meantime, the wedding dress was picked up, the rings were picked up, our beautiful flower girl, Bianca and her dear parents arrived, flowers arrived from around the world for us (special thanks to my wonderful book club - they were beautiful, and K,A,A,J - wow!!), and the day(s) grew closer. My parents and sister who were in the midst of a "vacation" (ok, they tried) in Montalcino (south of Siena, in the heart of Brunello wine country - whew!) came up with family friend, Dottie - who would be our photographer, my two wonderful aunts flew in from the Poconos, and friends arrived from Bethesda, Seattle, Sarajevo and Mostar.

The morning of April 30th (the day of the "legal" ceremony) we all hurriedly dodged the rain drops to the Palacio Uffizi where the town hall offices are. We took Angelo's wife, Patricia Berti (also a staff member at the Hotel Beacci Tornabuoni) as our official translator.. and arrived to sign the books. Sign the books? Well, that's what we THOUGHT - you know, two clerks behind a desk, "here sign this, here sign that, where are the witnesses, here sign this, here sign that".... Well, the joke was on us. We are told that the civil marriages take place in the red room - and after some rushing up and down old marble stairways we find the red room. And RED it is! Red velvet. High back red velvet chairs, huge gilded mirrors and paintings on the walls, gaudy gold chandeliers.... this room was high Baroque (and a little of about every other style thrown in) and made for an auditorium that would make a Las Vegas croupier blush. And standing behind the big desk on a wide, slightly raised platform at the end of the red room was a little man with a beautiful, warm grin on his face, and a banner of the Italian flag across his chest like Miss America. He raised his hands welcoming us in. He requested that we sit, like the king and queen, in the two high backed red velvet chairs (handmade lace on the arms) up in the front. He gave us advice, he read us passages in the civil laws about making all the household decisions jointly, and allowing the children to grow to their individual aptitudes and talents, he spoke about the fog outside not making a difference to all the sunshine in that room... and he proceeded to marry us. Who was this wonderful man? It was the mayor of Florence, himself! And he made us feel like we were the only people he had ever married!

The next morning at the crack of dawn I hustled down to a place off the Arno to a hairdresser who had agreed to work on his holiday (May 1) and sat in the chair while he spent an hour curling my short hair - pulled back in pearly combs - into little circles which would each hold a sprig of lily of the valley. I have never worn so much hairspray in my life! Back at the hotel I dress with all the women, braid Bianca's hair and put the final touches on the face. Roger, who had spent the night down the hall in a room under the watchful eye of Gino at the desk, had already gone off to the church to convene with the boys for the logistics, music, and to get the show ready.

At 10:45am, I walked from the hotel to the church along the narrow cobblestone streets of Florence with an small entourage (Marina and Jennifer held up the hem of the dress) amid the smiles and greetings of passers-by (there was a moment when I felt like I was in a pantyhose commercial). We were married in a beautiful, very modest Baptist church whose doors you might pass a hundred times never realizing it was a church. Roger and Mom walked in first to Vivaldi (horns, of course), then Bianca came down the aisle and passed out a stem of daisies to each guest. When out of the speakers flowed Purcell's "Come Ye Sons of Art", I took my father's arm and we joined the group on the altar. Our fifteen guests gathered, standing, in a semi-circle around us at the altar. Roger and I lit candelabras in honor of the family and friends who could not be present with us. My father shared some of his and others' words on marriage, my mother read poems on love, the preacher, Jim Standard in his brilliant purple robes blessed our union, our rings, and read a prayer we had built from a variety of sources. Roger and I exchanged our own vows (which are on the announcements we'll send out), and Roger played his trumpet - a beautiful piece he composed especially for this occasion. My sister, Lydia, kept her composure and read two beautiful poems while we lit the unity candle, Jim pronounced us husband and wife, and Roger kissed the bride!

