Joe and Mel's wedding and Sydney

Last week I went to Sydney to attend the wedding of my good friends Mel and Joe. Their story is a super cute one. I met Mel during my exchange in the States in 2010 (she was an exchange student from Australia), and I met Joe through her. They were in the same 1L section and they met at a section party, and hit it off. A little while later he gave her a Brita that he had bought for himself after she told him that Charlottesville water was undrinkable (this is when I started suspecting that he had feelings for her), then they went out to dinner, and things started up from there. They dated long-distance after she left the States and got engaged last August. They're both fantastic people and I'm so stoked that things worked out for them. It was a real honour and privilege and pleasure to be able to celebrate their wedding in person.

Day 1: Thursday 5 January

I arrived in Sydney at 7:30am, and got picked up at the airport with Joe's older sister by Joe's parents. Mel had originally intended to come to meet me at the airport, but according to Linda, she had been pretty busy over the past couple of weeks due to wedding planning, so they had forced her to sleep in rather than have her go out to the airport at the crack of dawn. Fair enough. I got dropped off at Mel's house. We had a GPS but took some wrong turns on the way so we got to see random parts of Sydney as we navigated to our destination, which was actually really fun. We made it to Mel's house safely and our timing turned out to be good, because she had just gotten up.  It was great to see her again!

Shortly afterwards, Mel's parents arrived with her friend Tina, at whose house I would be staying at during my time in Sydney, along with Joe's friends from America. It was both awesome and weird to meet Mel's mother and father, because I had heard so much about them through Mel and to have them standing in front of me in real life was quite surreal. I didn't get to chat with them for long though, because there was a lot to be done before the wedding rehearsal and there was no time to muck around. Mel's Mum took me and Tina to Tina's house, and I spent the afternoon getting to know Tina, who was lovely. I even managed to fit in a quick nap before the wedding rehearsal which in retrospect was a very good move.

The wedding rehearsal was a novel experience, given that I'd never been involved in a wedding before (my role in Mel and Joe's wedding was to read the Bible passage before the sermon during the ceremony). Does everyone have a rehearsal before the actual wedding? It makes sense I guess, otherwise things might not go smoothly on the day. Apparently wedding rehearsals are huge in the States, and formal occasions too. According to Joe, this rehearsal was probably the most relaxed one he'd ever been to. Nevertheless, they discussed and practised everything that needed to be discussed and practised. Good.

After the rehearsal, everyone went to Mel's house for a casual get-together over wine and delicious food. It was really awesome meeting and talking with Joe and Mel's family and friends, whom I had heard lots about through the two. It was unsurprising that their families were fantastic: great people are produced from nurturing and supportive family environments, and Joe and Mel are great people. And every single one of their friends I had the chance to chat to was awesome. Intelligent, nice, friendly, fun and welcoming. I really appreciated all this, because I didn't know anybody there apart from the betrothed couple. They say you can judge a person by the company s/he keeps, and if that's anything to go by, Joe and Mel scored very highly. I wouldn't have expected anything less. I got to spend a bit of time alone with Mel, which was neat. We caught up briefly and she prayed for me; man, I love her heaps. So yeah, I had a wonderful night.

The feastfoods of the post-rehearsal get-together.
Everything tasted amazing.

The happy couple.
They're going to have such beautiful kids.

With Mel's parents, Tina, Mel and Joe.

A good start to what turned out to be a great trip.

Day 2: Friday 6 January

I had the next day to myself because Mel and Joe had more wedding things to do and wanted to spend the day before their wedding with their families. I guess I could've spent the day doing nothing, waiting for the wedding the next day, given that the main purpose of my trip was to attend the wedding. But I decided not to waste my time like that, particularly given that I'd never been to Sydney before. So I went out exploring.

My first tourist thing was to hop on a ferry to Manly to take in Sydney's harbour views and also to check Manly out. The internet had told me that riding a ferry was "a must-do when visiting Sydney", and I obediently obliged. The weather wasn't the best, but it was nonetheless refreshing to be out on the water. I made friends with this Taiwanese girl called Susan, who was in Australia on a working holiday. She was going to Manly to spend the day at the beach. Although she was embarrassed about her English skills, she spoke fine and it was nice to chat together. The trip to Manly took about half an hour, and I enjoyed my short time there.

I managed to get a seat on the outside balcony
of the upper deck of the ferry. I'm glad I did.

The first view I got of Manly from the ferry.

The Corso, a historic road that led from Manly Wharf
to Manly Beach.

Manly Beach. It was nice.

Me and Susan. She was lovely.

