Leon and Lehesta Wedding

Submitted by laurence on Fri, 2009-01-02 21:12

As with the wedding speech this is going to be hard to write without making it all about me and how Leon getting married effects me.
During our first half marathon we joked about how if I died first we would know that being vegetarian is not healthy. See Leon and I trained together so where both the same fitness, both the same height and looked enough like each other to be mistaken as brothers (which we often used to our advantage). At the New Years party someone even called me Leon thinking that was my name.

So the wedding was a big deal for me and for him. Before I left Ireland to come back to Cape Town for the wedding I had a minor freak out and get all weird. Luckily this settled down as soon as I touched down and by the time I got to the beach front and Countdown it was like I had never left. I was even wearing the same clothes as my mum had saved all the best ones for my holiday cupboard.

So the wedding day was pretty planned out, we decided to go to the gym in the morning to get a little pumped and kill some time. Then met up with the boys for a best mans lunch, this totally throw the photographer.
He did not understand how we where not following his plan of getting dressed at 11 oclock in the morning for the 4 oclock wedding, so he could take pictures. Apparently we could get changed out of wedding clothes and then back before 4 oclock. That all seemed a little fake and pretentious anyway there was no way we could have all got dressed undressed and then dressed again into our wedding best without major incidents, stains or breakages. Getting our ties done was enough of a mission.

The photographer eventually caved in and came to watch us get dressed at the more sensible time of 2 oclock. By then the day was flying I realised my notes for my speech where still on my laptop so needed to write them down quickly during rushing around and worrying that the wedding car would arrive.

As per tradition Leon needed to go to the church in a Lancia. Unfortunately we no longer had any, so I needed the favor of a club member who picked us up in Delta Intergrale. The second thing, as per tradition we need to go to buckleys for a last beer with the groom, discuss the option of taking him to the airport instead of the wedding and who of the best men would marry the bride instead.

With all this over with we got the church, the groom disappeared inside organising and I caught up with all the tannies.
We got news that the bridal party where on the way and we swept into action. Instructions where give in thick and fast afrikaans which I did my best to understand something about a shell and rings. I was sure I could figure it out.

We herded all the folks into the church and the 4 of us are then standing on stage fidgeting trying to work out how you can stand in front of church full of people without looking awkward. I tried to start some chit chat about who had seen the most people in the crowd naked, this was largely ignored so I gave up on it and focused on where I should put my arms, sucking in my chin and not hunching my back.

The bride arrived with all the bridesmaids and looked amazing, as we know she would. When the shell came into the equation I knew what to do and followed it around the church to get every ones bless before having it ready for the "with ring I do you wed" bit. The rings where tidied into the ring with little ribbons in double notes, so I had my leatherman ready in case the notes did not come out, it was not needed though. That was it, one big sloppy you may kiss the bride with a fair amount of tongue and they where married.