AMALFI (Italy)
28 June - 29 June 2017
28 June - 29 June 2017
From all the planning, to all the administrative duties, to all the logistical work, every small detail that needed to be put in place to have our Amalfi wedding work just the way we wanted it to, was now in place. To use standard sporting parlance, now it was all about the execution. There wasn't much more that we could do in our current state that just have it all play out.
Planning for the event, whilst not excessive in terms of time, was intense for the period of time that we invested in it. Everything we needed to do we'd condensed into a 3-4 month period after returning from Central America. We were fortunate in the sense that we had the time available to be able to focus on the event, but geez, we had to commit to daily chores to get us across the line. Tasks each day, with the back and forth of emails was part and parcel of organising a wedding outside of our known locations. Now however we were at the point where the fun and enjoyment was to take over, the true celebrations was in sight, assuming of course that we had put everything in place correctly.
Inga, myself and Aiva (Inga's aunt), flew out of Riga late in the afternoon on the 28th, bound for Rome initially and then to Amalfi with a few hours drive after that.
On the way to our wedding in Amalfi!
On the tarmac - Riga Airport - Riga - Latvia
Above the town of Atrani - Residence Villa Rosa - Ravello - Italy
Residence Villa Rosa - Ravello - Italy
Residence Villa Rosa - Ravello - Italy
This is where the anticipation really started to build for us. No other person in either of our families had been to Amalfi before and such was the impression that it made on us back in April when we came to scout the location that we knew for certain the type of impact that it was going to have on our guests. Driving over the mountains and just seeing them give way to the sea, cascading dramatically out of sight. Simply the perfect backdrop.
Arriving late evening in Amalfi we set Inga's aunt up for one night in a hotel in the town itself and then headed off to our accommodation for several nights (but not the wedding night), in the town of Atrani, literally located around the headland from Amalfi.
Residence Villa Rosa - Ravello - Italy
Amalfi town centre - Italy
Amalfi town centre - Italy
Amalfi town centre - Italy
Residence Villa Rosa - Ravello - Italy
Residence Villa Rosa - Ravello - Italy
Residence Villa Rosa - Ravello - Italy
We had selected a place called Residence Villa Rosa in Ravello (although the map seems to make me think its Atrani). This place was magnificent in terms of views and locations. Set on a particularly steeply terraced slope above the village of Atrani and magnificently positioned to take in the Tyrrhenian Sea and additionally overlooking the Lattari mountains, it had an abundance of riches and was the perfect place for us to transition into wedding mode. As they say in the classics, this place was next level.
Residence Villa Rosa had breathtaking landscapes characterised by terraced gardens of lemon, myrtle and geranium. All our senses felt inundated, from the smells, to the sights and sounds of our surroundings. It was total immersion in what the Amalfi coastline had to offer. Coupled with the fact that the weather was practically perfect, sunny with clear skies and a steady 27 degrees, all we needed now was for everyone to arrive the next day as expected, have the weather hold up for us and we'd be set for our picture perfect wedding day.
Residence Villa Rosa - Ravello - Italy
Residence Villa Rosa - Ravello - Italy
Residence Villa Rosa - Ravello - Italy
Residence Villa Rosa - Ravello - Italy
Residence Villa Rosa - Ravello - Italy
Residence Villa Rosa - Ravello - Italy
Residence Villa Rosa - Ravello - Italy
To my own great surprise, the 29th of June flowed perfectly, without so much as a slight headache. I had my own private concerns that logistically, with both families arriving that day,there would be some hiccup along the line that either forced a delay or that some piece of information would be missed or misinterpreted, etc ... to my amazement everything went so smoothly that it seemed we had almost deliberately planned it to be so:)
Inga's family arrived during the day and we set them up quite quickly in the Relais Convento apartments in the centre of town. We even had a bit of time for sightseeing in Amalfi town with them before Inga had to head back to Residence Villa Rosa for her hair and make-up trial, which was set to take a few hours.
Now, at this point I take credit for pushing on Inga to have the trial. Initially she had decided not to have her hair and make-up done at all, as the date drew closer she decided to have it done but without a trial. This I explained was fraught with untold danger. Heading blind into an event of this magnitude could make things unravel quickly, in the end I believe her decision to have the trial was a blessing.
Now, at this point I take credit for pushing on Inga to have the trial. Initially she had decided not to have her hair and make-up done at all, as the date drew closer she decided to have it done but without a trial. This I explained was fraught with untold danger. Heading blind into an event of this magnitude could make things unravel quickly, in the end I believe her decision to have the trial was a blessing.
Atrani - Italy
Amalfi - Italy
Amalfi - Italy
Amalfi - Italy
Amalfi - Italy
My soon to be wife!!!!
Amalfi - Italy
Post hair/make-up trial we walked down through Atrani and into Amalfi where we met my family had organised a quick dinner, again surprisingly, without so much as a hint of a hassle, other than Janelle explaining to me that my family were the biggest bunch of panic stricken humans on this earth! Which is true of course. On my mother's side of the family the Prelesnik females appear to ramp up in the anxiety stakes very quickly. In terms of Tanja, Julie & Vladimir, it appears to me that they tend to feed off each other in some type of group hysteria that often elevates the smallest concern into something insurmountable. If it wasn't such a hassle to deal with them it would be hilarious, and in that sense I think to Janelle it was amusing because this was an isolated event for her. I think the quote she provided me kind of typifies the nature of the relationship between Vladimir, Tanja and my mum - 'Well, that's what happens when three old women travel together'.
Amalfi - Italy
Amalfi - Italy
Amalfi - Italy
Atrani - Italy
Later in the evening Inga and I walked around Amalfi, soaking in the late afternoon sunset and realising that the the falling sun was bringing with it a new day, one of celebration and happiness for us all and one that would mark an exact point in time when it all changed. Thinking back on our timeline, meeting randomly in a Riga bar 7 years earlier and then only vaguely following each others movements for a few years after that, we had certainly come a long way since that first date in Paris 3 years earlier.
There are times in your life when your realise that just about everything at a particular moment is as close to perfect as you would want it to be. During these few days in Amalfi I have to say that I felt exactly that. It felt like everything in the few years prior had fallen into place at the correct time and in the way that was needed in order to get us here, and that was a hell of a good feeling to have.
