Weddings are a curious mixture of fraught and fun. In laws and Out laws. Old husbands and new husbands. Step mothers and watchful ex wives. Smiles to hide fright. Smiles as manners. Smiles as snippets of joy. Smiles that are all eyes and no eyes at all. The children dipping and running through the legs of finery. All eyes and all smiles. That concentrated innocence swirling amidst the pristine finery.
Old, old friends from so long ago their memories are the slightest of ripples and old family who needs to say no more than a squeeze of a shoulder or the dip of the head. A thousand conversations under the sparkling lights of yesterdays news with the glint of the newest rings created to fit into the oldest of diamonds.
It has been very busy. Frantic really.
Cooking, tidying, sewing, ironing, copying out speeches, pinning on buttonholes and threading cufflinks.
My handbag filling up, can you hold this, can I leave this with you, do you have room for my phone, hold my notes for me, will this camera fit.
Then I dropped a dress over my head, slipped into unfamiliar high heels, and with my handsome entourage we finally reached the wedding evening where against all odds each step slipped perfectly into the last one and a marriage was made.
But here we are finally on the other side, the day after, bread rising, lamb marinating, more champagne chilling, relaxed at last, walking the dog on the beach and breathing sighs.
I hope you have all had a lovely day.
Your friend in New Zealand.
celi
The Kitchen's Garden 
50 responses to “Snippets of Joy”
wow; great prose, great photos
Lovely photos, thank you for sharing with us this little peek into the festivities. I will raise my imaginary champagne glass and say a toast to all of you 🙂
Hey Celi … love your words. Fabulous. And it goes without saying that I adore your pics! The weather is shining for you lovely! Welcome home ..
So glad it went well, so glad it is over so you can relax! Great pics of the wedding day. Everything looks beautiful. What a mop of a dog. The shaking off of water after taking a dip must be spectacular! Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy your remaining time in NZ.
looks beautiful AND a fine day. congratulations Tig xoxoxo
Ohhhhh! Lovely! There are no words…
Love seeing those bangles! 🙂
sops was wearing hers too, we jingle jangled to each other..
Only you could post such a meaningful photo story to show the feelings of all the party from child to dog and [?] a glimpse of Miss C . . . . be one with time passing, be happy, relax . . it’s time for that Milady . . .
Came back after lunch . . . no wine had even to toast the nuptials . . . am somehow missing a lovely part of the blog I left tho’ . . . 🙂 ?
I’m so glad the weather softened at last, although I heard there might be a few showers on the east coast. What a beautiful description you have writing. I love the inlaws and the outlaws! And the beach is right there for you to take big breaths as you put your handbag down and stride out. Have a wonderful time now that the big exciting event has reached its crescendo.
PS Good news. My blog has now been migrated to wordpress and it should be easy for you to comment. Look for the Wind Woman post, last but one, on http://www.julietbatten.co.nz/blog/
Ha ha – I knew there would be an animal in there somewhere! It sounds like you are having a good time 🙂
Sigh – beautiful!
Lovely photos!
So true! I could relate to every word, every phrase… weddings are a promise of happiness to come, but will it? Only time will tell… 😉
now just have fun!
Great shot of you pinning on the son’s flower….
Much as I enjoy the celebration and conviviality of weddings, I prefer the other side, calm, looking back and savouring the moments and memories, such as you have done for us 🙂