My wedding was a total washout and some scenes from that day still haunt me, reveals Kelly Brook
SOME say it is good luck for a bride and groom if it rains on the day of their wedding.
So Kelly Brook must now have bags of it, after revealing her big day was almost a washout.
The former Page 3 pin-up married her Italian model boyfriend Jeremy Parisi, 37, in a low-key ceremony in Arpino, Italy, last July.
And speaking about her big day in depth for the first time, Kelly, 43, said: “We all got pretty wet.
“It rained five to ten minutes before we said our vows.
“We got ushered into this tower and it was like something out of a sitcom.
“There was a woman trying to carry a harp up five flights of stairs in this ancient tower. It haunts me still.
“It was like biblical rain, you couldn’t see your hand in front of your face.
“It had not rained in that region for eight months and I don’t think it has since.”
Photos Kelly posted on her Instagram showed her looking dreamy in her flowing white gown.
But she has now admitted that the rest of the snaps in her wedding album show her drenched.
Kelly said: “I look completely stressed and with straggly hair.
“Jeremy watches the wedding video all the time but I can’t face it yet.”
While it did rain on Kelly’s parade, she said it was still the best moment of her life.
The TV beauty, who had been engaged three times before, said: “From someone who never thought they would get married it was magic — the best thing I have ever done.
“We were winging it the whole way. It made it so much fun.”
‘IN A HAPPIER PLACE’
“And it gave it the essence and authenticity of it being Italian and that is what I really wanted.
“You can’t have the rainbow without the rain.”
Kelly met Jeremy in 2014, after she saw him in an Instagram video and sent a message.
The Sun revealed the couple’s engagement last June, just weeks before they tied the knot.
Kelly wanted a legally binding ceremony in her Italian lover’s home country — which left her just six weeks to organise their big day.
She said on the Secret To podcast with Vicky Pattison: “Jeremy has a farm in Italy.
“His home is Paris but his blood is Italian. His dream was to get married in the town where he has such fond memories growing up.
“We didn’t want to have a wedding in Italy and then get married in London a few weeks later and not tell anyone.
“I wanted to do everything on the day.
“By the time we had all the paperwork we only had a small window where we could actually do it with all our work commitments.”
Kelly was told she would not be able to have a bespoke wedding gown made in such a short space of time.
She said: “I bought loads of beautiful fabric, loads of Chantilly lace.
“I took it to a local dressmaker I work with. I showed her a few designs I liked and we just started making stuff.”
Then Savannah Miller, the British designer and sister of A-list actress Sienna, stepped in to save the day for her main bridal gown.
Kelly revealed: “About five weeks before, Savannah messaged me, and I said ‘I am getting married’ and she said ‘I will make you a dress’.
“So she made my wedding dress, which was beautiful. I don’t know how she turned it around so quickly.”
I wore my stuff for the parties. It was all white — and I never wear white.
Kelly wore her own designs in the evening, including a mini-dress she wore for her first dance with Jeremy.
She said: “I changed for dinner because I was soaked and I changed again for the party.
“My dress for my first dance was really short. Because I am booby and curvy there are only so many dresses that look good on me, especially in white.
“You have to just go with what you feel comfortable with.”
The pair said their vows in the Torre di Cicerone, a historic tower on the Acropolis of Arpino, then had the reception in the grounds with their closest family and friends.
Kelly said: “I came away wishing I was a guest at my own wedding because it goes so fast and you are so stressed.
“When you do a destination wedding, you are there for a few days so it doesn’t matter. As long as you are spending time with people.
“You’re marrying the love of your life. That’s all that matters at the end of the day.”
Like most brides, Kelly said she suffered from a bout of post-wedding blues.
After returning from Italy, the couple and their dog Teddy headed to . . . Camber Sands, East Sussex.
Kelly said the down time gave them time to reflect, although she plans to honeymoon in a more exotic location later this year.
Kelly said: “When we came home, I said I feel like I’ve lived my life in technicolour and now it’s just black and white.
“Being around all your favourite people and dressing up in all those gorgeous outfits — there is no point doing it half-arsed. You would regret it.”
“I had five changes in one day, and the music and the food and the flowers and the lights — all of it is just so intoxicating and then you come back.”
The couple, who have homes in London and Kent, are now enjoying married life.
And Kelly credits Jeremy with changing her perspective.
She explained: “It is always good to have goals and push yourself but I’m not chasing loads of different things.
“I am quite specific in what I want to do. It does become less and less as you get older.
“Ninety per cent of the time I say no to things. You could waste a lot of time doing nonsense.”
The former Big Breakfast host added: “There was a long time when I was very career driven and focused on myself.
HE’S MY SOULMATE
“It made other parts of my life suffer and ultimately it made me unhappy.
“I look back on pictures when I was younger and I see this skinny model and I think she was really unhappy.
“She probably just got off a plane, probably not happy in a relationship.
“Running on anxiety and stress and adrenaline all the time is not good for you.
“I am definitely in a happier place. I make more mature choices.
“It’s not that I want to step completely out of the public eye — I like being on telly and I like being on the radio — but the desperation has gone.”
And while Kelly has overhauled the way she lives, there is one other big change she is ready to make after marrying Jeremy, who she described as her “soulmate”.
Kelly said: “I will be Kelly Ann Parisi.
“My passport is up for renewal in a year so I will do it then.
“I love that, I think it is traditional.
“I don’t use Kelly Brook for anything but work.
“We are called Mr and Mrs Parisi.”
