Weddings

I've been fortunate to attend the weddings of some very special people.
Not only is it a chance to be a part of something special in their lives, but also a chance to see how different people wish to put together such an event and tie in various ideas that are meaningful and important to them. It's also a chance to learn about cultures and traditions that I may not be familiar with.
I usually don't post pictures on my blog with people in them, but weddings are all about the people, so I thought it important to include a couple here. I have though, tried to include ones that don't necessarily show the whole face or are somewhat iffy in quality for that reason.

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Here's a wedding...
When I was younger, I thought all weddings took place in churches. I guess that's how TV and Hollywood shows it to us.
Sometimes there are speeches at weddings. Most of the speeches that I've seen take place at the reception during the meal, in between courses. The bride and/or groom can speak, members of the bridal party can speak, parents and/or relatives of the bride/groom can speak. It can be just about anyone.
Some speeches are short. Some are long. Some are emotional. Some are funny. It's another chance for individuals to express
themselves.
I admire anyone who takes the risk to stand up and speak in front of a crowd and I appreciate the words that they choose to say.
This particular wedding had a colour scheme of sky blue and creme as you can see in some of the pictures and here in one of the flower
bouquets. The wedding took place on a hot, hot, day, and after the ceremony and a round of pictures outdoors, the flowers
were starting to droop a bit at the evening reception.
Another tradition I've learned about the "first dance". Sometimes the song that is used has personal meaning and I've learned that some couples take this tradition quite seriously and prepare for it. Dance lessons, choreography, whatever the case may be. I know that this couple has taken dance classes together (unrelated to the wedding) and by the
bride's request, for the wedding they practiced the final moments of the dance.
Sometimes the first dance spins into other special moments. The bride dances with her father...the groom dances with his mother. Dancing, dancing, dancing. It seems like this is an important part of the evening.
More dancing. You can see the colour scheme in the dresses of the members of the bridal party.

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And another wedding...
The bride gets prepped beforehand. Hair and make-up is a big deal and some people hire outside help to get the job done. In the Western weddings where the bride opts to wear a veil, it is put on before the ceremony during the hair/makeup shebang.





This particular wedding had a rainbow colour scheme. Each of the maids of honour, bridesmaids and junior bridesmaids wore a different coloured dress and the corresponding best man or groomsman wore a matching tie and pocket square. It created a beautiful effect when standing together and really
complimented the attitude that the couple has towards life. You can see that the floral bouquets were part of the theme as well.
This wedding was also a church wedding and included words from various verses from the bible. Each verse was carefully selected and those who read them were chosen for various reasons.
Throwing flower petals and releasing doves. Unique touches that the couple wanted to include in their day.
All of the seated receptions that I've attended had a similar format where there was some sort of head table with the bride, groom, bridal party and sometimes immediate family members of the bride and groom. Often there are wedding favours that are given out to the guests and/or items that are placed on the tables that relate to the theme of the wedding or to the couple themself. At this wedding, each table had a picture of the couple and a fun "did you know" fact about them on the back. As guests came in, they knew to look for the specific table name to do with the
fun fact. You can see the bouquets from the bridal party hanging by the windows. I thought that this particular wedding took great care in selecting the floral arrangements and they clearly highlighted the colour scheme chosen by the couple.
A shot of the exterior of the reception location. The reception location itself is a reflection of the couple as well. I have not been to a reception where I didn't understand why it was chosen as the location. They just made sense. This particular location was in the mountains. A little bit of
a logistical hassle, but so well organized that it really wasn't a hassle at all. There was potentially a short hike for ladies in heels, but definitely doable, and the setting was perfect for the couple.
A change to more sensible shoes, and the crowd forms for the first dance. This one was a well choreographed routine, yet again perfect, as the couple LOVES to dance!

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Yet another wedding...
I loved this wedding not only because two special people were getting married, but it was a wonderful example of opening one's culture to others, making it accessible and a wonderful learning experience.
This particular wedding comprised of a Hindu ceremony and a Persian one. Being completely new to both experiences, as I mentioned, I appreciated the fact that along the way significant moments were explained. I could go off into a rant about how the world would be a better place if everyone was open minded and learned more about each other, but this is not the time and place for that.

Hindu ceremony
Friends, regardless of culture, were invited to dress in traditional saris. It was wonderful. There were no judgments passed, just a completely welcoming chance to be a part of the wedding and learn more about the culture.
After getting ready, there was a little rushing and sitting around to ensure that everyone was ready at a set time. The wedding was to commence at an auspicious time.


