The eve of our wedding day was a graced by a rainbow in the valley. One of us tried to rest. One of us baked a wedding cake: red velvet slab with white chocolate ganache. Neither pursuit was without its challenge: Soossie Cat tried to help with the nap; and the G.O.’s warning of an unsecured container meant just the edge of the [un-iced] cake hit the floor.
Our wedding day dawned drizzly, heavy rain escorted us from Taylors Arm to Coffs Harbour and the first glitch occurred; an amorous, distracted pigeon accidentally collided with the ute as we were driving en route.
Prior to the ceremony we needed breakfast, and flowers for the wedding bouquet. We took care of both at Pansabella Providores at Coffs Central, and the second glitch; a watch chain caught on a button was kindly & quickly repaired by a conveniently located jeweller. Sheltered from the rain in a covered car park I created a wedding bouquet from a bunch of freshly delivered ranunculus and anemones.
Due to a quiet word with the Lord by the G.O. (and possibly the inadvertent sacrifice of an unfortunate pigeon) the weather over Diggers Beach cleared to sunny in the half hour before 11 am. Our rainbow coloured umbrella that clearly horrified the photographer’s assistant-wife wasn’t required.
The ceremony was performed by celebrant Ken incorporating his words, our Kahlil Gibran poems and simple vows. Our chosen music melded with the sounds of the ocean in the background. Attired in favourite clothes (rather than our best) and much-loved hand-me-down jewellery, in the interests of photographic styling we adopted the suggestion we remove our glasses, making everything a blur, figuratively and literally, except each other.
Afterwards we cooperated with our photographer, Stephen and his assistant-wife Lisa (aka our witnesses) for a short session recording the special event for posterity. We also took a few informal happy snaps of our own. And, when the proceedings were concluded we celebrated by walking the length of Diggers Beach.
Then, with a thought to absent family we called by to place some wedding bouquet at grandparents May & Vince’s headstone, and went on to enjoy lunch in the sun, a celebratory glass of Boomerang Bay chardonnay and a XXXX beer at the Ocean View Hotel at Urunga. Before returning to Taylors Arm for our honeymoon we paused to place the remainder of the wedding bouquet at grandparents Roy & Muriel’s headstone, and visited the headstone of Ollie & Vin the original owners of our house. Our final stop was to snip wild roadside plum blossoms for wedding cake adornment.
At home the cake and Soossie Cat awaited. In the last light of the day, we set the table with a pretty tablecloth & crockery, and finished with a ceremonial cutting & eating of wedding cake accompanied by well-earned cups of coffee.
Marriage
You were born together, and together you shall be forevermore.
You shall be together when white wings of death scatter your days.
Aye, you shall be together even in the silent memory of God.
But let there be spaces in your togetherness,
And let the winds of the heavens dance between you.
Love one another but make not a bond of love:
Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls.
Fill each other’s cup but drink not from one cup.
Give one another of your bread but eat not from the same loaf.
Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each one of you be alone,
Even as the strings of a lute are alone though they quiver with the same music.
Give your hearts, but not into each other’s keeping.
For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts.
And stand together, yet not too near together:
For the pillars of the temple stand apart,
And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other’s shadow.
Kahlil Gibran
daleleelife101.blog 
Wow, you were extravagant, a bouquet and a cake! I think Justin, landlord of king Arthur’s court in the cross, did put ribbons and white roses on his white transit (no ute) when he arrived to pick us up. He didn’t want us to go on the bus so provided a more stylish alternative.
I see the price of oysters (OVH) has gone up in the last 30 years 😀
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The only thing the ute was decorated with was dirt, so a white Transit with ribbons sounds fine. I’m pleased you didn’t have to catch a Sydney bus. We just had a counter lunch – we’ve never had oysters at the OVH. We did have a bottle of oysters in the fridge which we used for Bloody Mary oyster shooters the following days.
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It sounds a really romantic day despite the odd hiccup. Choosing your own vows adds something to the meaning of the day. I wish you a long and very Happy Marriage.
xxx Huge Hugs xxx
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Thank you 🙂 It was as we hoped when we went for the K.I.S.S. approach… less embellishment, more us, more fun and less to go awry.
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I love this. I think you would really like my most recent article about being in love, you should check it out! http://serendipityandcreativity.com/2014/09/04/25-moments-that-make-being-in-love-so-incredible/
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Thank you. It’s wonderful to recognize and appreciate those special moments 🙂
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Love is a beautiful thing I agree!
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Sounds perfect (little odd bumps only remind that perfect incorporates the imperfections). Glad to see Kahlil Gibran is still noticed and appreciated.Lovely the flowers were placed. Cheers and best wishes!
