Matthew and Anya's Wedding

Matt and Anya had a really beautiful day for their wedding. It was forecast rain, but turned out to be beautifully sunny and a number of us came away with our first tan of the season!
The wedding was held in the park in Anya's hometown. Outdoor weddings are unusual here in Ukraine. There are only two types of wedding here. Government wedding (which includes a ceremony and all the legal paperwork) and church wedding (which can still vary greatly from western church weddings and also requires a government wedding for the legal side of things). But foreign influence prevails and in the little town of Kagarlyk (Ka-garlic) outdoor weddings are becoming more common--at least among the segment of the population that is attached to Calvary Chapel Kagarlyk.
Since this wedding was held in the town park, some young guys from the church came the day before to trim the grass and clean up the garbage and generally tidy up the area. This park is really a bit more of a mini-forest, hence the self-cleanup.

The morning of the wedding, people from the local churches came and set up the decorations and chairs.
I wasn't part of that group, since I was both a bridesmaid and the cake decorator. Around 9:30am Gavin and I took a slow drive from Rizhischiv (I dare you to try that one) to Kagarlyk with the cakes in the back. We all arrived safe and sound and I quickly set up the cake in the restaurant, then ran down the block to the mother-of-the-bride's apartment to join the other bridesmaids in getting ready.
Naturally, everything took longer than everyone planned and we were nearly an hour late to the wedding. Thankfully, Anya--being wise beyond her years--had planned on being late, so she was not at all stressed! I was though. :D
We arrived at the park to find that some inconceivably dull person had parked their car right in front of the entrance (which the city has specially opened for our cars to drive in). For a few minutes there was doubt that we would be able to make it through the gap left, but our drivers, by skill unknown to me, managed to squeeze their cars through without any damage.
After that, most things went as planned. We arrived, popped out of our cars and walked sedately and elegantly down the aisle. Thankfully, the bridesmaids were escorted to their spots by the groomsmen, because the ground was just a wee bit soft...it is well aerated now.
The flower girls were charming.
But then it is hard not to be charming when you are three and five. Once they made it down to the front and over by me, Vienna was exhausted from her long role (or possibly the hour of waiting to play her role) and promptly laid down on Ellie's dress and fell asleep. Ellie wasn't so thrilled about Vienna laying on her dress, but feeling very mature at five, she bravely put up with it and sat their patiently. As she later informed me, she was very bored, which explains why when I glanced down she was digging in the dirt with her fingers. I let her go on with that, figured that if it kept her quiet and occupied, I certainly wasn't going to worry about a very grimy little hand. 'Course, I don't know how her mother felt about having to deal with that afterward.

Anya, who had been ready for about two hours already, came out of her car fresh as a daisy. Her pastor, Wayne, walked her down the aisle as her dad passed away when she was a child. She's worked for the church for several years so it was very fitting for Wayne to give her away. I'm fairly sure he'll feel her absence keenly.
Anya was by far one of the most beautiful brides I have ever seen. I mean, she's cute and pretty on a regular, ho-hum daily basis, but on her wedding day she completely blew us all away. She wore my mum's dress, which she had had some bead work added too. It suited her perfectly and was so much fun to see that dress in use. I had always wanted to wear that dress when I got married, but given that my mom is under 5' 4" and I am just over 5' 8"...well, I knew that was never going to happen. But seeing it on Anya was definitely the next best thing! I think our whole family appreciated that. Of course, she mostly cared about Matthew, and I think he loved it too. (but then like most brides, coulda put her in a garbage sack and he still would have thought she looked stunning) ;)


Dad took the ceremony, which means he has now married both of his sons. Kostia translated for him. It was a nice ceremony, although I have to admit that I wasn't too focused for most of it. I think I rushed into that morning a little too much and my mind was on the cake and the flower girls and the bugs...and my heels sinking ever deeper into the dirt--thankfully we had to move to the communion table half way, which helped me get a little unstuck. :D
Our family definitely dominated the wedding party, with me and Samuel and Daniel all acting as witnesses.

For some reason, I don't have many pictures of the reception. Probably someone gave my camera back to me.
The reception was at a local restaurant. It was a nice reception. Ukrainians typically do a lot of games at their weddings (I don't know if westerners do or not, but I don't think they do as many, and certainly not as embarrassing or occasionally inappropriate, I hope), but Matthew put his foot down, not being that kind of guy, and not wanting to be stuck at the reception until 2am. I was thankful. As it was, the entertainment was fun and the atmosphere fairly relaxed. Lots of people had time to interact with Matt and Anya, which was nice. And of course, they had a FANTASTIC cake. :D Of which there will be pictures in another post.
That's all for tonight, folks!