The Wedding

Alright... here's the blog you've been waiting for: Our Wedding!

Saturday morning dawned grey, cold, windy and cloudy...not the best weather for an outdoor wedding, and somewhat of a let-down after a week of sunny weather. We spent a very chilled-out morning, drinking coffee and praying for sun until the Suncheon crew (Nina, Patty, Melissa and Chris) arrived. Nina gave us pretty silver necklaces (V&T and T&V), and I had a surprise phone call from my Mom!!!

Nina stayed behind to do my hair and makeup and help me get dressed, while the others headed off to do the final preparations at Wim's house. We headed off, a bit late, to get a cake and then to the florists. Hey... it's *my* day, I'm allowed to be late, right?

We arrived at Wim's house and were met by Alex who escorted us up a forest path to a clearing. My first view of everyone was a group of people, all armed with cameras - it did turn into the paparazzi wedding, as each guest took about a million photos - and Ty, standing in a suit, barefoot, under a group of trees that had all been festooned with bunches of flowers.

I'm crying...

Suddenly, it occured to me what exactly was going on, and I just started crying. We stood together, clutching each other's hands, facing the flowers in the trees.... Wim arrived, Stu stood beside Ty, Nina stood beside me, and it all began...

Breaking the wishbone

It was a short ceremony: Wim read a part of a Navajo poem, we broke one of our precious wishbones, we exchanged vows and rings, and then... it was done!

You may now kiss...

Our friends took turns posing with us...

Melissa and ChrisFallon and WimDave and CamilleNina and Stu (our witnesses)

... and we all headed back down to Wim's house (that had been beautifully decorated by Fallon), for speeches, champagne, wine and cheese (and birthday cake - for Chris and Nina). Ty and I danced to a piano version of "Nothing Else Matters" by Metallica (it was a whole CD of heavier music done on piano... very unique!), and Alex gave us a picture he'd done of us.

The rest of the afternoon was wonderfully relaxed. People came and went, and eventually, we ended up with a very fun going-away party/reception, with quite a few of our closest and dearest friends from our time in Korea.

It was exactly what we wanted: small, simple, romantic, meaningful, and rather hippie-ish. I'd not have wanted it any other way (mmm, except maybe a bit sunnier), and I was really touched by how our close friends came together to help us organize the day (whether it was photos, flowers, bringing wine, or general helping out, they ended up being participants in the festivities as well).

Alex, Fallon, Chris, Melissa, Patty, Nina, me, Ty, Stu, Zach, Luke, Camille and Dave...
Wim is taking the photo.

Of course, we were both missing our families and friends from back home... don't worry! There's a wedding video (shot by Dave), and about a million pics of everyone. The photos here are favourites from Stu and Zach, but there are others that still have to be sorted, uploaded, or that can already be found on Facebook.