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OLYMPIC ROWER BEN HUNT-DAVIS WEDS ISABELLA PARISH IN
ITALY |
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with his gold medal-winning rowing eight team-mates in
attendence
The combination of dazzling Australian sunshine and
winning all those medals proved to be a heady cocktail for the British Olympic
team, resulting in a flurry of engagements. Amongst those caught up in the wave
of wedding announcements were rower Ben Hunt-Davis and Isabella Paris, who were
married in Italy on October 22.
The couple actually have had almost a
year and a half of engagement, after Ben popped the question in May 1999.
“There’s absolutely now way we could have organised this wedding in
just under a month,” laughs Isabella. “Originally we wanted to marry
in September 1999 but, because of Ben’s training schedule, the only way we
could have managed to have a honeymoon was to wait until after the
Olympics.”
Ben, second from left, winning the
gold
medal in Sydney with his triumphant
men’s eight rowing
team |
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The wedding was organised by
Isabella’s Italian mother Giovanella, who did a spectacular job, managing
to organise an Anglo-Italian wedding. Wearing a strapless oyster satin dress,
the first one that Isabella saw in a shop in Italy, she walked down the aisle
of San Michele Arcangelo in Marche, and Ben freely admits that it was one of
the happiest moments of his life. “She looked so beautiful - absolutely
amazing.”
The two of them are off to the Maldives for a honeymoon
and, time permitting, will spend some time backpacking in India. After that,
it’s back to live in their London home - Kensington Palace! “We live
in a cottage in the Palace grounds,” explains Isabella. “It’s a
beautiful place to live. We do catch the odd glimpse of the royal family from a
distance but not often, although I have bumped into the Duchess of Kent from
time to time.” |
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Ben and Isabella can thank rowing for bringing
them together, although Isabella claims to be
the least sporty person
she knows
Isabella bought her strapless oyster
satin
gown in Italy and says it was the
first she saw |
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Because Isabella’s mother is Italian,
the couple chose to marry in the beautiful
family church in Marche,
Piedmont, and had
“a mixture of the best bits of English and
Italian weddings.” One of the best things
for Isabella was that
their parents faced
them from behind the altar throughout
the
ceremony |
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