I (We) Got Married

I probably should have said something back in August when it happened, but we had that was a chaotic month or so, and then we were waiting on the photographer to send us her stuff, so now, over 2months after the fact, here's the official post.

On August 25th of this year Christina & I were finally married. The ceremony was a simple civil one, and we had about 25 guests representing no fewer than 19 different nationalities. We had friends there new & old, and our immediate families both made the trip from their respective homes of Athens & Kelowna.

The Big Day was lovely, with excellent weather and zero problems from any of the various moving parts required for such an event. Christina's stylist did a wonderful job, the people running the actual ceremony had everyone in & out of there like a well-oiled machine, and our photographer was a pro through the whole thing, setting us up for shot after shot, getting lots of candid photos and just generally being awesome.

In terms of cost, everything was surprisingly reasonable with everything: the photographer, stylist, bouquet, ceremony, rings, dinner & venue coming in under £4000. For a wedding, I understand that that's pretty amazing.

I feel like this post should be a bigger deal, but it just doesn't feel like that. In retrospect, our wedding -- our marriage, feels like an inevitability, and the whole ceremony more of an excuse to have a party than anything monumental. Of course rationally, this is most definitely a Big Deal -- there's a reason LGBT activists continue to fight for marriage equality around the world, but for me the legal stuff has never really felt consequential. What matters is that I was committing to her, and I'd already done that years ago, you know?

After the Big Day, we all relaxed for a few days and then hopped on an abysmal Ryan Air flight to Athens where we were met at the airport by Christina's extended family. The swept us off to her aunt & uncle's home where we were treated to a fantastic traditional Greek feast. My parents, heads still spinning from landing in a foreign country fell in love with the food immediately. Christina's aunt is fricking genius in the kitchen and she had pulled out all the stops.

We then had a week of sightseeing in Athens, followed by Wedding #2 in an outdoor restaurant alongside Lake Marathon. Most of the guests were from Christina's side of the family, but a few of our friends from Amsterdam also made the trip down to celebrate with us. The next day, Christina & I toured Athens with the Amsterdammers before they all had to go home.

At that point, we all split up: my parents went on a cruise to a number of Greek islands, Christina and I went on our honeymoon to Ios, and Christina's parents took a week off from the craziness to relax a bit.

Ios is beautiful and much less hectic than other, more touristy islands. The food is wonderful, and the sightseeing was lovely. For my part though, all I wanted to do was relax by the pool and I managed to do lots of that :-)

After a week of that, we all returned to Athens for another week of sightseeing, and then finally returned to Cambridge where my parents celebrated their own wedding anniversary with their son & new daughter in-law.

It was just wonderful that so many of you were able to make it out to celebrate with us. Honestly, that's going to be the most memorable part of all of this for me. As an expat, you rarely have the opportunity to reconnect with all the people you love, because you're all scattered around the globe. It's one of the things that make weddings awesome.

There will be a Wedding #3 though: this one in Vancouver next year, likely in July (we're still working on exact timing). If you couldn't make it to #1 or #2, come on down to YVR for #3! We'll be doing what I'd always said I wanted for my wedding: a potlach in the park. There will (hopefully) be sunshine, and KFC, and my dear old friend Michelle has promised to sing with me for the occasion. It should be a good time. I'll post more when I know more.

For now though, check out the photos! These are the ones the pro took on the Big Day and these are the ones the rest of us took throughout the multi-week event.