I got married in Florence, Italy. My husband and I were in love

"I got married in Florence, Italy. My husband and I were in love but totally broke, so we eloped and got married in Italy, where he was going on a business trip. We had to pull a guy off the street to be our witness. It was incredibly romantic. Florence is still one of my favorite cities in the world." These words, spoken by Libba Bray, capture the essence of romantic spontaneity and the beauty of love that defies the expectations of the world. It is a story of love without grand fanfare, a union not bound by material wealth or social conventions, but by a deep connection between two people and a desire to be together. The setting—Florence, the city of art, passion, and history—only adds to the charm of this story, reminding us that romance does not need to be extravagant to be meaningful.

The ancient Romans, in their day, understood the power of simple acts of love. Their concept of marriage was not defined by the size of the celebration, but by the emotional bond between the partners. The Roman poets, like Ovid, wrote of love that was both passionate and unscripted, filled with the unexpected and the unplanned. Ovid’s Metamorphoses tells tales of gods and mortals who fell in love without regard for societal expectations, proving that true romance is about connection, not ceremony. Just as Libba Bray and her husband eloped in Florence, the love stories of the ancient world often began in unexpected moments, unburdened by the constraints of tradition.

In the case of Bray’s elopement, there is a profound lesson in the simplicity of their actions. To marry in a city like Florence, with its art, history, and romance hanging in the air, is a powerful act of symbolism. It’s not about the grandeur of a ceremony, but about the spirit of the commitment being made. Bray and her husband were broke, yes, but they were rich in love—a love that didn’t need wealth or a grand stage to thrive. Their story reflects the deeper truth that love is a feeling, not a spectacle. The moment they chose to marry, in the absence of everything traditionally associated with weddings, their bond became the focus. The witness, pulled from the street, symbolizes how love often finds its witnesses in the most unexpected places, and that sometimes, love’s greatest beauty lies in its simplicity.

The romantic element of this story is not about luxury or extravagance, but about the authenticity of the moment. Florence, a city that has stood through centuries of love stories, serves as the perfect backdrop. The city itself has witnessed countless tales of passion and devotion, many of which were not marked by wealth or opulence but by the deep human connection between individuals. Consider Dante Alighieri and Beatrice Portinari, whose love, immortalized in Dante’s Divine Comedy, was not one of physical union but of spiritual devotion. Their love, though unconsummated, transcended earthly barriers and became the foundation for one of the greatest works of medieval literature. In this way, Florence is a living monument to the power of love, no matter how it is expressed.

Bray’s tale of elopement is a call to embrace the beauty of spontaneity in life. The ancients understood that to live fully, one must not be tied down by the expectations of others, but must be guided by passion, courage, and heartfelt intention. Love is not a spectacle, but an experience—an experience that can be simple, yet profound, when it is true. It is the spirit of the act, not the show of it, that makes it meaningful. This sentiment echoes the stories of ancient lovers, from Romeo and Juliet, whose love was not constrained by social boundaries, to Cleopatra and Julius Caesar, whose love crossed political lines, teaching us that love is an all-consuming force that transcends barriers, wealth, and even time.

In your own life, take the lesson from Libba Bray’s story. Love does not require extravagant displays or material wealth; it requires sincerity, connection, and the courage to act on your feelings. Like Bray, choose to love freely and boldly, even when life’s circumstances might suggest otherwise. Sometimes, the most profound romantic moments come in the quiet, simple decisions we make, such as eloping in a foreign city, pulling a stranger off the street to be our witness, and deciding that love, in its purest form, is enough. In the end, it is the authenticity of our relationships that endures, not the trappings that surround them.

So, embrace love in its most raw and unfiltered form. Let go of the expectations of others and take your own journey—wherever that may lead. Like the lovers of the ancient world and the many stories that have come before us, choose to love without limits, without boundaries, and without fear of what the world may think. The truest forms of romance are those that speak to the heart, not to the spectacle. Whether it is in the romantic streets of Florence or in the quiet moments of your own life, let your love be your story, told in your own way, in your own time.