The Busy Marshmallow - Sarah-I's Wedding

The day I planned to fly down to Wellington, I took the day off work. Given how exhausted I had been recently, the thought of a few hours extra sleep and more time to get myself organised was looking very appealing.

A couple of weeks back, I tried on the outfit that I was to wear for the wedding, and was incredibly pissed off to find that the jacket that I wanted to wear with the dress was far too big to be of any use. I made a note to go and buy myself a jacket at some point. 'At some point' turned out to be the day before the wedding; when I had the day off. Only THIS time when I tried the clothes on to remind myself of what it all looked like, I absolutely horrified to find that now the DRESS was far too big to be of any use.

Panic panic panic, oh my god, oh my god, oh my god, what the hell, what the hell, what the hell. I did NOT need this. I had been tight on finances beforehand, and now I was faced with no choice but to buy a whole second outfit after getting absolutely no wear out of the first one.

Several hundreds of dollars later (and I justify it by saying that it costs to get something that isn't leggings and a poofy smock top), I emerged with this.

Note to self: Do not pose for photos with arms crossed over the belleh. It makes the stomach look poofalicious.

On the day of the wedding, the sky was strewn with grey clouds that got thicker and more ominous as the day went on. On my way to the venue, the rain began to fall, and I cringed for the entire drive.

I arrived at the grounds and was mesmerised by the immaculate lawn, the perfectly manicured gardens, and the peaceful grandeur of the majestic buildings.

After a few minutes of gazing at everything in awe, a realisation came to me.

"Now what?"

At every Indian wedding I went to, you could turn up two hours late and not have missed a thing. Here I was, twenty minutes early for a wedding with not a clue as to what I was supposed to do.

At the bottom of the grounds in front of the house which contained the hotel rooms (bottom right photo in the gallery you see above), I spotted the groom - who shall be referred to as C - and I kinda waddled down the hill towards him; half terrified that I would tumble down forwards, half muttering obscenities to the eejit that invented high heels. When I got close enough to talk to C, he said, "Go down to the end there and knock on the window."

Ooooo...kay...

I followed his instructions, and nothing happened. What the hell? I managed to get C's attention and display my confuzzlement to which he said, "Oh... maybe its the next one...". Bloody hell, we're not going to play 'Knock on all the doors and hope for the best', are we?

I knocked on the next window, to which a head promptly appeared from behind the curtain

Head 1	Yes?
Marshmallow	Err... C sent me here
Head 1	...?
Marshmallow	...
Head 1	... Hang on...

The head disappeared behind the curtain, and couple of seconds later, another head appeared.

Head 2

Yes?

Oh fer crying out loud we're not going through THIS again, surely?

Marshmallow	C sent me here
Head 2	Are you here to see Sarah?
Marshmallow	I.. guess so...

The head moved out from behind the curtain for me to see that she was wearing a gorgeous red-black mesh dress adorned with black sequins. I knew instantly that this was one of the bridesmaids. She opened the door, and I quickly scuttled in, and then over my right shoulder, hiding in the corner, I saw an absolute vision of beauty.

I'm sure the correct protocol would have been to hug her, kiss her, and tell her that she was gorgeous.

But not me. *I*, go something like this.

Not long afterwards, I left the room and began to make my way into the main house. ON a fine day, the ceremony would have taken place outside, but since Wellington brought a bit of rain to the party, the ceremony was moved indoors.

The guest lined the sides of a stairwell, which formed 'the aisle'. The ceremony took place on a slightly elevated landing across from the landing on which we were standing. (Poet and I didn't know it?)

When the music began to play and the wedding party made their way up the stairs, everyone around me had tears in their eyes.

The moment was so emotional and beautiful. Which is why I must've looked a right lunatic, grinning like a Cheshire cat on a coffee high.

