5.10pm

The church ceremony was at 5.30pm. It was 5.10pm and I was upstairs, alone with just the photographers and bel bambino. The clock was actually 15 minutes fast but I wasn't to know that. I had to get dressed, I had to get married in 20 minutes and there was no one there to help me. Bel marito was in the room next door so I was like a trapped animal, pacing up and down unable to leave the room. The photographers thought I was a lunatic, I was behaving like one, screaming and yelling like a banshee. I was going crazy and opened the door yelling out for someone to come up and help me. My twin was downstairs with her 20 month and 8 month old boys, my sister was down stairs with her 6 year old and 3 month old, my mum and aunt were helping them until my wild screams bought my aunt up to rescue me.


Shortly my twin and my sister followed with our new wrist corsages. The florist had re-done them, they were still a little ugly but better than before. Mine had an entire box of glitter sprayed onto it, so bel bambino and anyone else I touched was too covered in silver glitter. With what I thought was 10 minutes to spare I got dressed. 2 minutes to spare, or so I thought and I stress fully yanked my shoe onto my foot and what would happen, yep, you guessed it, the strap broke. Old pins were found, my shoe was sort of mended as we realised that the clock was fast and we had about 10 minutes to spare.

Here, in small village Italy it is custom for the bride and grooms family to visit them at home before following them to the church. People in small villages, if distance permits, walk to the church. Family come for a little drink before hand, you leave the house and they throw rice on you, and then walk behind you to the church. We, having an nontraditional wedding got ready and left from the same house, so bel marito left first, his family following him and a few minutes later I walked out, had some rice thrown at me by onlookers and my family followed me to the church. Luckily it was a 3 minute walk and I got there almost in one piece. My broken shoe was about to rip my dress as the pins kept getting caught in the fabric. Luckily someone in my family had a band-aid (plaster) and my clever aunt wrapped it around the pins to save my dress.

I was standing outside, not sure what to do wondering who would tell me when to enter the church when I heard the music start. My aunt was still fixing my shoe at this stage and I was a little angry that no one had bothered to check I was ready before starting the music, but what ever...it was time.

Thankfully the stress mostly stops here. Getting married with a baby was never going to be a stress free affair. The wedding ceremony went perfectly, for 1.5 hours! The bilingual priest was lovely, he spoke of love and happiness and even did the baptism in English and Italian, his only fault was that he loved to talk, which he admitted, so much so that the parish priest had to come out and hurry him along.

So that is the end of my wedding saga. You'll only think I am crazy if I tell you anymore!

P.S my corsage only lasted until the end of the baptism. It was so poorly made that when I picked up a sleeping bel bambino the orchids fell to the floor. I had 2 roses left which I shoved into the ribbon so at least I would have something on my wrist since I had no bracelet on me!

P.P.S Bel bambino was so good, he was woke up when the water was poured onto his head and he didn't even cry. He just looked around curiosuly and smiled!
My page boys, my sisters 6 year old and my twins 20 month old.

My twin carried bel bambino.

My brother, sister me and twin.