The Wedding.....

Hello Everybody!

I know many of you will have seen some of these pictures, but I thought I'd add a little commentary to the day to give you a more realistic flavor of the day.
My Family had arrived in Bogota and had been quick to find their feet and enjoy exploring the place, and enjoying the hospitality (including funky restaurant bibs - see below).

Emma & Steve loving the bibs!

Mum & Dad getting in on the act!

And of course catching up with the Copa America games.....

Me and my sister!

Me & Vibi

....and more restaurant bibs for my sister!

We'd even taken a trip to the quite amazing salt mines one hour outside Bogota, which was also quite impressive...

Salt Mine Church!

At the Salt mines

So the wedding day arrived and with a view of reducing any unnecessary stress for my parents and myself, the three of us were staying at the beautiful and tranquil Casa De Eventos. Not only was this the wedding reception venue, but it was a mere 2 minutes from the Chapel. This left us most of the morning to stroll around the grounds, and even better, play with the cats! 

Me relaxing on the wedding morning!

The place itself was beautiful, a wooden farmhouse with log fires, and a beautiful dinner (the previous night) and fruit cocktail breakfast – all prepared by our wedding organisers! 

Feeling far too relaxed for my wedding morning, I was waiting for something to go wrong. Luckily, the closet thing I got to a ‘hiccup’ was having a shockingly freezing shower (I’m not talking ‘cold’ – I’m talking glacial river water). The benefits of such a shock, moved me out of my all-too-relaxed state and 10 minutes later I was dressed.

Vibi had arrived on the grounds to get dressed, so I was locked away to ensure we didn’t see each other, and just as I was thinking I should ask someone to give me and my parents a lift to the chapel (because no one seemed to be bothered about such details before the day), the photographer arrived to do the ‘getting dressed’ photos.

My sister and Steve had arrived with a mini-bus full of guests from Bogota, via an unscheduled stop at a café in the quaint town centre of Sopo. So arriving at the Chapel meant that I was greeted by friendly faces of my family, and friend Mary – A friend of mine who is living in Bogota, and someone I have known since I was 16 years old! 

Has the bride arrived yet??

These smiling faces helped to keep me relaxed: and then I met the Priest – or Monsenior to give him his proper title. My wedding day was the first time I had met the guy, despite hearing many funny /pleasant stories about him from Vibi. He was pure comedy! All through the service, he joked, spoke fluently in English & Spanish, asked for several rounds of applause – and at one point requested a round of applause for himself (whilst holding Vibi’s bouquet). He invited my Sister and Steve to read a passage in English to compliment the Spanish readings and encouraged them to be witnesses, even though we had arranged this detail beforehand. The only way I could give you an accurate idea of the priest is to say – think of the movie – 3 men and a little lady – Think Ted Danson dressed up as a priest trying to delay the wedding at the end… add a Spanish accent – and you have our amazing Monsenior.

The service included music (as a wedding gift) from two of Vibi’s friends – who just happened to be recognised opera singers. My Personal favourites were the Spanish versions of “Hallelulla” and “Flying without wings”

The witnesses

In case you were wondering if I was tearful –well yes pretty much throughout the day! Seeing Vibi arriving started me off, then during the vows, and don’t get me started on the speeches! In my defense anytime I started thinking of my nanna (who passed away just over a year ago), and all the friends and family who couldn’t make it here for the wedding, I got tearful!

Following the ceremony, and a long (but very fun) hour with the photographer and his crew, we returned to the reception area to a lovely toast from everybody. 

The reception...

Some of the beautiful personal touches from the wedding organizers included two doors covered with photos from our relationship. I was even more touched by their willingness to accommodate my strangest request – that a beautiful giraffe statue from their own personal apartment, was involved in the wedding. Whilst I had had been half joking – half serious seeing the giraffe at the wedding made me smile.

My Giraffe....

A butterfly tree (allowing people to write little personal messages in the shape of butterflies), was brought out later on too.

Table settings....

The morning after...

Somewhat bizarrely, (and a surprise to me), was having to do a waltz as we walked into the reception: before dinner – though this was separate from our first official dance later…

The speeches were emotional, and my sister did an amazing job, and read out messages from my closest friends and family. I wailed on for a good 15 minutes (though I was speaking in English and Spanish), and even managed to get a joke in about Radamel Falcao in the context of English & Colombian relationships not always being easy (clever eh!?)  

My sister's speech

And then came the ‘carnival hour’. I had been told it was traditional in Colombian Weddings to have a ‘carnival hour’ where they play certain types of music and bring out silly hats, masks, glasses, etc – and so as the DJ had clearly been waiting long enough through my speech, the cake cutting was skipped,  (for the time being, or so I thought) and the music cranked up. I was ushered to the front of the crowd with Vibi and told to follow the DJ who seemed to be a big fan of Shakira style dance moves. To be totally honest it was very much like the warm up salsa classes I do on the Waterfront in Wellington (NZ). I didn’t embarrass myself too much and was pleased to see all my family donned in silly hats, masks and up on the dance floor – my dad included! 

Carnival time!

I’d honestly thought that the carnival hour might be a little tacky for my taste, but it was lots of fun and definitely added to the fun element of the day. 

(The official cutting of the cake event – never happened for two reasons. People were having too much fun dancing, and as time was getting on, we still had a small soup to serve before people left for the evening, so the cake was cut by  persons unknown, and passed out). This kind of gives you the idea of how the day truly was. There was a rough plan, but things moved as the mood of the celebration determined, and this was one of the things I loved most about the day…

The wedding night – well that obviously not something I’m going to write about, but I will show a quick photo of the beautiful room that was set out for us, and as for the rest – mind your own business! Lol.

I’d always said that I wanted a wedding day to be relaxed, (check), fun (check), and as long as the guests enjoyed themselves (Check) and we were married at the end of the day (check), then that would be the perfect day for me. So I slept so well as a very happy, tired and married man.

The next morning before we left, the weather was stunning so we took some photos for our own memory of the place, and I got to say goodbye to my cat…

I hope you’ve enjoyed the commentary. I have to say though that none of this would have been possible without so many people: the chapel, the wedding cars, the music, the comedy priest, family flying half way around the world, amazing wedding organizers AND ALL THOSE OF YOU that have been there for me during the course of this relationship in so many different ways. Family, friends and colleagues (from across the globe) have all helped to make this day happen. You know who you are, and a huge heartfelt and timeless thank you from me!

Regards from Colombia!
Dan