And there was great rejoicing! Hugs and kisses, cameras flashing, laughter, flowers, it was wonderful. Then Roger and I jumped into a taxi with Dottie, our photographer!... and much to the great amusement of the cabbie, off we went to the hot spots in Florence. First stop, the Ponte Sta. Trinita with the Ponte Vecchio in the background, then off to the Duomo and then a finish in the Uffizi Plaza.... all amid the crowds of Florentines and tourists pointing, shouting, snapping photos, clapping, and congratulating us, "AUGURI" (congrats).!! Crazy to think pictures of us were being developed last week all over the world on rolls of tourist film.

Back at the Hotel the guests had gathered on the rooftop patio which was just covered in large terracotta planters full of flowers of every kind, to sip champagne punch until we returned from our photo ops around town. And after a brief visit with them on the terrace - we all sat down to the feast. The luncheon was beyond compare - seven courses (parma ham and melon, asparagus and salmon, exquisite pastas, fluffy light crepes, roast meat in garlic, fresh salads, three different wines for the different courses, and a wedding cake of unbelievable meringue-like lightness and drowning with strawberries and cream. The hotel staff urged us to pick up the little wedding couple figurines on the top of the cake to see if there were any messages for us, and sure enough, a number of folded pieces of paper with all kinds of good wishes... including one which read, "Tanti Bambini!!" (many children!). During what seemed like the 34th course there suddenly raged a thunderstorm outside and Angelo said to me, "Senora!! This is very good! Sposa mohada, Sposa fortunada!" (which translates roughly as, a bride who experiences rain is a fortunate one). During the dessert, one of the other hotel guests, a Japanese photographer, asked if she could take a series of photos for a magazine back in Tokyo. Angelo will need to brace himself for the onslaught of Japanese wedding parties they'll get next year. After this sumptuous three and a half hour repast... we all sort of wandered back to rooms and other lodgings, groaning and holding our bellies and swearing to each other that we would not be eating another thing for a week. Once it was over, everyone said goodbye and drifted away to spend the rest of the afternoon napping, and the rest of the weekend enjoying the magnificent city of Florence....

Roger and I left for Spain the next afternoon after hours of packing. We will forever be indebted to Angelo and Patricia who were truly our guardian angels. The Beacci Tornabuoni is by far the most wonderful place I've ever stayed (the word hotel just doesn't work - it's more like a home with family). We spent our brief honeymoon in a beautiful secluded house on the north shore of the Spanish island of Mallorca - and even though the first three days were cold and rainy, we didn't care.... we explored the island - magnificent caves, beautiful mountainous coasts, lovely little fishing villages, and great Spanish cuisine!... and now I can't believe it's all over!!

One last note.... yesterday in Sarajevo, our dear friends and colleagues at the Business Finance project hosted a little champagne and cake reception for us. Their gifts to us have already been many, not the least of which is the fact that it was here and with these people that Roger and I met and fell in love, but yesterday they gave us two beautiful gifts. Lejla told us......In 1492 when the Spanish drove the Jews (and everyone else) from Iberia, the first city they came to, in their flight, the first city that welcomed them and gave them refuge and a place to live and work, was Sarajevo. These Sephardic people brought with them a magnificent Haggadah, illustrated, written by hand, a tremendous tome. Written sometime in the late 1300s, the family it belonged to were the Kohen's (!!!). This Haggadah has lived in the Museum in Sarajevo since the late 1700s, and through trickery and cleverness was smuggled into hiding when the Nazis and the Croat Ustazi (sp?) wanted to destroy it during World War II as well as when the Serbs came for it during this recent Bosnian war. Over the last century, it has been the Muslims in Sarajevo who recognized its artistic, historic, and religious value and wanted to keep it protected. Our friends presented us with both a bound copy of this amazing book and a paperback translation in English (!), and a wonderful wooden book stand with inlaid gold and mother-of-pearl on which to place it. It was a special and thoughtful gift from a group of people we adore.

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