I walked back along the Corso to catch the ferry back
to Sydney.

The ferry ride back did indeed present me with great views of Sydney.

Like this.

And this.

And this.

After I got back to Circular Quay, I headed for The Rocks, a historic area of Sydney. On the way there I got to hang out with an Aboriginal didgeridoo player.

He called me over for a photo and then did a "V",
I just did as he told me to and did as he did.

I had a fun time walking around The Rocks. I'm a sucker for history and heritage, and it was great to be able to take in heaps of that as I checked out this area.

Playfair Street, The Rocks.

Susannah Place Museum. From Wikipedia: "It is a block
of four terrace houses that was built in 1844 and had
domestic occupants until 1990. It is a documentation
of the urban working class community in The Rocks."
I was keen to do a tour of the Museum but unfortunately
the timing didn't work out.

I came upon this frame of a house fortuitously.

When I stepped in and looked down, this is what I saw.

Suez Canal. A super narrow alleyway. 

Surgeons Court, The Rocks.

Next I walked back towards Circular Quay and headed for the Opera House. On the way I got great views of the Harbour Bridge. And I really enjoyed seeing the Opera House too. I'm also a sucker for iconic landmarks.

Sydney Harbour Bridge.

The Sydney Opera House. Such a beautiful building.

I spent a while admiring the building.

I'd love to see a performance in here someday.

Then I took a walk along Farm Cove through the Royal Botanical Gardens to get to Mrs. Macquarie's Chair, a lookout point in the Gardens that was supposed to offer great views of Sydney. Google Maps had told me it was a 20-minute walk from the Opera House to the Chair, but it felt like the journey took me an hour and a half. I think it had something to do with me having little legs. At least it was a pleasant walk.

I walked on this path along the water.

The city of Sydney captured in iconic landmarks.

Mrs. Macquarie's Chair.

Then I briskly made my way through the Gardens to the Art Gallery of New South Wales. There was a Picasso exhibition on that I was keen to attend but unfortunately I couldn't afford it.

Sorry, Pablo.

I still had heaps of fun looking at lots of other awesome work. I enjoyed the photography exhibition most (mostly portraits of people). And there was a neat (and free) Picasso section in the Museum where there was a multimedia loop clip of Picasso painting various things on glass with a large paintbrush. I saw him paint a bull, a chicken and a woman. Here's some more art that I particularly liked:

"The visit of the Queen of Sheba to King Solomon"
by Edward John Poynter.  

"Eve" by Solomon J Solomon.

"Dancer looking at the sole of her right foot"
by Edgar Degas.

"Bust in profile, red background (study)"
by Pierre Bonnard.

Male and female Shinto deities by an unknown Japanese artist.

"Three Studies from the Terneraire" by Cy Twombly. 

"Nude in a Rocking Chair" by Pablo Picasso.

After enjoying all the art, I made my way through the city to get to Darling Harbour. Here are some memorable things that I saw on the way:

There was an Indian wedding going on just outside the Art Gallery.
The groom's party was making singing and dancing towards the
bride's party. It was great fun to watch.

The State Library of New South Wales.

Parliament House.

A festive state legislature.

Sydney Hospital.  Doesn't look like your typical
hospital.

The Queen Victoria Building. Basically a huge shopping mall.

Queen Victoria.

When I got to Darling Harbour, I couldn't help but feel a little disappointed, because I had expected something out of this world, but all I saw was just a harbour. Lots of people had talked up Darling Harbour to me, saying it was beautiful and magnificent. But like I said, all I saw was just a harbour. Though I guess for just a harbour it was quite nice. I had a peaceful time here, and enjoyed an overpriced meatball sub by the water while successfully fending off greedy-looking seagulls.

Darling Harbour.

Palm Grove, Darling Harbour.

It was okay.

That was my chocka day checking out Sydney. I felt proud that I'd managed to pack so much into a short amount of time. And while the photos may suggest that it was a really terrible day weather-wise, I was actually really thankful for the clouds, because otherwise it would have been way too hot and sunny to walk around as much as I did, and no doubt I would've gotten super sunburnt.

