Part of the reason for my trip to Malta this year is because my youngest niece, Jade, is getting married. She lives in Australia and wanted a small wedding with her closest relatives. The only problem is that her closest family are scattered around the world, from Australia to Canada, the United States, Sweden, Italy, France, England and Malta. Jade took the opportunity to make Malta her wedding destination and bring all the family together for a joyous occasion!
This magical day started with hair and makeup by the talented ladies of Alfie’s Hair Salon.
The bride is escorted to the ceremony in a vintage car.
The nuptials took place at St.Paul’s the Shipwreck church in our capital city Valletta. This church is one of the oldest churches in the city built in the 1570’s.
Organ & wood statue of St. Paul
Especially dear to the Maltese nation, St. Paul is considered to be the spiritual father of the islands. His ship wrecked here in 60 AD and he brought Christianity to the Maltese. Amongst the treasures of this church are the organ and dome designed by Lorenzo Gafa, paintings by Attilo Palombi and Giuseppe Cali, a wooden statue of St. Paul by Melchior Gafa 1965 and the magnificent alter piece by Matteo Perez D’Aleccio. This church also has precious relics; a piece of the right wrist bone of St. Paul and a piece of the column that used to behead St. Paul in Rome.
The bride and groom make their marriage vows to each other in front of their closest family and friends.
Happy guests, confetti and the release of white doves welcome the bride and groom at the end of the ceremony.
The bride and groom along with the wedding party were once more whisked away in the vintage cars to the reception venue.
The wedding reception took place at Palazzo Parisio in Naxxar. This palace is described as a “mini-Versailles”. It was originally built as a hunting lodge in 1733 by the grandmaster Antonio Manoel de Vilhena. After his death the order of the Knights of St. John took it over and it eventually was passed on to the Parisio family. During the French occupation of Malta, the palace was used as barracks. The Marquis Giuseppe Scicluna aquired it in 1898 and he commissioned a team of Italian architects and painters led by Carlo Sada and Annibale Lupi to embellish the palace with Baroque and Pompeiian art.
Drinks and hors d’oeveres where served upstairs in the ball room
This beautiful renaissance style garden was set up for the dinner venue.
Lovely silver candelabras, gold place settings and fresh flowers enhanced the beautiful tables. Bougainvillea was in full bloom climbing up against the soft hue of the Mediterranean limestone.
The newly-weds sat beneath a canopy adorned with fresh flowers as they ate dinner, and listened to the speeches given by my brother ( father of the bride ) – who not only gave a touching speech in English, but also wrote a poem in Maltese for his beautiful daughter ( those of us that spoke Maltese all needed a tissue by the end of that poem ). Best man and uncle of the groom made lovely toasts in their Aussie accents and had all of us laughing.
The hours quickly passed as I caught up with family members whom I had not seen in many years. Dancing, laughter and merriment coupled with best wishes for the bride and groom created a wonderful atmosphere of joy and love
After the cutting of the cake, we were treated to a dazzling display of fireworks. The reception continued well into the early morning hours of the following day.
What a beautiful ceremony and what a great way to bring the family together. I could not help but think about my parents and how proud they would have been to see their family all together, despite the fact that we all live in different continents and countries around the world!
To Jade and Jake, a final thank you for allowing us all to share in your happy event. I wish you the best of luck for a happy future together filled with love and laughter. Cheers!
Ciao Mardel
