The happy couple!
Hordes of lorries and house elves descended on our villa overnight and by early morning the air was tingling with excitement. Bounding down the stairs from breakfast I hear a familiar twang in the air - the lovable dialect of my very own Gants Hill! Yes, the Essex girls had arrived in the form of my sister's maid of honour Louisa and her hair/make-up stylist Sarah! I've been enjoying the Hull accents of Graham's family these past two weeks, but there is something unique and captivating about those Thames vowels.
Sara and Mum secreted themselves upstairs until the ceremony to avoid bumping into the newly returned groom. I had a mini-stress as up until 10 minutes before kick-off I still had no idea what I was wearing. Simplicity won out in the end with a plain white shirt and some denim shorts (any attempt at trousers in this suffocating heat would have been torture).
The theme of the wedding was the frangipani flower - revered in these parts for its combination of colour, beauty and fragrance - and they made their appearance in the bridal bouquet, the dining tables, the bridesmaids' corsages, strewn across the grass and even the wedding cake.
So that the parents among the guests could relax and enjoy the night (a category which of course includes the bride and groom), Graham and Sara hired an army of white-robed Balinese babysitters.
The guests arrived to a cocktail reception in the main house.
The ceremony then took place in the gardens under the setting sun with the golden sky illuminating the greener-than-green palm trees and the local children flying kites high above us in the sky. Up to this point no one had seen the bride in her dress (not even me) and as Adele's "Make You Feel My Love" started playing the crowd let out a gasp of anticipation. Slowly my father and sister rounded the corner and as he escorted her down the aisle I felt a surge of such happiness and pride - I actually felt physical pain so wide was my smile! The dress by the way is Sottero and Midgley.
Now as children (nay, as adults as well!) Sara and I loved a film called Muriel's Wedding. The scene when the lead character (Muriel) processes down the aisle is a triumph of comic genius and for as long as I can remember Sara and I have quoted, acted and rewatched that it to our great amusement. As Sara herself made her grand entrance the film began to overlay reality and both Sara and I knew this moment could not pass without at least one Muriel reference. Therefore with hundred of camera flashes for company and every face trained on just one, Sara interrupted her beaming smile looked straight at me and we both stuck our tongues right out, licking our chins (the bit of the film which even on the hundredth viewing makes me crack up). Maybe it wasn't the most graceful thing to do at one's wedding, but it sure was meaningful - Sara may live on the other side of the world, have a baby and now a husband and I may well be turning grey and starting life as a lawyer, but deep within we remain two little children sitting on our mum's sofa back in Gants Hill.
And so the ceremony began. The bride and groom were accompanied in the chuppah (Hebrew for wedding canopy) by the best man Richard and the bridesmaids Jen and Louissa. The marriage officiator (an Australian) seemed however to be taking her cues from Mrs Malaprop; announcing to all that the bride and groom would be making a "recession" down the aisle, calling my mother "Alan", asking Sara (not Graham) if she "would take Sara to be her lawful loving wife" and so on. The congregation's laughter just added however to the gaiety of the occasion.
(Oscar came to join in)
(Graham putting the ring onto Sara's finger)
(Vice versa)
(I now pronounce you man and wife)
(this photo was not posed - a nice spontaneous expression of love!)
After the ceremony there was another cocktail reception where the highlight must have been the lychee martini. Sara and Graham them reappeared on one of the villa's balconies for the 'royal wave' and kiss to general applause below.
A band of Balinese drummers accompanied the cocktails, but as ever Oscar stole the show. He really had a lot of power behind his little arms as he whacked down on the cymbals.
(In Jewish culture upon a marriage the parents of the bride and groom become related to each other - they are now called machatainistehs. I guess a rough translation would be parents-in-law)
My role for the evening was master of ceremonies, prime among which was the coordination of the dinner. I somehow forgot to turn my microphone off though so spent the entire meal having my conversation beamed out to all the guests. Thankfully the atmosphere was quite lively and the general chatter and fun-making drowned out my probably highly embarrassing comments.
The Menu
Starters:
Gado-Gado ( Steamed Green Vegetables in Peanut Sauce )
Potato and Fresh Herbs Salad
Caesar Salad
Soto Ayam ( Chicken & Lemongrass Broth, Glass Noodles, Coconut Milk )
Main Course:
Ayam Woku ( Green Chili Chicken Stew Specialty from Manado)
Rendang ( Beef Stew Cooked with Coconut )
Ikan Bumbu Mangut ( Pan Roasted White Fish, Topped with Tumeric Sauce)
Duck & Peach Sausages
Lamb Kebab
Marinated Snapper in Banana Leaves
Terong Balado ( Eggplant and Chili )
Grilled Courgette
Dessert:
Assorted Sweet Tartelettes ( Chocolate, Apple, Lemon, Strawberry )
Assorted Fresh Fruit
Accompanying dinner we had some Balinese fire dancing.
Next came the speeches, many of which drew attention to my sister's Electra complex as there is a bit of a similarity between my dad and Graham. At one point Graham's mum had to stand up and publicly swear that she had never visited Ilford in the early 1970s and my dad had never visited Hull. The Best Man's speech was suitably hilarious/cringe-worthy for the groom (see Graham's expression below) - I would expect nothing less from a fellow PPE-ist.
The bit we had all been waiting for (more even than the ceremony) - the cutting of the cake. The layers alternated between carrot and chocolate sponge - yum!
Then came the first dance to the tune of Al Green's "Let's stay together". Sara and Graham had actually been taking dancing classes in preparation, but in the heat of the moment they were too busy hugging each other to concentrate on fancy footwork.
The throwing of the bouquet - somewhat dangerously occurring on the edge of the swimming pool.
Then the dancing began. The music was definitely dominated by the 1980s and early 1990s and every one of Sara's friends judged me terribly each time I admitted I had never heard many of these "classics" before.
Day 100
The morning afterwards we were all up surprisingly early, though all a little the worse for wear.
As the guests had been looking longingly at the pool the night before today Sara and Graham hosted a pool party and the afternoon was passed in a haze of more cocktails and canapes.
(Superman-lite)
Day 101
My last full day in Bali was spent enjoying the house. At one point I decided to make a super-float. Graham was doubtful but I was sure that I could balance on top. You may judge my performance below:
An absolutely perfect sunset arrived for our last night in Bali. We all went down to the beach and Oscar absolutely loved watching all the Balinese children flying their kites in the balmy sea breeze.
We were also greeted by the surreal sight of a bride and groom interrupting their photo shoot on the beach by running and joining a group of Balinese children playing football.
We had an goodbye dinner afterwards.
Day 102:
At 9am I left the wedding villa for my flight to Thailand. An absolutely wonderful three weeks with my family had come to an end. Seven more weeks travelling solo now then I return home. The end is now in sight!
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