August 4, 2012 - "a few words, a kiss, and a brand new adventure"

A little photo tour of our wedding day...

The sunflower bouquet keeps the china company while parasols, fans, and clothes-pinned photos decorate the backyard..

Beauties on harp and cello meet on the morning of the wedding and become dear friends immediately. Sounds of Jill Barber, Ingrid Michaelson, and the Angel theme (Joss Whedon, not celestial) fill the house...

Suit goes on, hugs abound.. (Marc's suit from Tom's Place, Kensington Market: toms-place.com)

Father-in-law (to be) saves the bridal curls. Not pictured: the four other women in the small, hot, room. (Father-in-law is a saint.)

Front yard anticipation moments before the ceremony. (Pearls were borrowed from mother-in-law, bouquet from Lunenburg florist Svenja: tulipwood.ca, and headpiece from Pam Chorley's Fashion Crimes, Queen St. W, Toronto: fashioncrimes.ca)

In the backyard, Carla, our JP, led our simple and sweet ceremony..

Daniel and Laura led a handfasting ceremony, a Celtic tradition of union: "may these hands always be held by one another"

We asked that each family member and friend take a moment to endow our rings with their wishes, hopes and blessings for us: a ring warming. The rings we made ourselves, melting down gold from the Marlin, Tellez, Posluns, Solmon, and Young families. (Ring-making workshop, Queen St. W, Toronto: thedevilsworkshop.ca)

And in front of the people most dear to us, we spoke our vows:  “I promise to love you when life seems easy and when it seems hard, when our love is simple, and when it is less so.

I promise to turn to you and not on you in times of trial, to practice honest and thoughtful communication and to challenge and inspire you to be all that I believe you can. 

I will share in your dreams, and I will keep myself open to you, sharing my own dreams, fears and needs with you.

I promise to be brave together, willing to face change so that our relationship continues to grow along with us... 

... I will put our love ahead of all other joys and sorrows in my life.

With all that I am, with all that I will become, I marry you.”

.. and then it was a day of relaxed bliss.

Our photographer suggested stopping at the Lahave Bakery en route to the beach. Did I mention he was a joyful part of our day? (Jason Remai: thephotogallery.ca)

Treks through tall grass, shoes off, were a large part of the day..

Arrived at Green Bay beach, corks were popped, glasses were raised.

Smiling men, skipping stones with rolled-up pant legs and loosened ties..

Marco's family shots..

Mel's family shots..

And the first official Tellez-Posluns-Marlin family portrait!

One of the only spots I know with a pond in the foreground, and an ocean in the background..

Afterward, we returned to the backyard where Laura & Geir had made everything beautiful, and a vegan feast was served. (Scanway Catering: scanwaycatering.com - they were brilliant, and good-looking!)

Simple, sweet, with belly laughs and lop-sided grins. Our day. And hopefully, our lives. xo M&M

moon's over honeys: Indonesia, August 6 - 20, 2012

Some (not so high quality, sorry) photos from our honeymoon (August 6 - 20, 2012)

We flew from Toronto to Indonesia, via Frankfurt, and Bangkok. After 30 hours of flying, we hopped on a ferry of terror and bumpily rode to Nusa Lembongan, the tiny island which was our first destination. Above, you see sleepy Marc in Bangkok, not impressed by my pineapple; optimistic Marc in Toronto before departure (centre), exhausted us on the scary ferry, and the Super Mario Bros. in-flight gaming system provided by Thai Airlines.

There were many moments on the flight where we questioned the intelligence of choosing such a lengthy journey, and then we arrived at Pandana Guest House, on Nusa Lembongan, and this was our view. We reconsidered the regret, once vitamin D levels were replenished.

The Pandana restaurant overlooked both pools, plus the ocean. Frequent breakfast preferences were black manis (super sweet rice and coconut milk), fried potato pancakes, and copious amounts of Bali coffee..

For five blissful days, we explored the tiny island's many beaches, went snorkelling, ate nasi goreng or mei goreng (fried rice / noodles) and tempeh each day, and awoke to the loud, persistent island rooster calls..

Daily offerings, scary ferry, and examples below of the motorbikes and "guest house taxi trucks" available for transport on the island.

Next we ferried back to mainland Bali and headed to Ubud, where we encountered two new swimming pools and a much more tourist-driven culture.

Marc hunted down the best coffee in Bali, and we went. Each day. And brought back several pounds of coffee. Notice the chair modification from cheap deck chair to rocking chair? Best. (senimankopi.com)

Rice paddies, stray (?) dogs, and a bird from the strangest, dirtiest art museum in existence: the Blanco Museum (blancomuseum.com)

We really went to Cafe Seniman each day. Note Marc's blissed out, over-caffeination. Daily.

One of the best culinary finds in Ubud was Clear Cafe (www.clear-cafe-ubud.com). Imagine if Live was $10 and AYCE. And the service was prompt. Plus, there were Michael Franti endorsements everywhere - what's not to like about that?

Monkey Forest, Ubud. RIP Nym.

One day in Ubud, we journeyed by foot to find some 14c carvings known as Yeh Pulu. Each directional inquiry yielded a vague hand-point and a nod, and maybe some laughter.  Eventually we hailed a driver who took us down a series of winding alley roads with zero signage that was far beyond a walkable distance. Then we saw some carvings.

Elephant caves, me consuming the largest coconut in the world, and a praying mantis-type bug we encountered. (Presumably not related to the elephants).

Last Indonesian destination was Yogyakarta (also known as Jogyakarta, or Jogjakarta.. nobody seems to know), in Java. It was the end of Ramadan, and we stayed in a beautiful, small village in the south of the city. We were just a few yards from both of the village mosques, and as such encountered a unique and non-traditional canonized version of the prayers. Several times a day. And night. Pictured above is our trip to Borobudur, the largest Buddhist shrine in the world, and the photos barely capture the tiniest portion of the elaborate carved panels, which are essentially Buddha's life through illustrated stories. Our guide also shared some Indonesian fertility lore, for good measure, since we were newly wed.

After our time in Indonesia, it was with some relief that we landed in Kuala Lumpur and discovered it to be not unlike a Vancouver/LA hybrid city. We explored the city a bit, but seemed to end up in a mall or in a tower wherever we went. It's worth noting that this was the only day of rain we experienced on the whole trip, and we had five floors of commercial escapism to forget about the weather.

The flight home: no Super Mario bros., no illness, no photos.   xo M&M