Saturday, December 19, 2009

Our 8 th Wedding Anniversary.











Winter Solstice.

Today is our 8 th wedding anniversary, we got married on 19 December 2001, it was a great day, we smiled all day and had sore facial muscles for ages after.

We were so excited; it was difficult to get to sleep the night before, so it felt like we were woken up at the crack of dawn by friends arriving from Germany with boxes of fresh bienenstich.

Another friend Grainne, arrived in her car to take us to the Westerpark Registry Office to get married; we got there only just as the bridge was opening.

I called out for them to delay for a moment so we could get to the ceremony on time, but the man operating the bridge pretended he could not hear me, nor could he see me..

Instantly I went from being a happy, smiling polite woman to a snarling fury, certainly told that man a thing or two and our friend too, as she attempted to video me shouting abuse.

Eventually the boat passed and the bridge opened again and we could get across, we were late but not too late so there was no problem.

There was a big group of friends waiting there to greet us, one of them Arjan, tried to persuade me to tip toe in to the registrar and get married while Richie was distracted greeting our friends.

The service was good, the registrar was a handsome man from Suriname, who told Richie he had to look after me well.

After the ceremony we went home with everyone who was at the ceremony plus others and had a lovely party.

Richie had cooked for about three days before our wedding and had made a feast.

There were quiches, pizzas and fresh bread, fresh salads, olive pesto, hummus, selection of cheeses, a whole stilton, homemade potato crisps, soya and Tempe crisps, olives, cashew nuts and anchovy and tomato flans, chocolate brownies (some with weed) and bienenstich and a large wedding cake.

I made one thing and that was a vegetarian pom, this is a Suriname dish with chicken and cassava and other vegetables, orange juice is used to stop the cassava from going brown, I made mine with pieces of marinated and deep fried Tempe and Tofu.

One of our friends asked me if I had cooked everything and when I told her that Richie had cooked it all except for the pom, she opened a bottle and proposed a toast to me for marrying a man that can cook.

There were lots of bottles of pink bubbly and red and white wine and beer as well as freshly made rum punch, using the Trini recipe.

Fondly remember one good friend Lee Bridges, the poet, eating Stilton for the first time ever that day; he kept saying Stiltoooooooon drawing the ton bit of the word right out.

It was a great party and in the evening we went to a friend’s bar called Finnegan’s Rainbow or Elbow depending on which window you looked at.

A window got broken and the sign writer, who had been smoking joints, wrote Finnegan’s Elbow instead of Rainbow because he thought it was funny.

Seamus, the owner, ‘’ the King of Ireland ‘’ married us again and gave us a scroll with his permission, as well as making Richie an Earl.

It was great over the top fun, then a bunch of musicians who often jammed together played for us, one was called T Bone and another was Hilton from the Animals, it was a brilliant party.

A fond memory now, one which is still vivid for us both.

21 comments:

Judy said...

Congratulations! Your wedding celebration sounds like it was a great party.
Judy

soulful sepulcher said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
JC said...

That sounds like a fabulous wedding day & evening !!!

Happy Anniversary ...

** still trying to find a home for Beau Beau & Noni Noni. please stop by my blog & post about them on yours **

Anonymous said...

Happy Anniversary!!!! What a wonderful grip down memory lane!!! Lovely story! I said Stiltoooooooon out loud as I read, lol!
xxx

Nancy said...

Congratulations to you both! We will think of you tonight as we toast our 29th year together. December 19th was a good night to get married, yes?

Your wedding sounds amazing and happy. I wish for you many more happy years with your wonderful husband, Herrard.

Ana said...

Congratulations!
I'm happy for both of you!
((((Herrad~~Richie)))
Love,
Ana

zoomdoggies said...

Happy anniversary, Herrad and Richie! I love your stories, and the images you picked to go with them today. Wishing you many more happy years together.

Travelogue for the Universe said...

Wonderful story! Congratulations to you both.
Love, Mary

Jen said...

Happy anniversary, you guys! Sounds like you had an awesome wedding and marrying a man who can cook is a blessing (Bill can make about 3 things, so I envy your luck!)

Mazel tov!

Anonymous said...

Congratulation also from me.It was a couple of days later, eight years ago that i started to exchange e-mails with my wife, as we 'met' online for the first time.
Two years later married as well.
Seems indeed that December to have been filled with a special kind of air.
Many such wonderful memories for you two and many more years to come. Please have a wonderful Sunday.

steve said...

You've squeezed a lifetime of marriage into 8 years. Congratulations on all that you are and all that you will be!

Love,

-steve and BR

Cranky said...

Happy anniversary to you both. I, too, loved the stories of your wonderful-sounding marriage day. Thanks for sharing them.

Amrita said...

Happy anniversary Herrad and Richie, you make a lovely couple.

Memories of the occasion are so pleasant - my all that food. Sounds really good.

Anonymous said...

Happy Anniversary to you both! What a joyous day to remember with all the wonderful food and festivities.

Enjoy the celebrating :-))))

Webster said...

Again, Happy belated anniversary, Herrad and Richie! You've described your wedding day very nicely. So nicely, in fact, that I wish I was there!

Herrad said...

Hi Judy,
Thanks for coming by and congratulationing us.

Hi Stephany,
Thanks for your visit, Grainne soon stopped trying to video me.in 2001.

Hi JC,
It was a great wedding day, nice to see your comment.
Hope you can find a good home for your cats.

Hi Nancy,
Thanks for your visit and comment too, we toasted you yesterday too.

Hi Ana,
Thanks for your visit and congratulations.

Hi Zoomdoggies,
Thanks for your visit and congratulations.

Hi Mary,
It was a good day, also yesterday.
Lovely to see your comment.

Hi Jen,
Thanks for your visit and wishes.

Hi Robert,
Thanks also for your visit and congratulations.


Hi Steve and BR,
Thanks for your visit and congratulations.

Hi Cranky.
Thanks for taking the time to visit and congratulate us.

-Hi Amrita,
Thanks for your visit and good wishes.

Thanks everyone for coming by and sharing our special day.
It is very cold and snowy here today.
Keep warm.
Love,
Herrad

Herrad said...

Hi Anne,
Thanks also for your visit and congratulations.
Our wedding day was extremely good


Hi Webster,
Thanks for your visit and congratulations, shame you were not there.

Thanks both of you for coming by and sharing our special day.
It is very cold and snowy here today, we are enjoying watching the snow falling.
Keep warm.
Love,
Herrad

Libby said...

hi herrad, happy anniversary to you and richie!! it was truly a blessing that you two found each other, isn't it??? the years together must just be better every year!

Herrad said...

Hi Libby,
Thanks for coming by and sharing our day.
We agree, it was good we met, we are best friends.
Have a good Sunday and new week.
Love,
Herrad

CrazyCris said...

wow, congratulations! sounds like it was a lovely day, and 8 years is a great thing to celebrate! :o)

Herrad said...

Hi Cris,
Thanks for coming by and leaving a comment.
We know each other for 20 years.
Happy Solstice Greetings.
Love,
Herrad