Finally!! The wedding photos!

It was with great enthusiasm that I sat down and published Part 1 of my daughter's wedding!  It was November on island and I planned to complete the story within a few days but my maintenance work took over!!  Endless painting, repairing and gardening dragged on.  I left the Caribbean 1st December and am with my parents in Munich where Christmas is upon us, but without a flake of snow!!  In 40 years of coming to Europe I have never seen a Christmas without it!  At around 12-16 degrees, the days are "warm", the lawns are still green and I walked in the forest this morning needing to remove my jacket!!  Difficult to comprehend!!

I am leaving Europe tomorrow night and heading back to my beloved Australia and home!!  So before I depart, I am committed to FINALLY publishing a wedding post from Becky and AJ's wedding.  These are not the professional photographers photos but those taken by myself and friends!  Rather than ramble on.......I have decided to allow the photos to speak for themselves! They tell a magic story!

And so it was!!  After a week of "pre" wedding events in Milan including the exclusive "Armani" night club, a cocktail party on the Friday night and an amazing Saturday lunch at a famous island restaurant on Lake Como, Becky Jade and Andrew Michael were finally married at 4pm on Sunday 15th September at Relais Villa Vittoria, Laglio, Lake Como, Italy!! 

Of course, I could delay the whole photo wedding treat and make you wait even longer by posting the menu tasting pictures, the wine tasting, the meeting with the celebrant, the make-up trials, the hair trials, then on the day, the endless process of hair dressing, make-up artists, photographers and the fittings and dressing of four bridesmaids, the mother of the bride, the mother of the groom, and finally the bride.........Phew!!!.....but I won't do that to you!!  You can always email me if you want to see more.......there are 100's of pics for me to choose from..........here are my choices to share with you! X

                   The Venue!  Relais Villa Vittoria, Laglio, Lake Como, Italy.  A very short stroll from George's house!!                  Unfortunately George couldn't make it as he had filming in Venice that day!! 

 

 

The lake view!

The patiently waiting celebrant!

The beautiful bride!  Her father and I walked her down the aisle together!

The Ceremony!

The veil!

The vows!

The champagne fountain.....at last the top glass!

Part of the bridal group!

The bride, now Mrs Jackson and the mother of the bride!

Happy bride and proud mother of the bride, with mother of the groom on the left!

My buddy Michelle and I after the ceremony!

 Mother of the bride and Bec's best friend, Bianca Matron of Honor!                                                                                                                                                                                           

Inside the wedding villa!

Beautifully set for the bridal dinner!  Six large tables seating 44 guests comfortably!

The table settings!

Unfortunately we had to remove George's setting as he couldn't make it!!

The menu!  A stunning Italian menu of five courses with a dessert bar!!

Becky "Jackson" and her four gorgeous bridesmaids!

My wonderful friends Chris and Angie came down from Germany!

Life long friend Amanda with partner Timothy flew in from Australia! X

My dear friend Michelle and I, thank you for your support Mish.  I couldn't have done it without you!

Then there were the stunning bridesmaids and the matron of honor!!

This wedding post would not be complete without a pic of "those" Manolos!

Introducing!!  Mr & Mrs Jackson!

The speeches..........Mother of the Bride speech!

Matron of Honor speech!

The "chocolate brownie" cake!! 

The cutting of the cake!

Yet another KISS!

Disco down in the ancient cellar.......The first dance as Mr & Mrs Jackson!

Removal of the garter!

Determined to remove that garter!

As the music played on..............

We all danced the night away.......

In the morning the villa was back to normal and the quiet of the lake presided!

                  On the Monday the sun shone and we all relaxed for the day! View of the villa from the water!                           

                                  Newly weds Mr & Mrs Jackson before their honeymoon to Africa for a safari in the                                           Masai Mara in Kenya followed by a week of chilling out in Zanzibar!

The Wedding - PART ONE! Pre wedding events!

A location wedding demands an incredible amount of organization and effort which my Becky managed brilliantly.  Considering she lives in Singapore, most of the guests came from Australia and the wedding was in Laglio, Lake Como in Italy, a village made famous by your favorite star and mine, George Clooney (and no, unfortunately he was not home but we did check!)........it was a huge event with a couple of pre wedding events that lead up to their big day!

I'm not going to write that much.........but offer you a story of pictures.  Because there were a few events I am going to publish two blog posts.......... Part One with the pre wedding events in Milan, the Friday night on Lake Como and the day before the wedding at a famous restaurant on an island on the lake and Part Two - The Wedding Day..........

I always felt that giving birth was the most incredible day of my life........the most important and the day my life changed forever; and it was, on Thursday 14th May 1982 at 4.41pm I gave birth to a healthy beautiful baby girl and I fell in love with her from the first moment she looked up at me.

The second most important day of my life was the day she married her man, Andrew, known as AJ and became Mrs Rebecca Jade Jackson and that was on Sunday 15th September 2013 at 4.00pm.  Not that I am biased in any way at all..........but she glowed.  She must have been the most beautiful bride ever seen!

The beginning..........Part 1...........Milan a week before the wedding!

After a group family dinner and lovely Italian wine in central Milan next to the Duomo, the gals kicked up their heels!!

Michelle and I outside the incredible cathedral, the Duomo in Milan!  We had a couple of events in Milan and somehow did not take photos........one night after a trattoria and a big group dinner we were able to get into the fabled and exclusive "Armani Club" in Milan........Raks, a dear friend of Bec and AJ's has "contacts" and whilst the queue outside snaked for metres, he was able to get us in immediately.......It really was one of THOSE places!!  Wow factor and all!  We even saw Giorgio Armani surrounded by a host of gorgeous models..........Definitely out of my league and age!!!

After Milan we girls headed to the Villa on Lake Como for pre wedding arrangements and wedding dinner tastings!!

The bride and matron of honor at the Friday night pre wedding function on the Lake!  Best friends since grade 3!!

Becky the bride, and her four bridesmaids!!  Five stunning young women!!

Mother and beautiful bride daughter..........Pre wedding function Friday night!

That's me and my bud Michelle, I am almost bursting with excitement for my girls big wedding day!!

Buddies from Australia, Amanda and Michelle!

Sunset cocktails on Lake Como.........Friday night..............

Then came Saturday..........Becky had organised a fabulous lunch at a famous old restaurant on an island on Lake Como..........so 43 family and guests headed out on boats for a stunning afternoon!

A beautiful warm Italian summer's afternoon.........the day before the wedding!

There is no menu at this restaurant; you take the boat out there from the village and they serve you platters of food that continually keep coming all afternoon.........it's fresh, wonderful and oh so Italian.........

Mish and Christal.........just chillin' in between courses!!

Un altro grande giorno!

 

 

After the long relaxing day on the island and waaaay too much food, we headed back to the Villa where we hung up Bec's wedding dress and elegant long veil.  Luckily my four poster bed had the perfect railing and height for it to hang out.  We put a towel over the rail to prevent the veil from creasing.......all ready for the big day.........TOMORROW!!