VINTAGE WEDDING
IN THE NAME OF LOVE
Veteran actors Mario and Nathalie Micallef, well-known in local theatre and television for their popular drama productions, celebrated their 50th anniversary this year. Here, they share their love story with Rebecca Anastasi.
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heatre and television stalwarts Mario and Nathalie Micallef have been familiar faces for decades, treading the boards in many a local production and sharing the small screen, telling stories of love, ambition and intrigue. And this year, the couple – who got married on 16th August 1970 – celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary, with much aplomb. But their first date had not exactly gone according to plan, Mario tells me. “It so happened that both Nathalie and I used to work at the same agency at the time and, although we did not work on the same floor, I used to get glimpses of Nathalie and her sister during our lunch breaks. At one point, I approached their cousin, who incidentally, also worked in my office, and I revealed that I had a soft spot for his cousin – Nathalie’s sister – and wondered whether he could fix us up for a date,” he continues. Nathalie’s cousin, keen to help, obliged. “After about two days he turned up with the good news that his cousin had accepted, and that we were to meet the following day by the Savoy Cinema in Valletta,” Mario recalls. However, in an auspicious twist to the event, Nathalie showed up, instead of her sister. “Although I was lost for words, I didn’t mention anything. We grabbed a quick coffee in Valletta and that was it. When I went back to the office the next
day, I reproached their cousin – my colleague – for the embarrassing mix up. He replied that her sister was already engaged to someone else and he thought Nathalie would be better suited anyway,” Mario laughs. And it seems Nathalie’s cousin was right! The pair started to go steady and, over time, their relationship deepened, even though they were still young and just venturing into adulthood. “Our love grew into something more solid and we both realised that we would like to spend the rest of our lives together,” Mario remembers, adding that, in those days, it was customary to have an official engagement a year before the wedding. And to make things even simpler, he did not have to ask Nathalie’s parents for approval since the families already knew each other well – being very well acquainted “from the neighbourhood” – having lived in Valletta for decades. Preparations for the big day started immediately following the engagement. “We got started a year before the wedding and the logistics were stressful – in that one is always anxious that things will turn out well on the big day – but the stress we felt was not comparable to today’s anxiety levels,” Nathalie says. Sourcing the wedding dress was, however, one of the easier tasks. “Nathalie has a very keen eye for impeccably BLISS 105
WINTER 2020/2021
