Rod Stewart Marries Penny Lancaster in Italy

The singer exchanges vows with model Penny Lancaster outside Portofino

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Photo: Dave M. Benett/Getty

Rod Stewart has wed for the third time, PEOPLE has confirmed.

The 62-year-old rocker said “I do” Saturday with model Penny Lancaster, 36, his girlfriend of about seven years, in a small town just outside the Italian Riviera resort of Portofino.

A rep for Stewart’s record label says the couple wed in a cloistered medieval abbey at La Cervara. “The couple exchanged vows in the presence of 100 family and friends,” according to a statement. It was followed by a reception overlooking the coast of Santa Margherita, with dinner, dancing and fireworks.

A smaller ceremony took place earlier in the day at the 17th century Villa Durazzo in the town of Santa Margherita. Mariagrazia Benazzi, the town hall official who celebrated the wedding in lieu of the mayor, says the only people present were the bride, the groom and two witnesses.

Stewart is said to have given his bride a “huge white diamond ring,” Benazzi says.

Afterward, the rocker went out into the villa’s landscaped gardens to pose for privately hired photographers with his wife. The newlyweds and the two witnesses were then whisked away by private minivans to a motorboat docked in the port of Santa Margherita, which took them back to their yacht (decorated with red balloons).

Stewart, wearing a light-blue linen suit, and Lancaster, in a shimmering white cocktail dress, were then greeted at La Cervara by bagpipe players in kilts.

This is Stewart’s third marriage – he and model Rachel Hunter were divorced in January. He and Lancaster have one child – Alastair – who was born November 28, 2005. Stewart has five other children from his previous relationships.

Some of the kids, including daughter Kimberley, joined the couple earlier in the week vacationing along the Mediterranean coasts of Italy and France. They were spotted off the coast Villefranche on the French Riviera on Wednesday before their yacht docked off the coast of Portofino.

The day before their nuptials the couple lunched aboard their yacht and they were spotted walking hand-in-hand through a market in nearby Rapallo, where Lancaster bought costume jewelry.

They also took time out to celebrate the 20th birthday of Stewart’s daughter Ruby and “Happy Birthday” streamers could be seen hanging up on the decks of the yacht Lady Ann Magee.

As for their honeymoon plans, his rep says Stewart and Lancaster will continue celebrating with “a Mediterranean holiday.”

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