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By

Melody Chiu

and

Jeff Nelson

Published on September 22, 2014 12:00 PM

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People.com

NEIL PATRICK HARRIS & DAVID BURTKA

INSIDE THEIR SURPRISE WEDDING

As the sun set in Perugia, Italy, on Sept. 6, it cast a warm glow on the bucolic hilltop city. Amid this tranquil setting—within the walls of a castle—Neil Patrick Harris, 41, and partner David Burtka, 39, exchanged some long-awaited “I dos.” With their soon-to-be 4-year-old fraternal twins dressed in their wedding best (daughter Harper Grace donned a white dress, and son Gideon Scott finished his look with a top hat), the couple wed in an “intimate ceremony surrounded by their close friends and family,” Harris’s rep told PEOPLE. For their officiant, they chose Pam Fryman, a longtime friend and director of Harris’s hit sitcom How I Met Your Mother.

“Their wedding vows were so beautiful,” guest Kelly Ripa said afterward. But that doesn’t mean every part of the ceremony went off without a hitch. While Harper was happy with her role as flower girl, Gideon wanted to carry fruit instead of the couple’s rings. “He passed out oranges to everybody as he came down the aisle,” Ripa added on Sept. 8’s Live! with Kelly and Michael.

This happy, adorable ending had been a long time coming. Together for a decade (they met on a Manhattan street through a mutual friend), they have been engaged since 2006 and welcomed their children in 2010 via a surrogate. In March they moved their family across the country after How I Met Your Mother wrapped and Harris scored the lead in Hedwig and the Angry Inch. (He eventually won a Tony Award for the role.) Through every life change, their bond has grown. “Without him I can’t breathe,” Burtka told Out magazine in 2012. “The biggest thing is that he makes me laugh, but he’s also smart. He can do everything. He makes me a little more grounded, and I bring out the wild side in him…. We have a really great recipe for a wonderful relationship.” Making it official, Harris added, would come with another fun bonus: a title change. “I’m not the biggest fan of the word ‘partner,’ ” he said. “It either means that we run a business together or we’re cowboys. ‘Boyfriend’ seems fleeting, like maybe we met two weeks ago…. It would be nice to say ‘my husband.’ ”

With that wish a reality and with their weekend of revelry —their reception included fireworks and a special performance by Elton John—behind them, Harris and Burtka are ready to start their next chapter. But not before basking in one extra moment of postwedding bliss, as Harris happily did on Twitter: “Yup, we put the ‘n’ and ‘d’ in ‘husband.’ ”

… Plus 2 New Engagements!

Martina Navratilova & Julia Lemigova

Even off the tennis court, Martina Navratilova has impeccable timing. When she popped the question on Sept. 6 to longtime girlfriend Julia Lemigova, 42, on the Jumbotron at the U.S. Open, “everything worked out perfectly,” the tennis legend, 57, told PEOPLE exclusively. As for planning the wedding, Navratilova admits she needs some help. “I’ve only been to three weddings in my life—and two of them were for Chris Evert,” she said with a laugh. “I may have to call her for advice. I have no idea what I’m doing!”

Marcus Grodd & Lacy Faddoul

Engaged just three weeks after meeting on ABC’s Bachelor in Paradise, Marcus Grodd and Lacy Faddoul, both 26, insist they’re the real deal. “I knew he was the one,” Faddoul says of accepting the Neil Lane ring (above). But they’re not rushing to the chapel, says Grodd: “We’re going to enjoy our engagement.”

WORD ASSOCIATION

Octavia Spencer

The Academy Award winner, 44, stars in the new series Red Band Society (premiering Sept. 17 on Fox) and next year’s Divergent sequel, Insurgent.

Red carpet.

Ooh, panic attack. You can always tell because I’m sweating like crazy. They’re like, “Your skin’s so dewy!” And I say, “Actually, it’s sweat.”

Insurgent.

Delicious. Delicious eye candy! All the guys are superhero-cut. I was like, “What kind of jam have I fallen into?”

Television.

Pastime.

Oscar.