This is the mundir. I guess it's sorta like the altar of the church? Each item had significance and/or was used during different parts of the ceremony. Before the ceremony began, the priest was preparing for the wedding.

The couple looked wonderful in traditional outfits.
The ceremony had many parts to it, but apparently we'd gotten an abridged version. I didn't feel like it was dragging on, so that was fine, but I can't imagine how a longer version would work and how people would be able to sit through it.

Persian ceremony


This is the Sofreh-ye Aghd. Here's an explanation of things from someone who knows.








There were also words spoken at the Persian wedding.







Mmmm...tasting honey. Sweet, like their love for each other.





This picture is part of the Persian ceremony but also shows that the Hindu set up just beside. It really was a combined event and I loved it. I knew that I was surrounded by people who were intrigued and eager to learn about any components of the day that they did not know about before.













I haven't been to a wedding that didn't include a cake. Some cakes were fake, some were real and un-touched, and others were devoured.
A Persian tradition involves a friend of the bride dancing with the knife and the groom needing to give money in exchange for it.
Another setting for a reception. Very relaxed and low key, just like this couple. A Hindu wedding usually takes place over a couple of days, which just means more time with family and friends and lots of chances to eat food!

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Another wedding still...
Although this wedding maily displayed Taiwanese traditions, you could see that Western influences were creeping in, for example, by the bride wearing a white dress.
On the wedding day, the groom and his buddies arrive in the car to the bride's house. Firecrackers are lit to signal his arrival and a younger relative of the bride offers food to the groom as an invitation to come to the bride's house. Notice that there are two oranges on the plate. Everything is in pairs (two people are getting married) or in even numbers. Instead of one flower girl, there were two. There were two bridesmaids, you get the idea. Oh yes, anyone with a job gets money. So, in exchange for the two oranges, the "greeter" gets money. In this case, 600TWD. Six being a lucky number (also, notice that it's an even number too). The Groom also brings the bridal bouquet with him.
The groom brings with him many many gifts. All symbolic. Rock sugar, cigarettes, alcohol, candy, roosters. Again, notice that there's two of everything. When the couple leaves the bride's house, some of each of the gifts (except the cigarettes - due to their meaning) are sent back with the groom.
The groom gets the bride from her room and offers the bouquet to her.









An older family member of the groom has the responsibility of being sort of a mentor to the couple. She also gets a monetary gift (from the bride's family) for her job. You can see her telling the couple to thank the parents of the bride and this is the time where they say goodbye as the bride now goes with the groom to his family's house.
The parents of the bride also put the veil on the bride at this time (as opposed to during hair/makeup time like in Western weddings).
The couple leave the bride's house and the bride's head is covered. You can get a glimpse of the colourful banner hanging in front of the house. On it, there are various gods depicts, each with their own symbolism.
Timing of different events is key. The groom arrived at the bride's family's house at an auspicious time, and fetched the bride from her room at an
auspicious time as well. When arriving to his family's house. They would also complete set things at specific times as well, much like in the Hindu ceremony.
As the bride leaves her family's house, she drops a fan with a red scarf which a family member collects.
Firecrackers are lit. Many many many firecrackers.
That night, the groom's family hosts a dinner reception for their friends and relatives. A select number of family members on the bride's side are invited and wear flowers to distinguish that they are on the bride's side. They are to enter the reception together and leave together. They need to leave a little earlier to let the groom's side enjoy the festivities longer.


The bride would change into a couple different outfits that night. I'd overheard that it would be six, but I don't think it ended up being that many.
There was no dancing during the event. Just a wonderful meal.
Throughout the meal, there was musical entertainment and a special moment was when the couple sang a duet.
The next night, the bride's family hosted a reception for their relatives and friends. Again, certain family members from the groom's side were invited.
The bride continued to change outfits...
And the couple along with their parents toasted the guests.
Another outfit and more toasts.
Couple and their parents made their way around the room to toast and thank each table for coming to celebrate their wedding. Close relatives would also approach the head table to toast with them.
On the first night, immediate family members of the groom would also make the rounds and toast with tables, and on the second night the same could be said for family members of the bride's side.
As there is no dancing at these events, as soon as the meal is over, guests start to head home and the couple waits by the doors to bid them goodbye, thanks again and sending them off with a small gift.

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I was also invited to a wedding that would have a little bit of a Korean flavour, however, due to prior commitments, I could not attend. Boo. Luckily, the couple was very understanding and I heard lots about the event and saw some beautiful pictures. Still...it would have been nice to be there in person.

It's interesting to see what happens at different weddings and learn about different cultures, but the best part is being a part of the couple's special day.

