Our Secret Tuscany

Cortona, situated in the southernmost part of Tuscany, nestles into the hillside, revealing mesmerising views which define the very essence of the region. We had chosen the town hall, a stunning medieval building with its very own Romeo & Juliet balcony, in which to marry, although I was hoping our love story wouldn’t end quite the same way.

Smiling, I gently opened the wooden shutters of our villa. Shafts of golden sunlight streamed through, slowly spreading light across the small room to where my wedding dress lay. Turning tradition entirely on its head, my husband-to-be entered laughing, hand in hand with our daughter Amelie, to help me prepare. It was just the three of us. We had eloped and I had a complicated dress. Choosing the dress with my heart, it was rather clear I hadn’t used my head, as Pablo patiently helped me into it, tying the intricate bodice at the back; this was one secret that was being shared before the correct hour.

Dressed and ready to go, we found our wedding car waiting for us outside the steps of Casa Ivan ready to chauffer us down towards Cortona. Leaving our villa high upon the hill we slowly made our winding descent towards the waiting hour. Entering its walled medieval delights our car began to chug up its steep narrow streets towards the town’s very heart and where we were to be married.

I had met Pablo while dancing salsa in Barcelona; we fell swiftly and deeply in love and had always had marriage somewhere on our horizon. But with most of his family in South America and some in Spain, we had decided that assembling entire families in the UK was such a logistical challenge that we would elope instead: to unite our love in what better, more romantic place than Tuscany?

The brilliant skies blazed as our vintage car turned a corner and entered the town’s main square. A magical glow stretched itself across Piazza della Repubblica as we alighted and walked in a fairy-like bubble towards the 13th Century building where we had chosen to exchange our vows.

It was incredibly hot and Pablo had obeyed my orders in pulling the bodice of my dress as tight as possible, which although hindered regular breathing, helped me sit bolt upright when we sat down for the service. The ceremony, conducted in Italian, was short and to the point, with a translator to assist us where necessary. Looking around, the décor and furnishings were breath-taking. Sitting on two high backed wooden thrones only added to the occasion's excitement and sense of importance.

After exchanging rings, amid kisses, cheers and big grins, the official presented me with 7 red roses, and I was told that they signified the hope for love and passion for the 7 days of every week, for every month and for every year of our marriage. Then, by our request, this Indian wedding blessing was read out:
“Now we feel no rain for each of us will be a shelter to the other.
Now we feel no cold for each of us will be warmth to the other,
Now there is no loneliness for each of us will be a companion to the other.
We are two bodies but there is one life before us and one home.
When evening falls, I’ll look up and there you will be.
I’ll take your hand, you’ll take mine and we’ll turn together,
To look at the road we travelled to reach this the hour of our happiness.
It stretches behind us, even as the future lies ahead.
A long and winding road whose every turning means discovery.
Old hopes, new laughter, shared fears – The adventure has just begun.”

Ending the ceremony the champagne was opened and we toasted our union of love, before Pablo led me out onto the Shakespearean balcony as his wife. Amelie looked through the bars as we turned and kissed a kiss so sweet we flew up high into the clear blue skies, to a place of such happiness that filled every inch of our newly wed souls.

Imprinted on the very heart of our family lies Tuscany; a collection of precious memories lie in these Tuscan hills as exquisite as the views and as treasured as the centuries that have guarded the walls of Cortona.