Sarah-I and C began exchanging their vows, and yes, it was beautiful and moving, but when the celebrant said, "Do you Sarah-I, take C, to be your...", a little kid next to me went "BLEGGGHHHHHH" rather loudly and I couldn't keep a straight face. Hey, I was already grinning like an idiot, why through in a cackle for good measure? Fortunately, as though to let me off the hook, I was not he only one who couldn't keep a straight dace. C, probably as a result of all the seriousness, cracked up when saying his vows.

After signing the register, they were officially wed, did the whole kiss the bride thing, and slowly began making their way back out through the aisle and outside. While they were doing this, I heard one of the other guests saying, "You know, now there's two Sarahs in the family with exactly the same name! We'll have to call them Sarah-I and Sarah-II!" Oi! THOSE ARE COPYRIGHT! ....ALMOST!

Sarah-I walked down the aisle, hugging the guests who each told her that she was gorgeous and gave her their congratulations, I saw an opportunity to do what I should have done the moment I saw her. But in true, Marshmallow stylez, when Sarah-I approached me, I went,

I mean what the hell? How old am I, six?

The weatehr gave us enough of a reprieve to go outside and pose for photos - though the professional photographer asked for the families to go and have their photos taken with Sarah-I and C, and given that I was by myself, I just assumed that excluded me. I got stuck right into the crumbed mushrooms, and began dropping rice crackers and pate on the floor by releasing it from my hands before it had reached my mouth. I hadn't even drunk any wine by this stage!

We were called back upstairs for dinner - an entree of cold meats, mushrooms, salads, seafood, sushi, and breads. Then there were mains of cauliflower and broccoli with butter, roast pumpkin, potatoes, ham and beef, some gorgeous casseroles and crumbed fish. Following that, there were speeches, which I am going to come back to later. Dessert was cheesecake (yaaay!), ice-cream (yaaaaay!), fruit salad, chocolate mousse, and custard puffs. You know, it's rather sad that I can recite every single food item that was served, but I would fail miserably and remembering the names of anyone that I was introduced to that night. Another thing I just realised is that as the dinner and speeches started, that is the beginning of the wedding reception - whereas nearly every other wedding I have been to, the wedding is on one day and the reception is the next day. (I always liked the reception better; higher chance of alcohol.)

After dessert, Sarah-I and C had their first dance, and it amused me that the guy sitting on my left said, "What a beautiful song for a first dance", and the lady on my right said, "What a horrible song for a first dance". Me? I was doing my grinning like a crescent moon routine and paying no attention to the song and focusing very much on the gorgeous couple.

The speeches that were given were all lovely, some were funny, some were sad, moving, some were nostalgic, some paved a glowing path for Sarah-I and C's future.

When there was a call for people to take the floor and make impromptu speeches, I froze. I wanted to let Sarah-I know how happy I was for her, how fortunate I am to have her as a friend, and what a lucky bastard C is; but yet again, the words failed to get past my lips.

Sarah-I, C, in respect of this, I will not keep my peace. Here is my cyber-speech to you.

Sarah - I don't know if you remember, but the first time you ever 'met' me was when you kicked me out of an internet chat room for giving away the ending of the 'Dawsons Creek' TV series. To this day I have no idea how you managed to forgive me for that, but I'm very glad that you did. You are the most kindest, strongest, and most loyal person that I know. No matter what the time, distance, or inconvenience, you have always gone out of your way for me. Example of this is how week after week, you travel across Auckland, at great expense to you, to endure the torture that is Les Mills Group Fitness classes. Heck, if that isn't the sign of a true friend, then I don't know what is.

C- I'm so happy that Sarah-I has found a guy like you, who makes her happy, and whom I know will look after her. But you watch it; if I ever hear any complaints, just remember that I've been doing Body Combat and can manage a pretty swift roundhouse kick!

As the end of the night drew near, with dancing and karaoke - I must admit, I was involved - I went up to Sarah-I, and finally, gave her a hug, and told her that she was beautiful.

Took me bloody long enough, didn't it?

And all that drama with the second dress? It seems so insignificant now. Nothing compared with the monumentous occasion that was seeing one of my best friends with the man she loves on what must be on of the happiest days of her life.

I love you both, you crazy lovebirds.