This past weekend, we celebrated the marriage of our friends, Georges and Christelle. The ceremony itself was a quick affair at the French Embassy with a prolonged kava and dinner for close friends afterward. We felt privileged to receive an invitation to dinner which was a very nice meal celebrated at a local French restaurant, l'Houstalet. The crowning moment was a beautiful piece-montee (the traditional French wedding cake made from cream-filled puff pastry balls stacked on top of each other with hard caramel) that everyone at WAY too much of.
It should be said that during the whole time, it was POURING outside. Christelle was quite worried - and justifiably so - about the big reception that was going to take place the next day for about 200 people in their garden... OUTSIDE.
But Saturday dawned bright, cool and sunny. The good weather had returned and with it, everyone's traditional cheer. I spent the morning making sugar cookies to supplement their fabulous wedding cake (a cake rather than a piece montee this time) and then Fred and I got dressed in our orange duds (the wedding colour was orange) and made our way to the party. It was a fantastic day with a great mix of local custom and French traditions. There was a buffet of local food, the crowning masterpiece of which was a whole roasted veal. I ate much less than I had planned because I felt so sorry for the cow.... maybe I need to have a think about going veg again.
Kendra and the Bride (who is 5 months pregnant)
A nice shot of my wedding cookies (and the Bride & Groom)
The Fab Wedding Cake - served 100!
In my opinion, there were two major highlights to the day. The first was the wedding dance. It was performed to Tokosawia, a local string band. Christelle and Georges danced in the middle of a huge, gyrating group that was smiling, whooping and clapping to the music. I think it was the best wedding dance I have ever attended. The second highlight was Fred. He was happy-drunk ALL DAY. The man that I occasionally (and only half jokingly refer to as a misanthrope) was chatty, happy and walking around with a smile on his face all day. I have the excellent rum punch to thank for this! Fred thought it was hilarious that both of my bosses were there (Christelle is my colleague) and spend at least 30 minutes offering them cake, cookies, chairs and various other services in return for the promise of a raise for his wife. Luckily, both Gordon and Nick are great and thought this was really funny rather than over the top - Fred thought it so funny that he started crying from laughing so hard. I was a bit less impressed but amused nonetheless.
The title of this post, by the way, comes from the wedding reception when a fellow Anglo married to a Frenchman said to me in Fred's presence, " I see you brought your resident Frog." Fred, not missing a beat, responded," Yes, and I brought my resident Hamburger." Ha!
The day, which had begun at 12, ended around 9 with kava. All in all, one of the best weddings I've ever been to.