Weddings in Roma!

And I say 'weddings' because there were several.

Oh yes, the lovely Amelia and the lucky Matt were married in Rome this past week. As you all no doubt remember from the recent Tomkat affair, Italian weddings can and do occur in several stages. In this case the (hilarious) civil ceremony took place on Wednesday, and the wedding itself on Friday. In short, there were many many parties, and a fabulous time was had by all.

Matt and Amelia after the civil ceremony
(I'm thinking of extending my services to wedding photography, mwahahahaha!)

As uninitiated Americans, the small group that attended the civil ceremony had no idea what we were getting into. It turned out to involve a room, full of magistrates, decorated with plush red carpeting, gold-leafed baroque furniture, and a sound system playing a terrible version of 'greensleeves' in the background

Here Matt and Amelia await the commencement of the ceremony
(Greg, off in the corner, tries not to laugh)

The ceremony was presided over by the mayor's aide, some police officers, and a guy with niftly tassles on his coat. They read Italian divorce law to us (in Italian), and then signed the marriage certificate and gave Amelia a bunch of plastic wrapped orchids. We, the thunderstruck audience, could barely contain ourselves.

The Poo-bah and his entourage

Freed from the confines of the Magistrates office, the wedding party is too cool for school.

The church wedding followed this Friday, and was celebrated with far more pomp, if less official helmets. The Mass took place at St. Paul's Within the Walls, where Amelia's Grandparents had been married in 1946.

The Bride and Groom cut the cake
(Italian wedding cakes have FIRE. Seriously cool people)

The Bride, Groom and the Groom's family
At the fabulous reception at the Hotel Quirinale

The Bride and her Posse ... Ambre and I have genuine Italian Hair.

The Georgetown Crew ... always the coolest table at the wedding reception