Friends

My run of weddings is almost over. Yesterday was the second last one of 7 within 10 months. Janice and I were so excited to be able to witness Lani marry the man of her dreams :).

I praise God constantly for bringing these two amazing girls into my life last year. So blessed by both their friendships.

Dress

This is the dress I made for Joshua's wedding. I was so happy with it and got heaps of compliments on it, even from people who didn't know that I made it (which is always nice!)

The inspiration really hit when I discovered the material in Spotlight, a gorgeous turquoise cotton with a white vine print. To create the pattern I mixed a few favourites. The skirt and middle is from Simplicity 4581 and the bodice is modified from Simplicity 3867. It fits so nicely and feels lovely to wear.

The shoes were a bit of a surprise. I had navy wedges already that I was going to wear, but I was walking through Target a few weeks before the wedding looking for something else and these shoes just jumped out at me! These wedges are so cute and exactly the same colour as the dress, so I had to get them to complete the look.

My Little Brothers Wedding

I won't bore you with the details of the last week and why I haven't got around to updating the wedding photos until now; just that on top of my usual activities this week included 1 farewell (sad), 2 migraines (blah) and my new room mates moving in (yay!). I'm really hoping the next week will be quieter before Christmas, but that may be wistful thinking :).

Anyway, I'll stop babbling and get to it.

Joshua and Megan, 9th December 2011.

Their wedding had a beautifully unique feel to it. It was one of those vintage/artsy/retro/designy/indie weddings (- you know what I mean!)  that I've seen photos of but never thought I'd ever go to.

Dad did the ceremony which was really special. Watching Dad and Josh interacting before the ceremony almost made me cry :).

The bridesmaids wore different dresses and carried balloons up the corridor of trees.

After having trouble finding a church for the ceremony in the town they wanted they found a gorgeous little park with hundreds of gorgeous trees. They set up streamers to give the 'altar' a defined feel.

They asked me to say a prayer for them during the ceremony - Because everyone bowed their heads to pray no one took any photos! Hopefully the official photographer got one :)

Here I am with Joshua and my new sister-in-law! I made this dress to wear at the wedding, absolutely loved it! Details to come.

While they were having photographs taken, Joshua and Megan hired an ice cream van to come and everyone got to have an ice cream - yum! It was a cool idea (haha, pun unintended), as the van drove up people were unsure what it was doing there, but then a friend came around and said "Help yourself" so everyone did :). Great talking point.

The reception was held in an old performing arts hall that they had spend the day before decorating.

 

There was a yummy lolly table and everyone was asked to bring something for dessert. I made my gingerbread. So yummy, and cute too.

And so, they are now married. Hard to believe that's my little brother! (I have to keep saying that because so many people from Megan's side kept asking me how much younger than Joshua I am, and were surprised to hear I'm 2 years older! Mum says it's a good thing for people to think you are younger than you are but at this point in my life I like to claim my full 25 years).

The end of an era

The stylish couple have found a unit. Joshua is in the process of packing up his things and moving in. He is going to live in the unit until the wedding when Megan will then move in. My little brother is moving out after sharing a flat with me for almost 4 years.

We went for a walk a few weeks ago and talked about how strange it all will be, how exciting it is.

And what's this beautiful package?

I believe it is a wedding invitation, just for me.

Beautifully designed and hand coloured by Megan.

December 9th is coming up so quickly.

Son of a Preacher Man

I've noticed lately that there is a trend at weddings to have a fun song as the couple walk out of the church after the service.

Our cousins had everyone dancing in the pews when they walked down the aisle to I feel good

Today we went to the wedding of a friend we grew up with; the grooms dad is a minter and married them. When they turned to walk back down the aisle the church erupted into laughs and applause when the band started to play Son of a Preacher Man

It was so fitting, and a great way to end the ceremony.

Wedding Customs

(This is part of an ongoing series chronicling memories of my life growing up as a missionary kid in Vanuatu. For links to previous posts you can go here)

Every now and then we would be invited to a wedding in one of the surrounding villages.

There would be a long service in the village church, while we sat on wooden benches with out backs, and used woven fans to keep ourselves from melting in the heat.
We would walk out of the church in the usual procession, shaking hands with the Bride and Groom. Here they were showered in talcum powder. (Talcum powder is used in many ceremonies, but especially when farewelling people or at weddings. It would be liberally shaken over the heads and shoulders of the honoured guest. I have no idea where this tradition came from, I’d love to know)

We waited in the village for the next part of the ceremony. Food has been cooking all day, the air is full of the smell of smoke and laplap leaves singed from the hot stones.
This is when the Bride Price is exchanged. The Brides family gives the grooms family a prearranged amount of woven mats, yams, chicken or money.
Different islands and even different villages on the same island have different customs surrounding the bride price. Sometimes the groom will also have to ‘pay’ a certain amount to the bride’s family.

Then the pigs are brought out. If the families are wealthy enough both the bride’s family and the groom’s family will provide a pig. The groom will then kill the pig in front of all the wedding guests. I never actually saw this happen, I either closed my eyes or Mum would take us away when the pigs were being lead out.

The pigs were butchered right then and there, and carried off to be cooked. The pigs must be eaten at the wedding. This way if the husband says later on “I want a divorce.” The elders will say “No, we have eaten the pigs, it can not be undone.”

We have to wait a long time for the kakai (feast), because the pigs have to be cooked. But there is always a string band to listen to, or someone will start to sing so we can all join in.


It was only once I came back to Australia that I learnt of another custom at weddings. I was at the wedding of the oldest Scott girl. Ian was preaching and mentioned how Fiona had grown up in Vanuatu and that there was a special custom which was practised there with every newly wed.

I almost had a heart attack because I thought maybe Ian was going to kill a pig right here in the church, but instead he explained “When a couple is wed, they are given a new Bible, one which belongs to both of them so that they can build their marriage on Gods word.”

I think I like that custom a lot better.