Elizabeth Gilbert and Rayya Elias tie the knot in ‘ceremony of love’

"Eat, Pray, Love" author Elizabeth Gilbert celebrated her partnership with ailing writer and musician Rayya Elias in a "ceremony of love" on Tuesday, she announced on Instagram. Gilbert posted a photograph of her and Elias holding flowers and gazing lovingly at each other.

‘Eat, Pray, Love’ comes to an end

Gilbert announced last summer that she was getting a divorce from Brazilian businessman José Nunes, who was called "Felipe" in the love section of her bestselling 2006 memoir "Eat, Pray, Love." In September, she publicly announced that she and Elias, who had been best friends, were in a romantic relationship.

She said she was moved to make the change in her life after Elias was diagnosed with cancer of the pancreas and liver.

"I do not merely love Rayya; I am in love with Rayya," Gilbert posted on Facebook at the time. “And I have no more time for denying that truth. The thought of someday sitting in a hospital room with her, holding her hand and watching her slide away, without ever having let her [or myself!] know the extent of my true feelings for her...well, that thought was unthinkable.”

Elias, a Syrian-born musician and filmmaker, is the author of the 2013 memoir “Harley Loco: A Memoir of Hard Living, Hair, and Post Punk, from the Middle East to the Lower East Side.” Gilbert wrote the book's introduction.

Elizabeth Gilbert (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

(Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

Since “Eat, Pray, Love,” Gilbert has published a novel — “The Signature of All Things”; two books of nonfiction — “Committed” and “Big Magic”; and a podcast focused on creativity — “Magic Lessons.”

In her Instagram post Tuesday, Gilbert again made reference to the challenge of Elias' illness.

"More difficult days are to come," she wrote. "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," Gilbert concluded.