We're going to the chapel and we're... gonna get ma-a-arried...

It's not everyday one of your best friends gets married, and this was a day to remember! Let me start by giving a sneak post-view of the bachelorette party, which took place about a week before the wedding. Lets just say we kept it reasonably clean (seeing as the condoms weren't lubricated and the poster guy had his pants on). Thank you to Adult World for the way your product had us nearly falling off our chairs with laughter (Bachelorette Party game set, ~R250) - I've never seen this particular group of people come over to the dark side for more than a brief visit, but this event definitely set the stage for weaning them off the straight and narrow! The Bride-To-Be was a great sport, and proved competent at fishing jelly-beans out of bowls of flour & water, pinning the smoochies in the right places & collecting odd goodies from passers-by (incl. a blue glittery wig & change for the "condom machine").

The big day was fantastic - the woman of the moment looked breath-takingly beautiful, complemented perfectly by the perfection of the wedding dress, the imaginative decor & the gorgeous bridesmaid outfits. After calming her with a game of "Down by the bumble bushes...", we (the bridal party) made our way to the church, battling the brisk wind determined to snatch up the 1.5m veil. Aside from taking exception to the chauvanism of the pastor's sermon, there were many beautiful words of wisdom passed on to the young couple, and it was touching to see their nerves morph into pure joy as they realised they were really here, doing this, vowing to love each other & belong only to each other for the rest of their lives.

Having made our way to the reception venue, we were greeted with the beautiful landscapes bordering the Boland in the Western Cape (R.S.A), and enjoyed a warming sherry whilst overlooking a pasture of playful horses. Several speeches were made, but none were as touching as the honest, genuine emotion expressed by the groom, so unlike the prim, superficial, afraid-to-show-his-smitten-side "you look beautiful" I've heard asserted by grooms of slightly lesser calibre - it was more like baring his soul and raw appreciation of what was the happiest day of his life. Or maybe that's just my idealistic and romantic side peeking through :-)

I think it takes real guts for a guy to tell/show the world like that what this woman right here means to him, because it makes him vulnerable for other people to know what touches his heart. It's the same for a woman - the man she loves knows the combination to her deepest safe, but love means it's our oath to help protect each other's safes. What I saw that day was a man & a woman vowing not only to be each other's life partners, but to be each other's home, safe place, happy place, spiritual partners (the latter has many forms, in this case spiritual = religious). They're a great couple & they had their perfect day. I wish them all the best with all of my heart.