At night I hung out with Joe's friends, Joe and Tina at Tina's house. The guys had been friends since their university undergraduate days. There was Josh, Joe's best man, who currently has a ministry going in Malaysia. He's a very talented musician with a couple of worship albums out. He graciously granted my request to play me an original piece by performing a song from his latest album, called "There Will Be A Day" (based on Revelation 21-22), and it was amazing. You should check out his music online. The second groomsman, Jeremy, is studying law and is married (to a girl he knew since they were both in the second grade, so cute). The third groomsman, Jake, works in retail production. And the MC for the reception, Sungwook (known as "Wookie" for short), is an economic analyst. They were all great guys. Jeremy and Jake bought groceries and along with Josh made us a kick-ass dinner (pasta, broiled shrimp and salad), and we had a great time of fellowship over good food and wine. Jeremy told us some crazy stories about growing up in Russia and Josh told us hilarious stories about his travels in Southeast Asia with Joe. The conversations were refreshing because they were about things that I don't encounter in my daily life at home with my regular friends, and because they were with new people. I really enjoyed hanging out.

Friday was a productive and enjoyable day.

Day 3: Saturday 7 January

The next day was Joe and Mel's wedding day. It was a beautiful day full of much love and joy.

The ceremony was due to begin at 11:00am at St. Stephen's Anglican Church, Mel's family's home church in Sydney. They really lucked out because it was a gorgeous church.

Isn't it beautiful?

The view of the altar from the pews.

Joe and his groomsmen arrived at 10:30am, and guests started filling the church soon afterwards. Joe looked a little nervous as he waited for the clock to strike eleven, but luckily he was distracted by phototaking.

The lads. A handsome bunch. From the left: Josh, Jake, Joe and Jeremy.

The dashing groom.

When 11:00am came around, Joe and his groomsmen took their place on the altar and steps, and the congregation fell silent. Mel was fashionably late - evidently the limousine they rode in to get to the church from Mel's house was so long that they had to plan a bunch of alternate routes.

Anyway, the ceremony got underway and everything went smoothly from that point on. Mel looked absolutely gorgeous! Joe and Mel had written their own vows, which I wish I had recorded because they were the most beautiful wedding vows I've ever heard. Mel teared up a little when she said hers, which was really sweet. I didn't stutter or shake when I read the Bible passage for the sermon, which I was so thankful about. And Pastor Steve gave a great sermon from Romans 5:1-11, wisely sharing that God's love for us through Christ must be the starting point, arena and guiding light of any marriage. During the signing of the registry, Mel's brother Mikkeli sung Harry Connick Jr.'s version of "It Had To Be You", and gave a very entertaining and enjoyable performance.

Mel coming down the aisle with her father.

Standing at the altar, hand in hand.

Joe reading his beautiful vows.

Mikkeli Connick Jr.

The newlyweds.

After the ceremony, the bridal party went off to take photographs and the guests dispersed after a lovely lunch in the church hall. I met Tina’s parents, Paul and Caroline, and her brother James, and spent the afternoon at the house. Since the weather was so nice we considered going to a nearby beach, but it was so hot that we opted to stay inside and relax until the reception. Tina and I watched a movie called “Shadowlands” while the rest of the family slept off their jetlag and general travel tiredness. The movie was based on C.S. Lewis’ life, particularly focusing on his marriage to Joy Gresham and his grief at her untimely death (she suffered from terminal cancer). It was super sad and also super interesting. I had always thought that C.S. Lewis had met his wife when they were both young and had been married for decades before she passed away. But it turned out that she was almost 20 years his junior, and they met when Lewis was in his fifties (or sixties, I couldn’t really tell from the film) – she had written to him as a fan of his books and they shared a deep intellectual connection from the outset. Gresham was an American divorcee with a son from her previous marriage, and she and Lewis initially married so that she could live in England without running into immigration troubles. But then they actually fell in love and got married proper, and enjoyed a few years of married life before she died. Poor C.S. Lewis. I need to read “A Grief Observed”, in which he documents his experience in dealing with the death of the love of his life.

Anyway, the afternoon passed and around 4:45pm I got ready to head out again, because I was pretty sure that the reception was at 5:00pm. But Caroline was still resting and everyone seemed to think that the reception wasn’t until 7:00pm. I didn’t want to be a pain and hurry anyone along, so I just kept quiet. After a while Paul checked the invitation to make sure of the time and it turned out that the reception WAS at 5:00pm, and by then we were already half an hour late. Our bad. We all got ready at the speed of light and raced to the reception venue, which was fortunately only a 5-minute drive from the house. We snuck in just in time to catch Joe and Mel’s Korean wedding ceremony, and luckily we didn’t disturb anyone with our tardy entrance.

