Elizabeth Gilbert Celebrates Love With Girlfriend Rayya Elias In Small Ceremony

Eat, Pray, Love author Elizabeth Gilbert and her girlfriend Rayya Elias celebrated their pairing in a “simple and spontaneous ceremony of love” on Tuesday.

ELIZABETH GILBERT & RAYYA ELIAS HOLD “CEREMONY OF LOVE”

The 47-year-old made the announcement on Instagram, along with a picture of the pair holding a bouquet of flowers. “Dear Ones: Over the last year, Rayya Elias and I have been through some really difficult days together — but not today. Today was precious and perfect. A simple and spontaneous ceremony of love, surrounded by a small handful of friends and family,” the author wrote.

She clarified, “Our ceremony was nothing legally binding (no need to alert the authorities, folks!)…just a quiet and private celebration of what we have long known to be true: We belong to each other.”

Sadly, the day was not without a smudge of sadness. Elias is battling pancreatic and liver cancer, diseases with unfortunately low survival rates. “More difficult days are to come. It doesn’t get easier from here. Her illness is grave. But our love is strong,” Gilbert continued. “We will walk together as far as we can go together. After that, it all gets turned over to God. Create beauty with every day you are given, Onward, LG (And thank you, @bindleandkeep, for putting a rush on @rayyaelias’s suit, and for hand-delivering it yesterday. She looked beautiful. Thank you for the grace, the care, and the compassion. You are good people.)”

Dear Ones: Over the last year, Rayya Elias and I have been through some really difficult days together — but not today. Today was precious and perfect. A simple and spontaneous ceremony of love, surrounded by a small handful of friends and family. Our ceremony was nothing legally binding (no need to alert the authorities, folks!)…just a quiet and private celebration of what we have long known to be true: We belong to each other. More difficult days are to come. It doesn’t get easier from here. Her illness is grave. But our love is strong. We will walk together as far as we can go together. After that, it all gets turned over to God. Create beauty with every day you are given, Onward, LG (And thank you, @bindleandkeep, for putting a rush on @rayyaelias’s suit, and for hand-delivering it yesterday. She looked beautiful. Thank you for the grace, the care, and the compassion. You are good people.)

A post shared by Elizabeth Gilbert (@elizabeth_gilbert_writer) on Jun 6, 2017 at 2:17pm PDT

Last year, Gilbert ended her nine-year marriage to Jose Nunes after realizing her “true feelings” for her best friend Elias, who is also an author, musician, and hair stylist. They have known each other for 15 years.