needed: three weddings

The reason for my trip to NZ was sad; my dad passed away and I was there to participate in the internment of his ashes.

Saturday, the day we chose to do this, dawned sunny and hot. Dad had spent one last night in his own home and we set off for the cemetery where we were to have what I kept referring to as a DIY funeral. My sisters kept saying "we've already had his funeral" which is true, but as I was not able to be present for that ceremony, for me, this was my funeral for Dad. There was just us, his three daughters, plus one son-in-law and one special friend. We got Dad buried, the hole filled in, the flowers carefully arranged and watered and the grave stone cleaned off. It was time to go.

We had decided we would go out for lunch afterwards. And that is when we happened upon our first wedding. Since it is sometimes better to laugh than to cry, one of us chirped that all we needed was to run across three more weddings and we would have our own version of the movie "Four Weddings and a Funeral".

So here are some photos of "One Wedding and a Funeral" wherein the former distracted us from the sadness of the latter.

As we arrived at our chosen venue for lunch we noticed that parking was at a premium. We pulled in thinking we had scored a great parking space only to be asked "are you here for the wedding?" Once we replied that we were not and the car was parked in a better location we went inside. Soon we found out that a wedding was to happen and that the bride would arrive by sea. So, like the other patrons, we were quite distracted and hanging out the window waiting for the expected arrival - see the photo above.

The guests were all in place in the chairs that had been set out and decorated with red ribbons (see my earlier post). I'm guessing the colors chosen for the wedding were selected because of the striking view of the red flowers of the native Pohutukawa tree that is always in full bloom in December.

What a day for memories.