Peter and Trish's wedding

[slideshow]March 12 was the wedding day – and it was one to remember. Full of warm moments, funny stories, babies, way too much food and lots of photo opportunities. Peter picked us up at 12:30 or so, and we arrived back to our hotel about 12 hours later; stuffed to the gills, feet sore and laughing about all the wonderful moments we had shared.

Peter rented a small bus and picked up all the visitors at our individual lodgings on the way back to his apartment to pick up the beautiful bride, her mother, sister, aunt and cousin. Peter looked very handsome in his tailored suit. But Trish looked stunning in her strapless beaded gown and her hair up in a chignon. She had on a white fur jacket and muffler that made me think of Doctor Zhivago every time I looked at her.

Then we headed to the Central Civil Registry Office/Wedding Palace for the ceremony. They had an appointment at exactly 2:00pm, which, several months earlier, Peter had waited in line all day to get. The door to the building was locked when we got there, because the previous wedding was still happening. When they let us in, I was stunned. I had expected a functionary's office. But this was a wedding factory/palace. In fact, another wedding party filed in before we were done.

An official and efficient wedding coordinator who knew her business, and for some strange reason never took off her parka, greeted us at the door. She was good: perfectly capable of making sure we sat, stood, walked this way or posed for that picture – all in Russian. (All 36 of us did line up for a group photo which we could – and did – buy immediately after the ceremony for 50 Hrivnas – about $8 US. Excellent entrepreneurial spirit there.) Trish's cousin Maria spontaneously volunteered to interpret to help move things along. And then she went on to interpret the entire ceremony for us, which showed great concentration, given that she was holding her impatient 13 month old daughter throughout. It also doubled the length of the ceremony – up to a whopping ten minutes from the five minutes it was supposed to take.

Surprisingly, that quick little ceremony included cultural traditions along with the civil requirements. Parents gave the couple korovai (Ukrainian wedding bread) and kisses; the couple exchanged rings, drank a champaigne toast, signed the legal documents and kissed each other. Seriously. All in maybe 10 minutes. Then out in the foyer, we all had chocolates and champaign.

Next we all loaded on a big tour bus and drove around to favorite landmarks; at each one we disembarked and posed for pictures. Trish and Peter were both so handsome – the pictures were all just beautiful. Finally the bus took us to a traditional Ukrainian restaurant for a lavish 5 hour feast. Every detail was amazing: the food, the atmosphere, the time to get to know all present.

When we entered the restaurant, we were given shots of vodka infused with either cranberry, honey or horseradish; followed by a bite of dill pickle. Then they led us into a private room and offered red caviar canapes, cheese and olives. The tables were already laid with five different kinds of cold starters – salads and meats. The subsequent courses – hot starters (five of them – including the most amazing rabbit and mushroom crepes); the main course of three kinds of grilled meat, grilled vegetables and sauteed potatoes; and three kinds of dessert with coffee or tea – were served after breaks of about an hour each. In fact the dancing started before the main course was served. And there was no lack of lubrication before, during or after each course.

Our music was mostly delivered through an ipod – and everyone had a chance to look for their favorite songs. Rick did a toast to the couple and asked Jan to start the special song on cue. They had not actually prepared for this however, and Jan just kept playing random songs. Finally Rick took matters into his own hands and put on At Last, by Etta James. It was the perfect first dance for Peter and Trish.

We danced all night- to all kinds of music. The Ukrainian folk band even dropped in and played a few songs for us. The Ukrainians sang along as we polkaed and waltzed. (And did I mention how lovely the mother of the groom looked? Yes Libby -- you did.)

We went home around 12:30, but some of the younger guests danced on. And then went looking for more fun. Three of them got stopped by the police for jay-walking at about 3:00am. They called Peter for help when the police threatened to take them to jail. Peter told them to put one of the officers on the phone and proceeded, in his wonderfully fluent Russian, to explain that his three friends were diplomats and that there would be international trouble if they got arrested. Seriously. He pulled that off. On his wedding night.

On Sunday we all slept in a little. :-) And then met up with Peter and Trish for an enormous Georgian lunch – another long, slow (we met them at 1pm and got home at about 6pm), delicious, rich (featuring a lot of cheese) meal. Day three of eating like this had me heading into a serious food coma, but the trek back to our hotel revived me a little. Rick, Libby, Lowell, Jan and I opted for a nap over further group activities. We finished off the day with a trip out for ice cream on our own. And got mostly what we thought we ordered from the waitress who spoke no English.

Man – I can't believe all we've done and seen in such a few short days. I'm not sure my belly will ever recover – but I am definitely not complaining! Many thanks and much love to Peter and Trish. They are a lovely couple with so much life ahead.