Well, we did it. Laura and I tied the knot on Tuesday (17th).
As defined by the 2017 amendment, marriage in Australia is 'the union of 2 people to the exclusion of all others, voluntarily entered into for life' that is exactly what Laura and I did on Tuesday 17th September at 11 am on Rottnest Island, Western Australia. In a ceremony that had absolutely no mention of a deity of any kind or the word children.
C W, a marriage celebrant, lives in Swanview gardens [it's the block where Dad's apartment is.]. We had a chat with her some time ago (at the beginning of July) and she agreed that she could do the ceremony actually on Rottnest Island, on Tuesday 17th. It cost us $400 plus her travel costs to and from Rotto. We had to give a month's notice of intent to marry before we could go ahead in the end we had two months notice owing to C's other commitments.
Loll and I spent ages mulling over the pros and cons of doing it out here and decided there was no way we could get Suze, Alex and crew over to the UK without huge expense and upheaval. Plus, I owe my life to Suze (as mentioned elsewhere in these ramblings) so it is a brilliant way to show her much I love her for being the best sister on the planet.
We are now wife and wife. (That still sounds a bit weird, actually).
The guests were my sister, brother-in-law and their three kids; my Uncle Alex, Aunt Chris and their two kids Plus Suze's great chums Barry & Sally. Alex gave me away and Pete gave Laura away. Heidi (my old colleague and mentor from Myers) was over in NZ for a month and couldn't make it...
Owing to the fact it was early in the day Oz time and only 7pm UK time when we'd finished the ceremony we made about six conference Skypes to family and friends in Britain (and one to Norway) to spill the beans and invite everyone to a 2nd event in November. Those without Skype we e-mailed.
They all were thrilled, some not surprised but the best bit is all of them will be able to attend. Laura and I will put up Charlotte, Jan and little Hakan plus Dad, Louisa and Chloé. Mum is having Gran, Molly, Eric and Steven. Phil will drive down and back from Leeds for the day
Laura's two sisters and their families are going to book a couple of nights at a hotel.
Sara & Dave, Mrs Briggs & partner and Catherine & Heather (from Manchester) are all coming as are the key Scampi Tails quiz team members.
We weren't sure what to do about Amelia but since we have all slept together it seemed churlish not to invite her too. She has agreed as well...
We had booked a space at Thomson's restaurant for the post nuptial scoff so, after the mega Skyping, we had a massive amount of sea food, steaks and 'neck oil' between us. We then trooped back to Fitzhardinge for a continuation of the quaffing.
Unknown to us S&P and A&C had booked Jackson and Timperley (the next two units to ours) for the night. We boozed until midnight in their units (as we had a neighbour in Parker - the second unit in our pair - and we didn't want to cause trouble.)
We left at midnight and, of course, consummated our marriage almost before we got through the door at Fitz h.
The next morning (Wednesday) I found a text from Phil saying I was a bit selfish, wasn't I? Then a second one apologising for the first one. He's not always a twat but it lurks under the surface.
Mum also called me on Wednesday at about 2pm our time. She had a second cry down Skype at me and to tell me she loved me and Laura. And... would I mind if she married Edward? I told her if she did what I had just done I'd kill her...
We are now officially Ms T and Ms J-S. Yaay! We spent the rest of the week on Rotto finding quiet places to have al fresco sex as a married couple. It is the start of spring out her but Rotto is still pretty quiet so it was no problem find a suitable place to spread the groundsheet and then our legs...
When got back to Dad's apartment on Friday afternoon we found the mail box so stuffed with cards, notes and letters that Mr O'Connell had taken some out and put them in a box for us...
We spent Saturday saying a fond farewell to Freo market and shops (it only opens Fri, Sat Sun) and in the evening went to see Giselle. I am never sure whether to love the story or hate it. I love the idea of the Wilis tormenting the men who foresake their women but why the F does Giselle not damn Albrecht. It doesn't make narrative sense to me.
The Giselle dancer Chihiro Nomura was excellent, as was Albrecht - at one point he did a lift so stunning it seemed to go on for ever and defy gravity. It produced spontaneous applause (not what you usually do mid routine).
Several of Uncle Alex's co-sponsors and guests from his concert season were there and we had heaps of congratulations from them on hearing of our nuptials. In fact we had so many drinks I think we may have been seriously over the limit on our way home. Luckily Alex drove us and Bella back to Swanview Gardens because he refused to let us get the ferry back to Mendes Street in case we fell overboard. To be honest Bella was more sozzled than Loll & I.
We had to put Bella to bed, which was no mean feat as she became the typical bendy, rubbery drunk.
Eventually we got her undressed (down to her knickers) and she started crying, saying stuff like, "Why did you have to get married? I'm so upset. That means you'll never sleep with me now..."
We've just got back from Sunday lunch at Suze & Pete's and are going to chill out for the rest of the day.
Tomorrow we are going to bottom out the flat so that Bella will have a nice clean place all to herself again on Tuesday.
I can't believe the time has gone by so quickly.
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