The Korean ceremony was probably my favourite part of the day, partly because I’d never seen one done before. It was all so colourful and cultural, and a lot of fun to watch. There were a lot of steps involved in the ceremony, and Wookie explained them all to the guests. When we arrived, Joe and Mel had just thrown and caught some dates, which symbolised the number of children they would have (they got five). Mikkeli made a speech to the two that was really moving; there were lots of tears shed. It was really lovely to see how close Mel was to her brother. Then the newlyweds bowed to the guests in thanks, and there were some photo opportunities with parents. The couple shared a drink in what’s called a “love shot”, where they link arms and drink out of their own cups. Then Joe had to piggyback Mel around the table of food to prove his strength for the wedding night. A bit weird, but way better than having people poke holes through the door of the couple’s room on the wedding night to make sure that the man could consummate the marriage. What strange customs my people have. He did very well. Then Joe gave Mel some mystery gifts, and there were more photo opportunities. Everything went awesomely.

Five dates, five children. Good luck, Mel!

Bowing to the guests.

Regal. 

Doing the "love shot".

The piggyback.

The mystery gifts.

The reception was great fun too. Wookie did a great job MCing. The food was fantastic (though we didn’t get to choose what we got to have nobody seemed to mind because everything was amazing) and there was much laughter and merrymaking. I had a great time chatting to Mel’s friend Lily from Melbourne, a doctor who is interested in dermatology and who told me some interesting information about hair loss in men (it was a pretty hilarious conversation). Guests had an opportunity to write stories about Joe and Mel or messages of encouragement for their married life and Wookie would read some out at random points of the reception. I wrote: “Now you can purify each other’s water for as long as you both shall live. Congratulations and much love.” And Wookie ended up reading my note out and explaining to the guests the Brita incident. Memories. Indeed, it seems that there’s no better way to a woman’s heart than with clean water. The speeches from the couple’s fathers, the groomsmen and bridesmaids were all wonderful, and again there were a lot of tears shed. The love in the room towards Joe and Mel was overwhelming (in a great way), the atmosphere was so warm and it was lovely to be a part of it. Joe and Mel also said a few words of thanks to the guests, and then shared a very sweet first dance as husband and wife. After that lots of people joined the couple and there was a lot of celebrating on the dance floor. The party finished up relatively early (10:00pm), and we all formed a human archway to send Joe and Mel off.

Mel and her close group of high school friends.

With the happy (and incredibly good-looking) couple. 

With the groomsmen Jeremy, Jake and Josh,
 bridesmaid Jocelin and her man Jared.

Joe and Mel's first dance as husband and wife.

With Dr. Lily. Good chats and many laughs over
a short period of time.

With Wookie and Tina. 

So yeah, that was the wedding day. A long day but a good day. And Mel looked like she enjoyed every moment of it, which she fully deserved after all her hard work. Both ceremonies and the reception were excellent, and I had a fantastic time.

Day 4: Sunday 8 January

My last day in Sydney was pretty low key. I attended the morning service at St. Stephen’s with Tina’s family, and afterwards Paul and Caroline shouted us lunch at this amazing Chinese restaurant (it was seriously the best Chinese food I’ve ever had, I would go back to Sydney just to eat there again). I spent the afternoon packing and playing Guitar Hero with Tina and James, then got dropped off at the airport to check in and catch my flight home. It took forever to check in (Virgin Australia had three flights checking in at the same time but only four staff working the check-in counters) but other than that the trip back was decent.

I spent a magical time in Sydney. I’m so happy for Joe and Mel. This is only the beginning for them, and there are sure to be many challenges ahead for them as they start their married life in the States, but I’m confident that they will overcome the various difficulties that come their way and do life really well together. Their wedding was probably the best one I’ve been to so far. A few thoughts hit me as I reflect on it. First, the love that their friends poured out for them over the weekend reminded me of the importance of loving other people in everyday life and doing relationships well. Everyone I talked to had nothing but praise and compliments to share about Joe and Mel. How wonderful, intelligent, generous, loving, caring, reliable, patient and motivated they each are, and how they’re both blessings to everyone around them. The wedding was special mainly because there were so many wonderful people attending to celebrate with Joe and Mel, and that’s a testimony to how well Joe and Mel cultivate and maintain relationships generally. And I already mentioned that all their friends were exceptional people, yes? Secondly, the fact that both Joe and Mel were very close to their families made the day extra special. The love their parents and siblings showed them was really moving, and I felt blessed just to even witness it. Finally, it was awesome to have God honoured and glorified throughout the day in various aspects of the wedding. I hope that I can keep the focus on Christ when I get married. The day isn’t just about you and your spouse; it all comes back to God.

Congratulations again, Mel and Joe. Thanks so much for inviting me to join you on your special day to celebrate with you in person. I’ll be keeping you in my prayers, particularly after you go to the States. Hope you’re enjoying your honeymoon in Fiji and talk to you when you get back! Love you and God bless you heaps.

G.