London, Oxford and Stonehenge (June 17th - 20th, 2008)

Better late than never...

London









On the left, a shot in Covent Garden. There's something about the vibe in London that I really enjoy. I can't quite put my hand on it, but I love to visit and I feel so comfortable and alive when I'm there. It's not just the fact that it's a big city and there's lots going on - it's the attitude that's there. The vibe.
Every time I go, there are more things that I add to the list. New this time was Dover Street Market. I applaud the buyers and merchandisers for the store. I like going into stores and seeing products placed together in a creative way, combining different pieces to make new looks. It's easy to have all of the same brand's stuff lumped together, but I think that in the real world, most people mix and match and don't dress all of one label head to toe, so I like to see ideas of how one person combines the pieces. I raved the same about Colette in Paris, and have yet to find a store in Toronto that goes to the same level. There are more and more concept stores, but they're not the same. There are also designer boutiques, but also, not the same thing. Anyway, Dover Street Market is quite neat and I'm looking forward to the next visit.
























HUH?!?














The queen's in the house!


Do they have this here because they know how many tourists come to visit them? Eitherway, I'm glad they do, because sometimes I get confused. I usually end up looking both ways just to be sure, but it's funny how you usually just turn your head only one way instinctively.

Here's a sad fact. I've never been on a public transport bus in London. Not even a double decker one. I always so on the underground or walk. But I should. I should ride a bus next time.




I also need to climb Tower Bridge. See?!? So much stuff to add to the list.












The previous time that I was in London, I went to King's Cross Station to look for Platform 9 3/4 and couldn't find it. I went to the Platform 9 and 10 area which is actually not in the main station and searched and searched. I don't understand why it was so easy to find it this time around.

Oxford


I've always liked walking around university campuses. Oxford is a cute little town and had beautiful looking architecture as well. Score!


More Harry Potter goodness. Christ Church College has such a beautiful dining room. I'm not sure if I would enjoy having to do all the traditional stuff being a student at these colleges. Maybe I would. Just realize that I'm a part of history and think about all of the people who have done the
same things in the past. Anyway, the Harry Potter thing. If you've seen the movies, you'll know that they made their dining room much wider, but you can definitely see the resemblance. The campus is beautiful and I can understand how location scouts would fall in love with it too.





So, apparently, some sort of famous people used to come here to hang out.






Stonehenge
Just a couple pictures of Stonehenge. I wish we could have gotten closer, but I guess that's what happens when they want to protect the space. It would have been interesting to go during the solstice and see what kind of crazies come out.

Ottawa, Canada (May 22nd - 26th, 2009)

I probably won't be much of a tourist during this trip, but it's still going to be nice to have a little bit of time to continue to explore the nation's capital.
I love how bilingual this city is and I always enjoy a chance to practice my French. I get the feeling that I won't speak any French while I'm hear, but I'll definitely keep my ears open to make sure that I can understand all of the conversations that I eavesdrop on.
I rode by the Rideau Canal today and was reminded how much I want to come back in the winter to skate on it.
It's Ottawa Race Weekend (which I only found out about yesterday) and I thought it might be fun to join in the fun and sign up for the 10k - yes, impromptu, but I figure I could handle it. Unfortunately, spots are already sold out and race day was on the one day that I fore sure couldn't attend. There were spots left for the marathon though. Yeah, right.
I also rode by the Glebe sidewalk sale but was too exhausted at this point to stop. I was also being way too rational in that I really didn't need any more knick knacks to clutter up my life. It would have been nice to walk around, enjoy the sun and the atmosphere, but like I said, I was getting tired and actually needed to find some food as I was starting to feel a little bit off.
So, for food, I headed to Byward Market. Love, love, love, markets. I stopped in Le Moulin de Provence to pick up some stuff and noticed that they are madly flaunting the fact that Obama stopped by to pick up some cookies. The line for BeaverTails was long and I kinda wanted to take a break from non-essential food groups. I've eaten a significant amount in the past little while, so I wanted to give my body a break. We'll see if I cave in by the end of the trip. I also had the self control not to buy fudge from the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory.
That's pretty much all I got done today, what with my mega nap and all.
I get the feeling that I'll only have time to pop into a museum for a quick visit and walk the core a little bit more, but I'm not too concerned. I'm not really here to be a tourist this time around.
Of course I'll get time to explore Carleton University, which is great too, because I love the feeling of being on campus. The buildings aren't completely inspirational here, but it still seems like a pretty inviting space. It probably helps that it's 20+ degrees.

