(no subject)
The Wedding.
Ok, first of all I know I'm slow - at this rate it'll be a year before I manage to compose all the entries I promised to post. If you are desperate for my writings, I also have a tumblr blog http://elethomiel.tumblr.com/ which is updated slightly more often. It's not rambling happenings though, it's mostly photo oriented.
So, way beck when, I was in Australia and I was there to attend a wedding. The weather was gorgeous, as one would expect in Melbourne, and the ceremony both simple and elegant.
My beautiful significant other and I arrived at the steps to the Old Treasury Building in good time before the proceedings. We knew that the bride and groom were having photos taken around the quirky streets of Melbourne beforehand (they turned out awesome, by the way) so we knew that they would be approaching more or less on time and not be inside stupidly early. This left us looking around desperately for someone we recognised (we knew about three people at the wedding) and failing miserably. Until, that is, the maid of honour (and sister to the bride) arrived. I think seeing us was as much a relief to her as it was to us as I don't think she knew the others all that well either. I guess that's just what happens when you get married about as far away from where you grew up as physically possible. Oh sure, New Zealand is farther but that's about it.
We basked in the sun for a bit and located a small grouping of guests for the wedding we were attending. It was a registry service so there was more than one going on that day - although ours did seem to be the only one not mostly comprising of asians. After a short while and after the brides parents arrived (though that one was close) we were ushered into the beautiful old building. First door on the left and the seats for the service were laid out. There were no sides for bride and groom here, which was just as well as the grooms' side would probably have overshadowed the brides' by quite aways. See the antipode comment above.
While I was sat, waiting patiently and taking photos of inanimate objects around the room, I heard the spine tingling first notes of "Into My Arms" by Nick Cave (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnHoqHscTKE) and lo, did the blushing (she was totally blushing) bride entered. It was quite beautiful, I must confess, but all the moreso because that would totally have been my walking-down-the-aisle song (not that I will ever walk down an aisle in that manner). I will admit to a small sense of "She stole my song" (very small) but I must also admit to a much greater sense of "This song is awesome, perfect choice. Nicely done." Sufficed to say I was very pleased with hearing it. I know I'm going on about the song for a while here but you do have to realise it's one of my favourites and although I did not cry at the wedding (for I am manly and masculine and woof! and so on) - this was the closest I came. And I was damned close. This song makes me cry a lot. Also wedding etc.
Anyway, they got married and it was lovely. The ceremony was nothing out of the ordinary - significant to all those present, just another wedding to all those not. I did get a giggle towards the end though as the speeches were being made and the mother of the groom read the poem "Aedh Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven" by W.B.Yeats. She cited its significance as a poem to her and the significance of the copy of the book she read it from. Unfortunately, in my little world, that poem is inextricably linked to the film Equilibrium. So when she spoke of its importance and significance to her in her relationships with her husband and how that related to this couple etc. etc. etc. all i could think about was Christian Bale killing people with guns. I thought it was nice that Equilibrium brought people together...
And thus the ceremony concluded. We headed off to take a break before the reception. The happy couple, now husband and wife, had retreated to have more photographs taken with the guest of honour. A large black Labrador (I believe) named "Buster". He hadn't been allowed to attend the ceremony itself due to animal regulations and so on but he was brought out to celebrate in the park immediately after. They had decked him out in a collar and cuffs (Chippendale style) for his photoshoot with Melbourne's newest married couple. I think they enjoyed that part of the day more than any other.
The reception was held in Melbourne Zoo. We had a little bit of difficulty finding or way there, it must be said, but in defence of the directions provided - we ignored them. Served us right, I suppose. It was merely a delay though and after locating the correct entrance we joined the party.
There's not much more to say really. The speeches were good (the best from the father of the bride, a retired lecturer, who opened with "I'll try to remember not to just do forty minutes with ten left at the end for questions..." - I laughed but, as one of only about four people who knew he used to lecture, I think I was about the only one). He got extra points for speaking without a microphone and without notes.
All sentiments hit the right notes. There were no embarrassing stories, there were no drunken hijinks (though I think alcohol did have some part to play in a lovely conversation I had with the mother of the groom) and there was no shocking tv-soap like interruptions. We ete, we danced, we chatted and we had cake. The music selection was great - I assumed again that my collection had been stolen from the volume of slightly-obscure-tracks-I-love that showed up. Turns out the groom selected most of the music and he knew nothing of my tastes or stylings. Apparently the world doesn't revolve around me at all. *sigh* Still, I was extremely happy with the music.
We left before it got too late as we had no idea how to get back to our hotel and had attached ourselves to some other guests who were willing to help guide us. Besides - there were wild animals out there! Ok, they were all in enclosures, but they were there nonetheless!
Also, we saw possums. Possums are sweet.
Computer? End log.