July 26 to August 3rd, Me, Husband Doug and my 78 year old Dad who has dementia. The Wedding at Uluwatu Surf Villa and the Reception at a Reception Centre
The weather was just glorious and it was lovely to just relax while waiting for the service to start. Whilst talking to my cousin about how frustrating it was not to have a phone in our rooms she mentioned that she had left my mobile number in her room and that was why she called our hotel twice but then gave up until 2.10pm. She then explained that she had called earlier and had asked to be put through to us not realizing there were no phones. She said that the staff had now idea who she was asking for. So she just said Christine in room 24. I laughed then as I realized now who the mystery Mr Christian was! LOL
My cousins said that when she called back again she knew we would be waiting so she described us to the staff and said that we would be waiting in the foyer to be picked up and that we would be dressed for a wedding.
The cocktails being served were a beautiful blue one and an orange one and I thought the blue one tasted quite nice. Unfortunately so did my Dad!! He had had a few beers not long after we had arrived and then he had two cocktails. I am not sure what the alcohol was in them but he was starting to look a bit tipsy. Not too good as the service had not yet started! Doug had a quite word with the staff and suggested to only offer my Dad water only if he asked. Thankfully Dad realized he was a bit unsteady and he stopped drinking. The thought of having to manage him getting back up the mountain of steps was scary!
There were 30 guests at the wedding including the Bride's family who had travelled from Japan. We were all asked to take a seat and there were lovely booklets on each seat outlining the Marriage Liturgy. On the front of the booklet there was a Japanese symbol written in gold calligraphy. To say that the Bride looked stunning is an understatement! She was just like something from the cover of a Vogue magazine! Her dress was very fitted, strapless with gorgeous A- line inserts of lace and it had its own medium train that was all pleated. Just beautiful. The service was of the traditional type. Everyone had a bit of a laugh though when the Bride could not get the ring on her soon to be husbands finger. It was very quickly pointed out that she was trying to put it on the wrong hand LOL. The sun was peaking in and out from behind the clouds. The setting was just superb with the ocean breeze gently blowing and looking out over the white caps of the surf.
After the service was completed then came the obligatory photos to be taken. In all of the weddings that I have ever been to I have never ever seen almost every single guest with a camera! I mentioned it to my cousin and she said she had thought that same then said it was probably because everyone was on holiday!! By now the sun was almost gone leaving a warm orange glow on the horizon. There were little tiny specks way out to sea and as they approached you could make out that they were the local fishing boats coming back after the days catch. As the sun disappeared totally the lights on the boats became like little twinkling stars on the still waters below and out to sea. The sight was one to be seen.
Soon we were all asked to make our way to the vans which were waiting to take us to the reception centre. These had been supplied by the wedding organisers and part of the package. Getting my Dad up the steps was a bit of challenge as he was still quite unsteady on his feet but there were lots of people to help. Once in the vans and on our way we had no idea where were going. We followed the coast for a bit then through rice terraces before being back to civilization. We went down this really tiny lane way and there before us was this beautiful centre hidden away behind a big brick wall. We found out later that it was somewhere near Jimbaran.
We were greeted at the door and taken into a large room which led down to the actual area where the reception was to take place. Yes it was ,down, and down some more steps! This time a lovely lady helped my Dad. Once at the lower level Dad then said he needed the loo which again was down some more steps! Dad by now was a bit more steadier which was good. The reception area was set out just lovely with big round tables and for place cards there were little bamboo surfboard keyrings which had each persons name burnt into them. A lovely touch and a nice memento of the occasion. The tables were alongside a rather large swimming pool which looked so inviting with little lights around it.
My cousin Anne really amazed everyone by giving an opening speech all spoken in Japanese which was no mean feat! She then repeated it in English. That was followed by the Bride's Father giving his speech in English. Once the official welcomes were over it was time to sample the amazing array of food.
The food was set out on three large tables and it was help your self. After having a quick look I asked my Dad if he would like me to get his to save him walking. For starters there was a lovely soup with floating wantons. Not long after the food was ready the Bride changed her dress because she said she could not eat due to it being so fitted! She had another lovely short white dress and she still looked really gorgeous. There was a variety of satay sticks which were really nice and tasty although some were really very hot and spicy as well. There was a selection of traditional dishes, spring rolls, rice, noodles, fish, beef, chicken, smoked salmon, different traditional salads, cap cay etc. They even had babi guling!! For years I have wanted to try this but never have. So I was pleased that I could now try it. I took little amounts of dishes that I thought Dad would like. Most of what I took I loved except for one dish that was just a bit too spicy for me. The babi guling crackle was really tasty and it was really crackly! The meat though had an unusual taste so I only had a small piece. Anne said it was because it was from the belly. Dad seemed to enjoy most of what I took for him. He actually drank some water which was a surprise as he had only had one small bottle in the whole time that we had been in Bali! . Desert was a selection of little cakes and the 2 that I had were really yummy. One tasted like eating rice pudding but compressed into a cake!
The wedding cake was chocolate and was divine. During the cutting of the wedding cake the Bride and Groom did some sort of traditional thing were each served the other.
My cousin had arranged with the drivers who had taken us from their hotel to come back and pick us up. Before long this amazing day and evening was coming to an end and it was time to go back to Legian. After saying our goodbyes to everyone it was time to manoeuvre Dad back up the steps. He had had a good time talking to some of the younger guests about all of his escapades during his life. He had drunk a few more beers during the night so he was once again a bit unsteady on his feet. After a bit of confusion with the vans we found ours and in no time we were back on the road. On the way we discussed getting together on the Friday to go out for dinner as a 'post' buck's and hen's night. In no time we were bidding the others farewell as we had the driver stop just on the corner of Garlic Lane to save him driving all around the block again. It was quite funny walking up the road with Dad as he thought he was ok but he wasn't really and was quite doddery to say the least! He said about going back out for another drink but we said it was bed time and took him back to his room. Once he was safe Doug and I went down to Legend's as we had heard the band still playing as we'd walked up the road. By the time we got there though they had played their last song. We had a quick drink with Kelik and told him all about the wedding before heading back to our room for a well deserved sleep!
More to come soon...