Great

The jet lag continues.
I just woke up from the most wonderful nap.
Woke up at the time that I should probably think about going to sleep for real.
I'm completely backwards.

They say that jet lag's worse when you return back home. Totally true for me.
You're all excited to be traveling and like with me, you're super-tourist, forcing your body to get on track. I only really felt and strangeness on the first night that I arrived and then I was pretty good. Lots of walking probably helped the cause too.
Now that I'm home, I've decided to take a different approach. Just chillax. I'm sort of going to sleep when I'm supposed to, but if I need a nap in the middle of the day (which I pretty much have every day since I've been home - often due to the fact that I haven't been sleeping through the whole night), I do. I haven't crammed stuff into my schedule, but have given myself a little bit of a break as I've been going non-stop for quite some time. I'm doing some physical activity to try to get myself, but not as hard core as when I was traveling.

The nice the thing about being backwards is that I was good and awake for my presentation early this morning. I'm sure nerves had a little to do with it, but the timing was great as I had enough time to get the sheer exhaustion out of my system although not my completely over my jet-lag.

Doors Open 2009

I forget why I didn't end up doing this last year - but I remember looking at the list and sort of making a plan of where I wanted to go. I must have had another engagement or something.
Sucks that I can't go to Doors Open Toronto 2009 this year either.
The nice thing is that I can be pretty confident that it'll happen again next year and that there will be plenty of participating buildings that I will love to visit.
Toronto has so much stuff to do!

Porter! Porter! Porter!

Yes, I have now joined the growing Porter fanclub.
I'd already heard about their service, convenience and all that jazz and I got the chance to experience it for myself.
If you live in the city centre or don't mind driving into the core (as opposed to out to the boonies to get to Pearson), going to the City Centre airport is great. A shuttle bus from Union Station, an organized taxi stand, the ferry that actually gets to the island...it all seemed pretty good to me.
Check in was pretty much like any other airport. If you have luggage to check in you may have to lug it around a little bit more than usual, but I didn't have too much of a problem than that. The Bestseller with their gazillion garment bags on the other hand didn't enjoy the process as much.
Then, the part that I was waiting for. The airport lounge. It was better than I expected. Nice chairs. Good vibe. Computers to use. A fully stocked cafe with free(!!!) stuff. It was wonderful. I didn't get there with enough time to sit down and really make the most of the lounge, but that's part of the beauty of Porter as well. They only recommend that you get there 30min before before the flight, so with everyone else arriving last minute as well, after checking-in and going through security and stuff, there really wasn't much time to sit down and take advantage of the lounge.
Boarding was easy and the in-flight crew was wonderful.
I was looking forward to the chocolate brownies that they'd mentioned in the in-flight magazine (more free stuff!!!), but the double chocolate cookie that came with the sandwich, babybell cheese and melba toast snack package made up for it. Serving drinks in glass glasses was a nice touch.
There was definitely more leg room than in most economy sections and being a window seat lover, it was fun to be able to take in the Canadian landscape as we were flying at a lower altitude and could see everything. While we were flying over Lake Ontario, I swear the water was so blue and reflective that I got confused between where the horizon line was. I felt like I was just looking out at a sea of clouds and amazingness.
The only problem I can see with Porter is that there are still people out there who are a little antsy about flying in small planes. The only time that it was really obvious was when we whooshed down the runway and the plane kicked into high gear. The other time was on landing - the noise on impact kind of caught me off guard too. My particular flight had no turbulence and I've definitely been on some 777's with roller coaster dips, so people really can't use that as an excuse not to ride little planes. Big planes sometimes to weird things on take-off and landing so it's just luck of the draw. I have no fears of flying, so the random noises that happened on my flight didn't effect me too much, but I was trying to look for things that other people could potentially freak out at.
Anyway, I think Porter is amazing and I can't wait to take it again. Next time, I'm definitely going to arrive earlier than need be. Sure, lounging at home is great, but the TCCA airport lounge as darn good too.

Jet lag

I'm definitely jet lagged.
It's three in the morning and I'm not one bit tired.
Good thing is that I've already packed for tomorrow's trip.
Back to back trips. What was I thinking.

Phew!

My eyes are killing me. I was even good and took out my contacts for most of the journey back, but like I said, my eyes are killing me.
I've spend an hour or two trying get caught up with e-mails and fav websites, but I still don't see the light at the end of the tunnel.
I've got two days to try to get organized before I hop back on a plane again.
The next trip is most definitely be more laid back (not to say that this one wasn't) and hopefully I will have some time to even post some stuff.