Episode 13: May 2006

There was no doubt that May would be a momentous month for us. But it started out just like any other. We began the month in Switzerland where we had a long weekend to celebrate the Swiss version of Labor Day. Despite the holiday, we chose to spend a few hours at the office to get things organized before leaving for Australia. As you can imagine, that last week in the office was a hectic one, what with the meetings, an occasional business dinner, and packing. Nevertheless, we managed to get ourselves sorted by Thursday and headed off to Australia, leaving work a distant thought in our minds.

Singapore airlines once again proved to be a great choice. Our flights went very well, helped especially by Singapore’s ample supply of in-flight entertainment. Upon landing in Melbourne, we were greeted by Deb’s family and friends who were as delighted to see us as we were to see them. After some catching up, we headed off to Carol’s (my older sister), which was our home away from home for the majority of our stay.

During the course of the week, we did all kinds of wedding-related things. Thanks to Carol – our unofficial wedding planner – we had a structured schedule to follow and very little work to do as most everything had already been organized. We visited and finalized details with the florist, celebrant, and marquee coordinators/caterers. (For those who may not remember, we decided on having the wedding in a park in downtown Melbourne. We asked our catering company to set up a marquee in the garden where the entire event would take place.) Thanks to Carol’s great organization (she really should consider going in the wedding planning business full-time), we felt confident that all of these people would handle our special day perfectly.

Rather than go into the explicit details of what we did leading up to the wedding (which would easily take up another 10 pages), here are some highlights:

• We were treated to a “hucks” dinner – combined hens and bucks evening – at a seafood restaurant in Port Melbourne, a fast-rising area in Melbourne along the ocean;
• Ravi and Surekha (Neal’s parents) and Tony and Julie arrived;
• Four of our friends from Switzerland arrived in the country, with three of them touring around several locations before eventually finding their way to Melbourne;
• Carol and Candace treated us to a night out to see “The Lion King” musical at Melbourne’s Regent Theatre (very creative show – we highly recommend);
• The girls (Anna, Surekha, Carol, Candace, and Deb) enjoyed a day of pampering at a local spa to relax, bond, and get beautified before the wedding;
• Ravi and Surekha hosted a pre-wedding dinner with the immediate Shorg family at an Italian restaurant called ‘Scusa Mi in an area of downtown Melbourne called Southbank; following the dinner, we finished the night at the apartment where Ravi and Surekha were staying and looked on as I draped myself in a traditional Indian bridal saree as well as received some wedding jewelry – all part of the traditions of an Indian wedding;
• The day before the wedding, we had lunch at an Indian restaurant where we met some relatives from the Sheorey side who live in Australia and were going to attend the wedding.

Whew! It may not sound like a lot, but we were quite busy during the days leading up to the wedding. Following tradition, we did not see each other the evening before the big day and stayed under separate roofs. Neal stayed with his parents at their apartment in South Melbourne, and I stayed in an apartment that Carol had rented for the girls (my sisters, mom, and three girlfriends, Andrea, Natalie, and Melissa). In both camps, we kept our nerves calm and rested (yeah right!) as much as we could ahead of the big day.

Sunday, May 14, 2006: a very special day for the Shorgs. The day started relatively early for both of us. I got up very early in the morning with a full list of things to do: make-up, hair, and the dress! Neal, on the other hand, had it much simpler by his own admission. All he had to do was take a shower, get dressed, and run some styling gel through his hair. How easy is that?!

After getting ready in our respective apartments and posing for the photographer for our pre-wedding photos, we were ready to go! As I mentioned before, the wedding was held in a garden – Treasury Gardens – in downtown Melbourne. It is a beautiful garden that really looks fantastic when its autumn colors are just right. (At the time, we were a bit worried that the winter weather would make the pictures in the garden look dreary, but now we realize how great autumn colors look when they are photographed properly.) The marquee was erected in the garden and was used for the ceremony itself as well as the luncheon/reception that followed.

Neal and his parents, as well as my sisters, Julie, and Lou (my mom’s boyfriend), arrived at the marquee at 11:30 am to greet guests and make sure that the final preparations had been completed. Finally, after what seemed like a long wait, noon struck and the ceremony began.

I arrived in a car with my mom and dad, who both walked me down the aisle to the traditional “here comes the bride” tune. Awaiting me at the front of the marquee was my prince charming, who looked quite dapper in his suit. As we had requested, the ceremony was brief but perfectly orchestrated. Our celebrant, Robert, did a fantastic job of personalizing the ceremony. We wrote our own vows – which we tailored after the traditional seven vows recited in a Hindu wedding ceremony -- and read them to each other over the occasional sound of sobbing from parents and friends alike. Standing up with us were my sisters. Carol acted as our impromptu ring bearer and stood on Neal’s side, while Candace stood on my side and did a reading just before we read our vows.

Following the ceremony, we signed the marriage certificate in front of the entire audience, a typical part of a wedding in Australia. Then, we gathered ourselves at the front of the marquee once again and were officially introduced as Mr. and Mrs. Shorg…er, Sheorey. Immediately, we were congratulated by our guests, and the bubbly started to flow. While appetizers and champagnes were being served, Neal and I snuck away from the marquee into the gardens to take some photos with the beautiful scenery all around. After a few minutes, others got into the act and we ended up taking many more pictures than we expected. Our smiling muscles got quite a workout!

