Wedding Photos!

As promised, here are the wedding photos! Remember to click on the photo to enlarge it. It's been awhile since our last post but we've had some unexpected delays. Namely, the chikungunya virus from Sri Lanka. It seems, the country wanted me to leave with a lasting impression! Also, Jo and I have been chilling out with family in Sydney, Australia, having the usual Christmas BBQ. Thanks to everyone who has left us e.mails and comments on the blog - it really made us feel like you were all there with us.

Jo and I reserved a private villa called Hideaway for the wedding. It's located on a pineapple plantation, in Gampaha, on the West coast of Sri Lanka. The place was sublime, with a pool, an incredible chef, a maitre'd, a home entertainment system and al fresco dining. The best part was the company of Dave Brennan as best man and Sam Wales as maid of honour. We couldn't have imagined a better scenario. On the morning of the wedding, Dave gave us the best wedding gift we could've asked for. He brought our friends and family to Sri Lanka... in a video! We danced, laughed and cried watching this video over and over. Somehow Jon (Armano) and Dave found the time to make this awesome video and coordinated it with all our friends. A larger than life thanks goes out to all who had a hand in the making of this masterpiece. Mostly, thanks to Dave and Jon.

The ceremony started with Dave and I riding in as usual on the elephant. The dancers and drummers quickly exchanged greetings with their two hands in the prayer position. Then the conch was blown to begin the walk towards the poruwa. In a scene out of the novel "Lord of the flies", the conch was repeatedly blown as the drummers provided rythm for the dancer's exaggerated and exotic spins.

The same procession was performed for Jo and Sam as they approached the poruwa.

The man attached to this hand at the right tied our little fingers together as Dave poured water from the conch shell over the string. The water and the earth it falls upon are the elements of nature which represent the lasting witnesses of our marriage.

The man also known as the Shilpadhipathi (master of ceremonies), would alternately, sing and speak the buddhist ceremonial vows in ancient Sinhalese. As can be seen on the left, it is tradition to tie a white sheet around the couple to be married. We dropped packets of seven betel leaves with a coin onto the poruwa to remember the seven generations of relatives on each side. As we stepped down from the poruwa, a coconut was split in two to encourage fertility. Chanters, spent several, somewhat-longish minutes chanting for us in Sinhalese. This was to wish us many years of love and happiness. Several elements of the ceremony were altered as we did not have our family present. We replaced all family elements with the next best alternative; a ceremonial elephant, inconspicuously dressed in a maroon suit and borrowed (with permission) from a local temple.

According to Buddhist tradition, it is customary to have an "OH YEAH!" photo taken shortly after the end of the ceremony.

After trying unsuccessfully to cut into the cardboard lower cake, we did indeed, plunge the knife into the actual cake in the second attempt.

Wait, there's more photos. See the next post.