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It is no longer something reserved for extravagant
and eccentric multi-millionaires, but a dream that can come true
for many couples and which has brought Capri into the mainstream
of romantic itineraries.
2001, the first year of the third millennium, will surely be
remembered on the little island as the year of weddings, with
a series of couples celebrating the most wonderful day in their
life on the stunning Mediterranean island. The surprising and
unexpected veto of the ecclesiastic authorities against weddings
being celebrated on the tiny island of love drew reactions not
only from young lovers but also from locals.
And of course the Grand Hotel Quisisana took the lion's share
of these celebrations opening its prestigious and refined rooms
and gardens for one event which will go down in the annals of
the island. In fact the most original rite ever celebrated in
the Quisisana was the marriage of William Faidi and Nicole Needham,
a couple who met on Capri and saw their dream come true under
the gazebo on the hotel's terrace. The beautiful Nicole, a truly
stunning bride, and William, dashing in his oriental outfit,
made their way to the altar under a virtual tunnel of white and
blue drapery and floral compositions with scenes from their own
countries. This handsome oriental couple were the first of a
long series of newly-weds who chose the Quisisana for the most
important day in their lives.
However the most adventurous marriage was one that made its way
from Positano to Capri. The religious young couple, Bet Shepard
and Robert Buccini, wanted a church wedding, but the bishop's
veto left little room for a church service. Then Capri's organisation "Capri
Gap" and Gianni Chervatin stepped in and suggested to the
couple that they hold the religious ceremony in Positano. After
a brief but touching ceremony in the Church of the Assunta on
Positano's little beach the 200-strong wedding party then crossed
the fables gulf on the flower-decorated Grecale and Maestrale,
a mini cruise to the Quisisana for a gala wedding celebration
which ended with dancing and fireworks.
May Elizabeth and Anderson had a more event-filled wedding. The
charming American couple brought their own spiritual adviser
with them and he married them with a Catholic ceremony in the
little Evangelical Tragara church. Both May and Anderson are
from powerful and wealthy American families and had decided that
Capri was the place in which they wanted to be married.
But for them too the bishop's veto was an unsurmountable obstacle
and so with the help of Gianni Chervatin, tutor of the event,
they brought Father Adam with them armed with a dispensation
from their American bishop. The elegant wedding procession made
its way along the via Camerelle to the applause of onlookers
ending up at the "Quisisana" on the terrace of the
Quisi restaurant for the gala evening accompanied by Confrey
Phillips' famous dance music group and with one final surprise:
the wedding cake which was entirely covered with white roses
from the hotel's garden.
But the most spectacular wedding to be held on Capri in 2001
was undoubtedly that of the American Scaravilli family. A long
and intense rapport with the island led Mamma Diane and Papa
Victor to chose it for the wedding of their charming daughters.
The first to say yes in the former cathedral of Santo Stefano,
overlooking the famous little Piazzetta in the summer of 2000,
was Victoria. This wedding proved to be such a success that in
2001 the fairy-tale event was repeated for their second daughter,
Alexandra, who also tied the know in the former cathedral thanks
to the fact that the consent to the event had been given prior
to the veto. A veto which is still in force but which, as the
events of 2001 have proved, can be overcome in spite of the obstacles.
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