Following the first round of pictures, we were formally introduced again as we entered the marquee to sit down for lunch. In between courses, we were entertained with some heart-warming and well-crafted speeches given by Tony, Ravi, and Carol. Of course, we also got up and made speeches thanking our friends and families. After the cutting of the cake, Neal and I opened the dance floor to Harry Connick Jr’s version of “It Had to Be You” and were soon joined by a marquee full of people ready to party!

The dancing went on until 6 pm when the event officially ended and Neal and I were whisked away again, this time to have some nighttime shots taken of us around the city. The photographers did a great job with the post-wedding photos and really made an effort to capture not only us but the great landmarks of my hometown.

Finally, around 9 pm, we were dropped off at The Windsor, our hotel for the night. Rather than going in, though, we walked down the road to a pub to meet up with a group of friends and family who had carried on after the wedding. That was a nice end to a wonderful day – surrounded by friends, family, and good times!

In short, our wedding day went even better than we imagined. The flowers were spectacular, the marquee was surprisingly large, the garden provided the most fantastic autumn colors, our band chose their songs wisely, and our guests showered us with more affection and adoration than we deserve. The wedding had all the elements we were looking for: relaxed, classic, romantic, fun, and intimate. We could not have asked for a more special day, one that captured our personalities and style. What is best, perhaps, is that the day did not fly by too quickly. It went along at a nice pace, making it possible for us to savor every moment.

Following the wedding, we stayed in Australia for another couple of days during which we said goodbye to friends and family who had traveled to the event, and we enjoyed some post-wedding downtime. Finally, on Tuesday, we headed off for a week in paradise, better known as Vatulele, Fiji.

After a four-hour flight from Melbourne, we arrived in Nadi, Fiji. We arrived very early in the morning and still had another flight to catch to get to the island of our resort. Luckily, upon landing, a representative from our resort met us, took our bags, and arranged a taxi for us to go to a resort on the other side of the main island for some breakfast. After doing that, we came back to that airport and caught our next flight, a 45-minute seaplane journey to the island of Vatulele. This was the first seaplane adventure for either of us and the landing on water was certainly very interesting. To top it off, the pilot of the plane was dressed in shorts, a Hawaiian t-shirt, and no shoes! Island living…gotta love it.

Vatulele was an amazing experience. It is a beautiful, secluded island off the coast of the Fiji mainland. The seaplane literally left us at the beach edge. After taking off our shoes, we jumped into the warm water and walked our way up the beach where we were greeted by the staff singing a Fijian welcome song and handing out our first cocktail of the day. What a life!

After some brief introductions, we were escorted to our bure, a traditional Fijian house made of thatched wood and coconut leaves. Each bure at the resort – only 12 of them in total – were carved into the forest, providing residents with their own secluded house and oceanfront. The resort really took care of every little detail. As we walked up to our bure, we noticed that the staff had written “Happy Honeymoon” in the sand using flower petals. The bure itself was done in a first-rate style, with superb furnishings and extra touches. The resort strongly encouraged its guests to leave all ties to the Western world behind. The bures had no phones, no TVs. The only form of entertainment was each other and the other resort guests (a maximum of 30 people at any time).

The week that followed was full of everything we wanted in our honeymoon: lots of sun, sand, amazing food, drinks, relaxation, and a beautiful, romantic setting. Within 30 minutes of arriving, every staff members memorized our name. In fact, the Fijian people are what make the resort so special. Their happiness and hospitality made the trip memorable for us.

On any given day, the biggest decision we had to make was where and what we wanted to eat for lunch and dinner. In fact, that was one of the nice touches that the resort offered. We could either dine with the other guests or seclude ourselves at one of several locations, such as a secluded island, a beach on the other side of the island, or even in our bure. When we were not stuffing our faces, we were sea-kayaking, reading, doing puzzles, sunning ourselves, and walking along the beach. We even joined a trip to the local village on the island, had a drink of cava (a local drink that looks like muddy water and leaves you with a tingling sensation on your lips) with the chief of the village, and watched the villagers play a bruising game of rugby.

On the one hand it was hard to leave Vatulele and the care-free life that it provided us, but at the same time we were ready to return to the “regular” world after a week of bliss. It was a truly spectacular honeymoon – a vacation that we will always remember and a location that we will always hold dear in our hearts.

Needless to say, we returned to Melbourne much more tanned than when we left! Two days after we returned, I celebrated my 30th birthday. I really wanted to go to the Melbourne Zoo, so a group of us – Neal, Carol, my mom, and my friends, Natalie and Andrea – spent the day there looking at all the animals. That night, we got dressed up for what I thought would be a small, intimate birthday dinner. Yeah right! Little did I know, Carol had organized a surprise birthday party for me at a pub, complete with a DJ, dance floor, and about 50 of my friends and family. It was a crazy-fun night and a great way to start my 30’s.

The next morning, after waking up a little “cautiously”, I had to say goodbye to Neal and send him on his way back to Switzerland. I stayed a week longer in Australia to attend my friend, Melissa’s, wedding, and Neal had to get back to prepare for a trip he was taking a week later. After Neal left, I spent the following week with friends and family and got caught up with work after not having checked my emails for nearly a month!

And so, after months of planning and anticipation, the month of May came to an end. Of all the 13 entries we have posted thus far, this one will surely be one of, if not THE most memorable of them all. For those of you who thought of us on our wedding day, we want to thank you very much. We hope you have enjoyed this blog entry and the various photos we have provided (just click on any of the pictures above and you will be taken to our photo galleries). We look forward to sharing our married-life adventures with you from here on.

Take care,

Mr. and Mrs. Sheorey