We were having our party on the mountainside — so it couldn’t rain!

We got married in May 2017 in Italy. We’d actually got legally married in Ireland back in March that year. It’s funny — I think the registry office day was the bigger day for the two of us. Even though it was literally just our two immediate families, so a very small group of us, it was just very special.

My husband Fabio is from a very small village that’s north of Naples and south of Rome. It’s called Macchia. It’s a very old community, steeped in tradition. I couldn’t even fully describe to my wedding guests where they were going. It’s so, so rural. And it was hard for them to understand that there’s no hotel, no taxis, there’s no conveniences around; this is literally in the mountains.

We had about 40 Irish people coming to the wedding, and a lot of our friends were put up, very kindly, in people’s homes.

It was really important to us to have the wedding in Macchia, so that my side of the family got to experience where Fabio came from and what his roots are. I knew one day our child would have this lineage, and I want them to understand where they came from.

I’d got my dress in Folkster Bridal in Kilkenny. It was literally the first dress I put on. It was the complete opposite of what I’d gone looking for really, but when I put it on I was so comfortable in it. I knew I was going to be able to party and dance in it.

Lottie Ryan: ‘I got my dress in Folkster Bridal in Kilkenny. It was literally the first dress I put on.’

My wedding planner was my mother-in-law. I would give her the instructions, and in her amazing-at-negotiating way, she would get things done for me. So she was my port of call and did the bulk of the organising.

That meant we were able to make it really personal, particularly for Fabio. And we made sure we were using local businesses and local vendors for things like the flowers and the drink at the party.

On the morning, I was very calm. The day before it had pissed rain for a huge portion of the day, so all I had on my mind was “please Jesus, let it be dry tomorrow”.

We were going to have a party on the side of a mountain; it’s not like we’re in a situation where we could just order a marquee. There was nothing we could do if it rained. I was just praying that the weather was going to hold up for us, and it ended up being the hottest day of the year.

Lottie Ryan: ‘The party went on well into the night, and it was just perfect.’

We had the ceremony in the church in Macchia. It was where Fabio’s grandparents got married, along with his parents. We have a very good connection with Father Brian D’Arcy, who is very close to my family and has been with us through loads of amazing and not so amazing times; he baptised my brothers and sisters, he did the service of my dad’s funeral. So Fr Brian came over and he married us in that little church in the village, and there was a local Italian priest as well.

When we came out of the church, the whole community had come out. They were all cheering, and it was just so beautiful.

We had the party afterwards in a restaurant called Chalons D’Orange, which was just outside a nearby village.

When we got to the venue, one of the managers took the microphone and said: “Can we just please warn all the Irish there’s a lot of food coming out. Please don’t fill up on the first two or three dishes and start falling asleep”.

We had seven courses on the day! There was pasta, there was pizza, there was meat, there was antipasti… there was a lot of food, and it was amazing.

Lottie Ryan and her husband Fabio walk down the aisle.

After the meal, we went outside where we had bales of hay and different things that people could sit on. There was a local band, and they were great. Our first dance was Paolo Nutini’s Buona Sera. It was gorgeous.

I mean, we were a few glasses of wine in and I had my heels off already, so we were just laughing and having a good time already. The party went on well into the night, and it was just perfect.

There were so many special moments, but I remember when I pulled up outside the church and my brother Rex was waiting outside for me to walk me up the aisle, and that moment was so special. 

We had a little chat together before we went in, and walking into the church and knowing how much it meant to Fabio and his family that we were all there, that was a really special moment for me.

Lottie Ryan and her sister Bonnie have a weekly podcast called No One Else Will Listen. You can listen to the podcast here or wherever you get your podcasts.