Our Wedding Story: Married in Italy for ‘the weather and the delicious food’

Essex-born Jon, who works in a hedge fund, and Kirsten met in London through friends almost five years ago. "We had our first date in Covent Garden. A few cocktails later, we were walking hand in hand through Soho looking for one last drink." says Kirsten, an e-commerce entrepreneur and banking consultant who moved from Ireland to Britain in 2011.

After three years together, Jon proposed and his new fiancée suggested they marry in Italy for "the weather, the delicious food and also as a nod to her much-loved 97-year-old Italian grandmother, Claudia".

On the afternoon of June 24th, 2016, in temperatures of 40 degrees, Jon and Kirsten married in a ceremony at Lonato Castle, overlooking Lake Garda. Kirsten was given away by her father Ronan. Her mother is Julie and Jon’s parents are Sheila and Barrie.

“Our favourite part of the day was when they actually announced us as husband and wife,” remembers Kirsten.

With the marriage certificate signed, the couple wandered through to the castle courtyard to meet their guests enjoying live music, prosecco and Italian aperitivo before sitting down to a four-course meal. Afterwards, against a backdrop of surprise fireworks, the bride and groom cut the cake before they had their first dance to Umbrella performed by The Baseballs.

The party went on until 2am – “sadly, the end of the best day of our lives. Or was it?” On the last bus back to the hotel, to the delight of the bride and groom, an Irish sing-song kicked off – “fuelled by a few bottles of limoncello”.