amyandluuk.com

i write this morning from the marginal warmth of our new bed, under our winter douvet cover, with the sun streaming in the windows. Luuk is putting on ski gloves in preparation to bike to work. It is April 12 – the unofficial first day of winter. I am 22, yesterday was our 1 month anniversary (which came with a beautiful rose) and i still have chocolate left over from easter… so things aren’t bad at all.Winter joys, like scarves and boots, have already begun and jackets are creeping their way to the forefront of my wardrobe.

1 month into married life and apparently we need to put something up here about our wedding. Luuk tells me that while he was fixing and refixing this page (till an unholy hour a couple of nights ago – lucky i sleep deeply) he posted some of the wedding photos. However, if you have slow internet or prefer books to tv, feel free to continue reading and i will describe our day.

For me it began fairly early. I’d had no trouble sleeping… until I woke up. Then i was up and that’s all there was for it. Miraculously I had done all my morning rituals by 8am when Andrea (maid of honour) and David (her fiance) showed up, closely followed by the hairdresser. There was breakfast care of my wonderful sister, Hannah. Also present were Mum, Dad, Ian (my brother and video camera) and Louise (Luuk’s sister). Leisurely, we breakfasted and had our hair put in curlers. While we watched ‘The Wedding Singer’, Hannah and Andrea had their hair done (half up and ringlets down). Mine was teased and arranged into a kind of twisty bun thing, sweeping back from my face with more than my usual boof. About then David had to take off and deliver button holes to Luuk and groomsmen. He was the video man, along with my brother, for the day, so he may have even got some footage of the boys getting ready…. picking up suits or something.

With mounting excitement chasing away my appetitie, i forced down a delicious sandwich (a beautiful creation by my darling mum), and it was on with the dress… and entertaining process. I got stuck. then when it was on, i got laced. then half an hour later i got relaced cause it stretches a bit.

The hairdresser was on to Mum’s hair next and then, with everyone dressed, ready and resplendent, the photographer showed up. He said he’d never seen anyone so organised. I was wondering what we were going to to for over an hour. Mainly, we smiled. there was much grinning, hugging, standing in ‘natural poses’, playing with the shade screen thing, fiddling with my train and general silliness…

Lynette and Kevin showed up with cars at 1pm and Mum and Ian took off to the church. Hannah and Andrea went with Kevin in one car, Dad and I with Lynette in the convertible. So fun! Never has a 40km/hr drive been so exhilarating. Any faster and my hair would have been ruined. but it was a stunning day and the hood, in such circumstances, must be down.

We arrived at the church, Marty took a few more (turned out to be awesome) photos, and then we rustled into the back of the church. i couldn’t see a thing inside – it was so bright outside. but i think they could all see us. the music began, pipe organ barreling out the strands of Love Actually’s ‘PM’s Love Theme’… there you go. that’s what it was. not much of a secret. A couple of people thought they recognised it and liked it. Composer is Craig Armstrong.

After our procession down the aisle, Dad handed me to Luuk, all of us grinning to our eyeballs, and Lynton asked our folks to support us, etc etc. Yasmin read several bible verses about love and commitment, then Mike and Merodie read excerpts from Song of Solomon, about passion and, well, sex. Lynton spoke about 2 perspectives on love and marriage – the one emphasizing commitment, the other emphasizing passion. Lynton’s gist was why not have both? the commitment, saftey, and security of marriage, but not settling for a waning passion. then he gave us a bottle of wine and used the metaphor of pungent grapes that are not picked – they smell kind of like wine, but without the hard work and the bottle, it’s fruit rotting on the ground. and something about a good wine getting better with age. we’re saving it – maybe for a 1 year anniversary.

Then we got married 😀

then we kissed. aw…

then we signed several bits of paper while Hannah H and Nic sang ‘You Raise Me Up’ and my sister Hannah cried. very moving song. Fabulous singers, despite 2 weeks of vocal and physical exhaustion care of Rent the Musical (which was fabulous, hope you saw it, or do one day).

I hugged everyone except the half dozen people who snuck out the side door. very smart. actually i hugged some of them later. at the main door we started doing hugs in 2s and 3s. It was awesome having everyone there. People from Auckland, as far north as Kerikeri and as far south as Invercargill. Legendary.

Next there was big group photos, cake cutting (ridiculous number of photos, strange tradition), cake eating. someone mentioned some good juice but i missed out. after trying to chat to everyone who wouldn’t be at the reception and having a few more photos with family and friends, we were off. Luuk and I were in the convertible this time, going slightly faster as I’d stopped worrying about my hair – despite the fact we were on our way to photo-taking. Lynette only put the top up when we got to the 70k zone.

Out at Trents Estate there were bubbles (bad idea on an empty stomach) and crackers and cheese care of Lynette (excellent idea on a stomach of bubbles). There were photos… very cool venue but i won’t describe all the locations and backdrops. Sue (who seems to run Trents) also sent us off with some nibbles, monteiths and more bubbles. Delicious chicken and bacon bites of happiness. in fact it was all fabulous.

Speeches were followed by dinner and many glorious types of meat. Absolutely fantastic spread, great wines and we could relax – well Luuk and I could – we’d done our speeches. As had Dad and Louis (Luuk’s dad) – exhibiting a great selection of photos and fair selection of embarrassing stories. We started doing the rounds and talking to the back tables in between dinner and dessert – since we ate first they were all still going. The for the next bracket of speeches – Mark (best man), Andrea (my best girl) and Edward (Luuk’s groomsman, friend and neighbour from Te Pahu… at whose house we ate one of many meals on Christmas day.

More chatting after dessert, then dancing time! Cam switched music lists and Luuk and I swung our way through Van Morrison’s Moondance. People took a lot of photos and stubbournly refused to join us, despite our beckoning. We went through our 6 or 7 moves for the full 4 minutes and 36 seconds of song.

They joined in for the next song though. We boogied on down for most of the next hour, with the occasional drink or air break. In the end we said goodbye to half the room individually and then got accused of sneaking off my my mum, running across the car park to say goodbye. she was followed by all the guests. a few of the boys started something like wrestling or kidnapping Luuk and Mum put two stern words together and scared them away. And off we went… 😉