Agápe. Éros. Philia. Love.

Imagine if you will - 

The sound of an idyllic Mediterranean wave coursing gently against Grecian sands; a cloudless aquamarine sky reflecting the sparkling ocean; a tiny white-washed chapel set precariously close to the beach that St Paul himself travelled past; a selection of the people who love you most dearly in the whole world gathered inside to affirm the beginning...

On Thursday May 13th, 2010, I was honoured to witness the marriage of my fiancé's best friend to the love of his life. Whilst we may have joked that we had only come along because it was an excuse for an extra holiday, the truth was that we would not have missed it for the world. I'm glad to say that not only was it a delightful week on the eastern coast of Cyprus, but that their wedding day was truly beautiful and memorable.

They had decided to hold their wedding at Adams Beach Hotel, about 20 minutes outside of Ayia Napa. The wedding party totalled about 30 of us in the end, predominantly made up with family members. The friends that had managed to make the trip were all included in the main cast of characters, with my beloved taking the role of Best Man whilst two of the bride's closest friends acted as bridesmaids. And that really was that - small, intimate, but most of all full of love.

Although Adams Beach offers a choice of wedding scenarios, our friends had opted for a traditional religious ceremony in the gorgeous but bijou chapel, and I cannot thank them enough for making that decision. The anglican vicar, Michael Crawford, was absolutely superb. Not only did he bring a sense of familiarity and calm to the proceedings, he infused the ceremony with the sense of love, commitment, honour and importance that is the very reason why we had journeyed so far but could have been so easily overlooked. 

Despite obviously having no previous history with either the bride or groom, he managed to create a real link with them and their families. I (like everyone else I think) was very moved when he managed to include Dan's Grandma who was there despite being 93 years old and adverse to the 33 degree climate. Asking her to help him officiate the wedding certificate as she was head of the family was a touching stroke of genius. I'm not usually a fan of religious ceremonies but even sceptical little me was moved by the profundity of his sermon and as we all vowed to help Mel and Dan remain true to their sacred vows, I was having a little blub to myself. 

The ceremony was followed by obligatory photos but how absolutely heavenly to have the Mediterranean ocean as the backdrop for them. A very efficient Greek photographer barked orders at everyone (and in some cases manhandled them until they did what he wanted) for about half an hour and then we all trotted off to the bar for drinks and a jolly good sit down. Turns out, in all the joy of celebrating their marriage, I had crippled myself by standing for the whole ceremony as there were only 6 chairs in the chapel owing to its aforementioned compactness. 

After some truly incredible speeches...no wait, hang on. After some speeches that were heartfelt but blissfully brief because all the main contenders were mightily afeared of the public speaking, and taking no credit whatsoever for how brilliantly turned out the best man's speech was, we all headed off to the outdoor restaurant for some well-earned food.

And here, dear reader I must pause, in loving memory of what was, in fact, an AWESOME meal. The groom's sister and I spent a good 15 minutes debating what the flavour of the soup was because it was so good and having decided it must be some form of chickeny broth, we were informed that it was actually pumpkin and almond. I was particularly surprised as I do not like either pumpkin, nor almonds. The main course was actually wonderfully cooked succulent chicken, with a medley of light vegetables and potato croquettes (that were not courgettes, as somebody was so convinced they were). And of course the dessert had to be chocolate and it was and I was in heaven and it was divine.

I will always remember how easy that meal was. That may sound a bit strange, but coming from someone who has issues with eating in front of people (particularly strangers) I have to say that all I can remember is chatting and eating and laughing. There was so much love around that table that I completely forgot about anything other than what a wonderful time I was having, and I would like to think that everyone else felt the same way too.

Understandably, many of the relatives began to drift off after the meal, until eventually all that were left were the Bride and Groom and their principal wedding characters. There was whiskey. There were pints. There were shots of Ouzo as instigated by the Best Man and then he inflicted jagerbombs on everyone and the bridesmaids really quite liked it...

Suffice to say, a good time was had by all. We got to bed when the bar shut. But out of all the lovely things I'll remember about that day, my favourite memory has got to be late into the night when there was just the happy couple and Nick and I left and everyone was pretty merry...Mel got up to go to the loo and as she walked away from us Dan followed her with his eyes and then, completely oblivious to everyone else in the universe, started grinning sloppily, happily and contentedly to himself. And that grin, intoxicated as it may have been, encapsulated the love of whole day and clearly said that his world was now complete.

Comments

[anna and the ring]

1.

Oh my, what beautiful words. That is why I adore intimate weddings!

How touched I would be to have someone write those words about me.

[Cake For Breakfast]

2.

Thanks Anna! I'm more than happy to write similarly sloppy words about you...IF I GET AN INVITE...

Or a DVD would do.

[Jayne]

3.

You just made even the heart hearted me weep a touch.

[Jayne]

4.

Or even, 'hard hearted'.