The bear. When we were doing The Help, I vacuumed an 8-ft. bear in [Jessica Chastain’s character’s] Ms. Celia’s house. So before I actually had an Oscar, I had Oscar the bear.

Dream.

Big.

Surprise.

Scary. They freak me out. I’m a list-maker and anything unknown terrifies me.

Struggle.

Strength.

Keanu Reeves.

Savior. [Before she was famous, the actor stopped to help her when her car broke down.] I was a damsel in distress, and he’s a perfect gentleman.

TALLULAH WILLIS

ON THE MEND

Since returning home at the beginning of September after six weeks in rehab, Tallulah Willis, 20, is getting back on track. “She’s got a clear head and will start outpatient work,” says a source. “She knows there’s no quick fix, but she really wants to move on.” (In an interview earlier this year, Tallulah, who was being treated for various issues, opened up about her body dysmorphia.) At her side: her family, including her parents, Bruce Willis and Demi Moore. “She plans on surrounding herself with good influences,” says another source. “It’s been emotionally draining for the whole family,” says the first source, “but hopefully this will lead to some healing.”

OPEN HOUSE

MERYL’S HIP PAD

Meryl Streep, 65, sold her chic Hollywood Hills home to New York Yankee Alex Rodriguez, 39. The 1954 house has four bedrooms, four bathrooms, a pool, a spa and a two-story living room.

sold for $4.8 MILLION

CHAT WITH MY FAMOUS COUSIN …

Bestselling author A.J. Jacobs is tracing his family tree, and he’s inviting all of his newfound relatives—77 million so far!—to a reunion on June 6, 2015. (Go to globalfamilyreunion.com to join.) Each month he’s interviewing one of his famous cousins for PEOPLE.

Jacobs: You are, officially, my aunt’s sixth great- uncle’s wife’s mother’s husband’s brother’s wife’s eighth great-granddaughter.

Bertinelli: So I’m practically your sister.

Jacobs: Right. Your grandmother was a farmer. Did you inherit a green thumb?

Bertinelli: Not so much. Every time I’m given an orchid, I kill it.

Jacobs: Your father’s family is from Italy. What did you get from your Italian side?

Bertinelli: My bullheadedness. And without a doubt, my cooking genes.

Jacobs: Favorite Italian dish to cook?

Bertinelli: That’s like asking my favorite baby. But I guess pasta vongole. Clams in white sauce. The key is you have to put chili flakes in there. I’ll bring it to the reunion.

Jacobs: You are a direct descendant of William the Conqueror. Did you inherit anything from him?

Bertinelli: I always have to be right in an argument.

Jacobs: Which ancestors do you admire?

Bertinelli: My great-grandmother was a cook for a rich family in San Remo. I like to think of it as an Italian Downton Abbey kind of thing. She fell in love with another worker and ended up getting pregnant. She got on a boat from Italy by herself with her two children, in steerage, during World War I. That girl had some cojones.

Jacobs: I also discovered you are distant cousins with an old boyfriend of yours, Steven Spielberg.

Bertinelli: That relationship didn’t last long. I think he tired of me quickly. I was 19, he was in his 30s. My life might have gone very differently had he not. But I’m happy with the way my life came out.

Jacobs: As a cousin, I always ask: Can I borrow some money?

Bertinelli: If you need a couple bucks to get a ride home, I’m there for you. I’ll give you my Uber coupon.

VIRAL HIT OF THE WEEK

NAME THAT FILM!

#EXPLAINAFILMPLOTBADLY WAS A TOP TWITTER HASHTAG. CAN YOU GUESS THE MOVIE THESE STARS ARE DESCRIBING BADLY ON PURPOSE?

Due to some sort of brain damage Jack Black doesn’t notice how fat Gwyneth Paltrow is.

@RickyGervais

2 people think they’re in luv & when it’s down 2 life or death the girl saves herself w/ a door

@JoeyKingActress

Guy’s depressed, makes out with Natalie Portman, feels slightly better.

@ZachBraff

Reanimated dinosaurs do exactly what you would expect. Humans are mortified.