A Tuscan Villa Wedding

On Tuesday of our week in Italy we drove about 30 minutes outside of town up into the hills to an amaaazing Tuscan Villa.  If you've seen the TV show on Netflix called Master of None (starring Aziz Ansari), then this villa was the Italian villa from Season 2. It was gorgeous, and we had an amazing time.  There were a lot of buildings with apartments, and Kevin and I were in a 2-bedroom apartment with one of Kevin's cousins and her boyfriend.  Unfortunately, the building we were in did not have air conditioning ("no AC" was a common theme on this trip!), but we just spent our days hanging out at the pools on the grounds.  There were TWO pools to choose from, and both were beautiful.  Here are a bunch of pictures from our few days at the villa!  We drove there on Tuesday, the wedding was on Wednesday, and we left on Thursday and headed back to the town of Siena. 

The view from the villa. 

The driveway

This was the view from our bedroom!!  Not too shabby

This was the cute little kitchen in our apartment. 

One of the two pools.  AMAZING.  We all spent a LOT of time in the pools!! 

On Wednesday before the ceremony there were professional pictures taken outside (I'm guessing we'll see those soon), and then we went into an air conditioned building to try to cool off before the ceremony started!  It was a HOT day. 

Kevin and his cousin Ryan (the groom)

The bride trying to hydrate!! 

Kevin was reading through the poem he had to read during the ceremony.  It was a Walt Whitman poem. 

Ryan's sister (Mary Eileen, aka Mare Mare), Mook, Kevin's Mom, Mo, and Kevin's Aunt Eileen (Ryan's mom)

Kevin's mom going over some details for the ceremony with Ryan.  She officiated the ceremony, and it was her first time ever officiating!  She nailed it. 

Kevin, Kevin's Uncle Hal (Ryan's dad), and Kevin's dad! 

Mare Mare and Kevin's dad 

After everyone tried to cool off after the pictures, it was time for the ceremony!  No pictures were allowed during the ceremony (they had a professional photographer), but I have two pictures from right before the ceremony started:  

That's Kevin's dad's sock.  He's wearing whale socks in support of Mary Anne, because her nickname is "Whale" (and that's because her maiden name was Whalen).  He also has a whale tattoo!

Kevin's Mom!  She did such an amazing job of officiating the ceremony!  

After the ceremony was over, it was cocktail time in the garden! 

They were all trying to hug Kevin's dad because he does NOT like hugs. 

Hal and Eileen (Kevin's aunt and uncle) were celebrating their wedding anniversary the following day! 

After the cocktail time in the garden area, we all headed over to the area where they had a bunch of tables lined up together for dinner:  

Oh my gosh, this steak was amazing.  It was a huge T-bone that they'd carved the meat off of, so our whole table shared this (and there was a lot leftover!) 

This is when I found out I was allowed to gnaw on the humongous T-bone. 

Trying to be ladylike while gnawing on a humongous T-bone. 

Oh my gosh, there are no words for how delicious and amazing this was. 

After the dinner, it was over to the dance floor for some partying:  

The bride and groom thanking everyone for coming. 

This chick on the left was a MESS.  She got so drunk and kept lifting her dress up all evening and photobombing EVERYONE.  She was also the maid of honor.  

Kevin in his party jacket.  His dad bought this thing at a thrift store for $1 many decades ago, and Kevin looooves it.  

The full view of the jacket.  

It was a GREAT night!!  So much fun.