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We thought, and expected the same, a few minor glitches are traditional and except for the poor pigeon it was all small stuff.
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It really does sound and look perfect EllaDee. I love the poem, too. All the very best to you both.
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Thank you. It was right for us… and we enjoyed the simplicity of it 🙂
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This is so cool, EllaDee – what perfect preparations for such a beautiful day! I got those fairytale goosebumps because in the words in this post and in the amazing photos I can feel how perfect you are for one another! Again, congratulations and the best of the best wishes for your every happiness always : )
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Thank you. We’ve been asked did we/were we going to do this and that but the pared back version of nuptials with a touch of tradition and fun suited us 🙂
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The Kahlil Gibran words surely should be part of any marriage ceremony in any faith. Had I and my first husband had the maturity to understand their meaning eons ago I might still be married to NO 1 !! We also so felt like finding a pretty chapel on a hilltop a deux . . . .could not escape the then inevitable satin and lace and champagne and speeches and some 250 ruddy guests fast enough . . . a little envious of what you created . . . 🙂 !
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Kahlil Gibran’s words seem to be universally & timelessly relevant. Although knowing THEN what we know now would have had its upside, c’est la vie.
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I honestly can’t think of a lovelier way of getting married. -huge hugs- Thanks for sharing your special day with us, coz it really was special – after all, how many people can say they shared their wedding night with a Sooosie Cat? 😀
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Thank you. Soossie Cat was indeed a welcome and enthusiastic attendee. She “helped” the G.O. relax with a lovely massage, taste tested the ganache icing, partook of wedding cake, supervised fire lighting and generously gave us a kitty wedding gift of 2 dead rats… 🙂
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ROFL!!!! Oh my, what a generous little cat. 😀
-huge hugs to you all –
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I have yet to hear of a wedding that was pulled off without some sort of a hitch. Though the pigeon may have felt differently, yours were relatively minor and it seems your day proceeded just as you had planned. May that trend continue throughout the years ahead.
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Turns out we were both expecting the traditional hitches, and they presented themselves in the usual formation of three. But nothing show stopping. Thank you 🙂
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Thank you for taking us along on your special day. I really enjoyed reading about it. My heart is with you, and also my taste buds for that yummy cake. That poem is moving as well. Congratulations, my friend.
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I’m of the view for there to be a celebration there must be cake, and any occasion with cake is a celebration. Thank you 🙂
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Congratulations, my friend! I’ve been offline for a few weeks because my daughter was married on the weekend in Melbourne. I loved going through this post and reading about your special day! XXXXXX
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Thank you. We were more than happy with our simple arrangements and have lovely memories of our day. I trust your daughter’s wedding went well, and everyone enjoyed the occasion. I hope also you got to do wonderful Melbourney things as well as weddingy 🙂
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Congrats! It sounds like a lovely wedding and I’m so glad the sun cooperated. What a beautiful cake too. I love how the frosting looks likes roses.
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Thank you. I found it very satisfying to make our own wedding cake, although somewhat bemused by the G.O.’s [pleasant] surprise at the result 🙂
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Congrats! It sounds like a lovely wedding!
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Thank you. It suited us, everything we needed and wanted 🙂
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How wonderful. And the cake looks delicious.
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Thank you. I had never created such a cake, and I had my fingers crossed for luck the entire time 🙂
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Mmm – I could eat a piece of that cake! Your posts have made me realise that we were negligent at our wedding all those years ago – no bouquet, no cake, only one ring as we forgot to order it and they hadn’t his size in the shop! I Your flowers were lovely and putting them on relatives’ graves a very touching idea. I do hope that you will both continue to be tremendously happy and have many happy vintage train journeys to come! Mary
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Thank you. It all very well could have been simpler but circumstances allowed us a little creative lee-way. The bouquet was a must to brighten up the pics on the winter-monotone beach. The cake was designated if-I-have-time-it-works-out. Baking felt good and it was a convenient way to announce our surprise. We simply smartened up our existing rings with the help of the wonderful Stefano who made them in the first place. I’ll happily trade my daily electric train commute for a leisurely scenic steam train journey 🙂
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Oh, oh, oh ….. just spotted this whilst reading about Soosie cat! Many, many congratulations and well done for having the day you both wanted. I love the line from Gibran about not drinking from the same cup, and often dip into The Prophet for little reminders – definitely a good tip for marriage. I hope you’ve read ‘On Love’ too. Wishing you both many happy and fulfilling years together – cake looked awesome. 🙂
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Thank you. That KG poem was the G.O.’s choice, and you’ve seen I chose the other. I’ve kept 2 tiny pieces of cake in the freezer as mementos, it was a lovely centering exercise to bake it before the big day 🙂
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