Page 21 of A Wedding in Tuscany

‘Ron, Josh, the lamb’s just gone in the oven and when the timer goes, pop the veggies in, then re-set the timer for thirty-five minutes and when that timer goes, get the peas on. Then take the meat out and rest it before you carve, okay?’ They both nod, though Dad has been sous chef to Mum for forty-two years, so it’s doubtful he needs such explicit instructions. To me, she says, ‘Shall we?’

‘Let’s do it.’ Bravado at its best. It occurred to me not long after she asked that by agreeing to help Cat plan an Italian wedding, I’ve bitten off way more than I can chew. I’m actually grateful Mum insinuated herself onto the planning committee.

‘Better bring this,’ she says, taking the bottle from the counter. Maybe she’s feeling it too. Minutes later, we’re settled on the floor of Mum’s study, surrounded by stacks of magazines with sticky notes marking specific pages, folders open, and pens at the ready. Sure, there are online wedding planning sites and Pinterest boards and e-magazines, but Mum and I like paper?the tactility, the indescribable pleasure of flicking through a magazine and finding that just-so inspiration and marking the spot with a sticky note.

‘Right … now that you and Josh have settled on Montespertoli and he’s booked accommodation at the castle?’

‘You mean the two-bedroom apartment in one of the outbuildings.’

‘Yes, Sarah, that’s what I mean,’ she says impatiently?Mum doesn’t like to be interrupted. ‘I’m wondering if you’ve looked closely at the rest of it?’

‘The castle? Well … yes … sort of. What do you mean?’

‘I mean that it’s the perfect place for the wedding! It’s a thousand years old, it has a beautiful aspect, and it’s a working winery. Just imagine wedding photos in the cellar surrounded by barrels or out amongst the vines at sunset.’

‘Oh, I hadn’t thought of that.’ It’s not a bad idea.

‘And look.’ She flips open her laptop and angles it so we can both see the screen. ‘I was thinking perhaps this large room … perfect for the ceremony, then straight into the reception.’ She scrolls through image after image of an ornate room filled with paintings and sculptures and antique furniture. ‘Can you imagine?’ Her eyes are alight with excitement, but I can foresee is Cat scrunching up her nose at the ostentatiousness.

‘Um, yeah, that’s cool, I guess.’

‘Honestly, Sarah, it sometimes baffles me how you can be an English teacher and so ineloquent.’

I love my mother, I love my mother, I love my mother, I chant in my head.

‘How about this? I’ll send the link to Jaelee and she can check on their availability and the cost.’

Mum sighs?one of her ‘why is the world the way it is?’ sighs. ‘I’m sure she’s lovely, but I can’t understand why your sister’s letting her friend help with the planning when she’s got us.’

I know exactly why. Because, just like Karen Parsons, Jaelee doesn’t take no for an answer. And Cat has asked me to be intermediary?with Jaelee on her behalf and between Jaelee and Mum. It was only a few weeks ago that Cat was promising to run interference between me and Mum and now look at me. A human buffer.

‘Jaelee’s a pro, Mum. Organising is literally her job?or a big part of it, anyway, especially the communications aspect and she works globally. Besides, if we leave the logistics to Jaelee?like all the bookings and the wedding license and the officiant?then we can do all the fun stuff.’

I am actually delighted Jaelee is helping us plan, as getting married in Italy is mired in red tape?particularly as, between my sister and her betrothed, they are citizens of three countries. And they want the marriage to be legal in all three!

That’s why Cat and Jean-Luc are travelling to Milan immediately before meeting us in Tuscany. She has to take the ‘Atto Notorio’ she will acquire at the Italian Embassy in London to the Australian Consulate in Milan to get the ‘Nulla Osta’. Then they’ll have to present those, along with a translated ‘Certificate of No Impediment’ and a bi-lingual Statutory Declaration, both notarised in the UK, to the local authorities in Montespertoli, where we’re all staying and where they will get married. And that’s just for Cat! Jean-Luc needs his own ‘Nulla Osta’ from France. Exhausting!

‘Hmm, I suppose,’ Mum admits reluctantly. She takes a large sip of wine. ‘Why don’t we start with the flowers, then?’

‘Oh, perfect. This is what will be in season in Autumn.’ I open a travel magazine to a special feature on Tuscany and cross reference that?colour-coded sticky notes really are the best?with a ‘Weddings in Italy’ feature from one of the bridal magazines. We ‘hum’ and ‘ha’ over several ideas, Mum peppering her commentary with desktop research into Tuscan wildflowers.

‘What about sunflowers?’ When I was a tour manager in Europe a decade-and-a-half ago, one of my favourite parts of every tour was driving through western Italy past acres and acres of those stunning, vibrant-yellow flowers.

‘Won’t it be too late in the year?’ asks Mum.

‘There are perennial sunflowers that bloom as late as October.’

She scrunches her nose?a staple in the Parsons women’s arsenal of expressions. ‘They’re kind of simple, aren’t they? A bit too peasanty?’

‘Mum, don’t say “peasanty”.’

‘Why? Isn’t it PC enough?’ she challenges.

‘I have no idea. It just doesn’t sound very nice. How about “rustic” instead?’

‘Fine, but is that the type of wedding your sister wants? Rustic? I mean, I have no idea!’ It seems Mum is feeling overwhelmed.

Now I take a sip of wine, if only to give me time to think. Every time I’ve asked Cat what she wants?actually, every time any of us have asked?me, Mum, and Jaelee?Cat replies with something vague and if we can pin her down on anything, it usually contradicts something she said earlier.

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