Well today was the day. It was the day I would have the privilege of witnessing and being a part of Lynne and Ashley's wedding at the Sydney Opera House in Sydney, Australia.
http://www.agent619.com/index.php/the-community/43-soap-box/87-australia-2009-lynne-ashley-wedding
Well today was the day. It was the day I would have the privilege of witnessing and being a part of Lynne and Ashley's wedding at the Sydney Opera House in Sydney, Australia. It was a happy and slightly sad day for me. I was completely happy to be here in Sydney, Australia to be part of Ashley's wedding, but on the other side, I had a slightly isolated feeling (personal reasons a little too private to share). Being in the Sydney Opera House for this occasion could not be topped for the near future, so I was happy to be here for that. To tell the truth, I didn't know exactly what to expect as I've only known Lynne for a total of 2 hour prior to Australia and another 30 minutes at Lynne's home in Warrunga. I only knew one side of the wedding, which was of course my friend, Ashley, since the 5th grade. I never knew what Lynne and Ashley were like as a couple because our initial meetings were so formal and structured due to time constraints. After seeing all the preparation, being fully engaged in the ceremonies, and Broadway skits, and watching Lynne and Ashley look into each others eyes during their personal speeches as if nobody was there; I knew this was something really special to be witness to. No matter what the circumstances myself and my family had to humor and no matter how the day unfolded for all of us in attendance, I knew that my decision to be here at this moment were well worth the effort.
I got up nearly in a cold sweat as I wasn't comfortable with my prepared speech. Currently it involved Ashley and a rope. What was I thinking?!?! So I redid my speech to involve something about Ashley's personality, which was his search for greatness or significance. His search for significance would be my topic and I knew this would be better as I could use more humor in highlighting Ashley's funny attempts at significance. Too bad I couldn't hit my funny-stride during my speech delivery as I felt rushed to move along. The parents wrote pages upon pages of notes on yellow legal pad paper, which they should. You gotta give 'em some slack to express themselves. I mean one was gaining a daughter, and another was gaining an Ashley, um...I mean a son. Of course I'm kidding, but the parent speeches were funny, heart felt, and connecting as the 2 families happily merged amongst international attendance, monsoonal weather, and a historic and joyous celebration.
They say that no wedding is ever perfect. Well today, I unintentionally created some minor drama within the ranks of the grooms side of preparation. In America, when you do a tuxedo hire (rent a tux), you get the complete package from the full tuxedo to accessories like shoes, socks, cuff links, and removable shirt buttons. In Australia, you only get the tuxedo. All the accessories were BYO. Can I claim ignorance to cultural difference or rather lack of asking for detail? It was 12pm, the wedding is at 3pm, I have no presentable shoes and practically no time to shop around for them. Luckily, Victor N. had a pair of shoes that were close enough to my size and fit snugly enough after 2 pairs of socks and tennis shoe insoles installed. By sheer chance and determination, Victor N. just arrived in Sydney late night a couple hours previously. Yet another testament to Ashley and the D'Cruz family as their bond to their friends and family is so strong, they are willing to cross vast oceans and endure personal challenge, just to watch Lynne and Ashley say "I do." So bottom line, crisis averted.
On our way to the Sydney Opera House, we were to drop off Ashley's clothes to their honeymoon suite at the Radisson (?). Guys being guys, we had to take some evidence of our goofiness in a special room as a honeymoon suite. So what did we do? I had to engage in the all to famous Austin Power time travel window frame shot. The other guys just wanted to consummate some male bonding behind the glass bath wall. Literally, from the bed, you could watch your mate (funny in this context) take a bath and shower as there was a clean glass wall separating the bed from the bath. Honeymoon suite...Indeed! So if any of the parents are reading, just pretend it's not your children getting married, then it might be funny, maybe. Needless to say, our defiling of the honeymoon suite was complete, except for a consistent but random statement I always say, which happened to match the current context, "So this is where the magic happens?!" Then we were off to the world famous Sydney Opera house to get these 2 love birds hitched.
When the cab dropped us off, we immediately created a stir among the various herds of tourists. It would have been better if it was the bride and maids, but they couldn't pull of the theme from "Shaft" that was playing in my head. Let me set this up, you have an Australian Chinese, American Anglo, Filipino, and the Pakistani was the leader of the pack. All of us dressed in black tuxedos and silver tops, the theme from Shaft playing only in my head, and we're heading for the Sydney Opera House. What were tourists to make of all of this? So to get our stories straight, I told the groomsmen that we were an international mariachi band here to perform at the Sydney Opera House. I bet only 25% of the tourists would get that joke.
The actual wedding inside the Sydney Opera House worked like clockwork. There was nothing outrageously out of order or shocking to report. The west room was overlooking the Sydney Harbor with medium gray rain clouds atop. The bridesmaids and groomsmen stayed in formation the entire duration and only moved during the wedding paperwork portion of the ceremony. I thought it a little strange that the signing of legal wedding bind was part of the public ceremony, but then again, I'm only a visitor to a different culture. The ordained lady official was very relaxed and seasoned with this public merger, but Lynne or Ashley didn't need her calmness as they were very relaxed too. Bada-bing! Lynne and Ashley sealed the deal with a kiss, the string quartet began to play the Wedding March, and this odd pair were finally married.
I have one final thought about Lynne and Ashley after the ceremony and reception. Again I may be one-sided as I've know Ashley for a lot longer, but having known Ashley for so long, I can honestly say that I've never seen him more happy. I may be presumptuous as this is officially the "honeymoon" stage of their marriage, but again, I've never seen this side of Ashley whenever he is around Lynne. I always thought Ashley would marry a stiff like himself, but he has surprisingly and shockingly found Lynne (who I've gotten to know better after the wedding) who is fun, goofy, and outgoing. Besides being intellectually adept, Ashley has found someone to compliment his stiffness...I mean personality. Again Ash, I don't know how you convinced her to say YES, but kudos for staying just interesting enough for her to stick around.
Lynne and Ash, you know you can roast me some other time, but again, I am so happy you found each other, I'm happy to be part of your wedding, and I look forward to seeing how happy your new family unfolds in the near future.
