There wasn’t a dry eye in the house when the Aussie actress married her director beau in an intimate ceremony in Florence.

When it comes to weddings, Tammin Sursok could be forgiven for expecting a last-minute objection, the reappearance of a long-lost relative, or a misbehaving bridesmaid to be caught in a compromising position. After all, the Australian actress saw many nuptials take a melodramatic turn in her breakthrough role as Colleen Carlton on daytime soapie The Young And The Restless.

When the time came to take her real-life vows, however, the day turned out to be a picture-perfect love story. “It was the most magical, breathtaking, incredible and wonderful day of my life,” Tammin, 28, beams. “People always told me that at your wedding, a lot of the time you don’t really get to speak to people and enjoy yourself. But I got to spend magical moments with every person there. I would not have done it any other way. For me, it was perfect.”

Set over three days, Tammin’s impeccably planned nuptials began with a series of dinners, cocktail parties and elegant breakfasts in the romantic Italian city of Florence. It culminated in an unforgettable ceremony, in a villa overlooking the city’s famous Duomo (cathedral) as the sun set. “I went to Italy when I was 13 years old and just fell in love with the place,” says Tammin, who now stars in US series Pretty Little Liars and has numerous film projects due in 2012. “It’s the most romantic place in the world.”

Tammin and her husband, writer and director Sean McEwen, 36, had holidayed in Italy the year before – and, like so much else in the couple’s life, something just felt right. “We fell in love with each other all over again,” she says. “We’d been together almost five years – and we went to this hotel, a villa in Florence, and said, ‘When we get married, this is where we want to do it. It’s a little piece of paradise.’ It’s the most magical place.” Going with their instincts paid off, as it did when the pair first chanced going on a date five years ago… to a fast-food joint in small-town Missouri in the US.

See more pictures of Tammin's beautiful day and read more in this week's Woman's Day, on sale September 19, 2011.