David and I had been together twenty years when we finally decided to tie the knot - well we didn't want to rush into it!

He was fifty-three, I was forty-seven.  We were both previously married and had five grown children between us.  Over steak and red wine one cold January evening we decided to get married in the sun in our favourite place, the tiny Greek island of Skopelos.

Our Greek friend agreed to help us with arrangements and the date was set for June 12^th.

The kids were delighted that we oldies had decided to do the decent thing at last.  Three of them had beaten us to it! 

Plans began immediately to fly over to be with us.  However, my son and his wife wouldn't be able to make it as there was to be another big event for our family. Our first grandchild was due in February.  Reluctantly we agreed that four hours on a plane followed by a ferry trip was a bad idea with a tiny baby and all the necessary paraphernalia.

We were quite a gathering, with family and friends from England, Germany and Greece.

The night before the big day my daughter insisted we eat dinner at one of the traditional tavernas down by the harbour.  No-one objected as this was a favourite place where you could sit and eat "Shirley Valentine style" a foot from the water's edge. 

As we sat in the warm night air beside the inky blue water we heard the familiar sound of the last boat of the night honking its arrival.  We watched idly as a few weary travellers alighted, hauling suitcases and assorted baggage. 

Wasn't there something familiar about that tall young man and the slim blonde girl?  They certainly seemed to have more luggage than anyone else. And wasn't that a stroller that another passenger was helpfully lifting down? 

Here was our beautiful granddaughter, Molly, sleepy but with a wide gummy grin for her stunned grandparents.  Months of secret planning and organising had gone into this most wonderful wedding surprise.

I shall never forget that moment with its mixture of disbelief and dawning delight. I hadn't realised until then how much I would miss having this little family with us. 

With hindsight, it was a good thing the kids kept their plan to themselves.  I would have worried and fretted, as grandmas will, about every aspect of travelling with such a small person, but she was here now and how we were going to enjoy having her at our wedding.

It was a perfect day.  Molly, decked out in a pink party dress, slept peacefully throughout, much to the frustration of the Greeks who love babies and wanted to play.

Of course, she doesn't remember anything about it.  She's six now and completely fascinated with the story of how she was guest of honour at the grand age of four months!

Places To Hold Caribbean Weddings

If you want to have a traditional wedding in the Caribbean, you can still do this. You don't have to make your wedding have a tropical theme just because that's where you are. For those who want to have the traditional Caribbean weddings, they will want to hold their ceremony in one of the hotels and resorts that line the beach in the Caribbean.

If you are holding Caribbean weddings in the Bahamas, one of the best places to hold a wedding is that the Pelican Bay at Lucaya Hotel. Here you will find a mix of European and Caribbean architecture that is magnificent. This hotel has already be named a “Small Treasure of the Bahamas” by the Ministry of Tourism. It is a charming and intimate hotel, perfect for the small wedding. You can also stick around after the wedding and have your tropical honeymoon.

Boutique hotels like Lucaya Hotel are perfect for holding Caribbean weddings. They have the facilities and services to cater to your needs, and you will be able to get the dream wedding that you can always wanted. Since this hotel has such a spectacular location as well, you can hold Caribbean weddings outside if you would like to. Many people enjoy beach weddings or beach receptions. If you want to have a really intimate party, you can have a reception under the stars of the night sky in the Bahamas.

There are many different ways to plan Caribbean weddings, so do not limit yourself to being barefoot on the beach with a tropical drink in your hand. Although Caribbean weddings can work with a tropical theme, don't think that you have to limit yourself to that. Be creative. For many people, creativity will come in handy when you are working with a smaller budget. So don't let a little budget get in your way. Enjoy Caribbean weddings instead of stressing about them. It will be a treasured memory and a unique experience for all of your guests.

Had a look around duty free, and met up with rest of travelling companions, 2 sisters (Trisha, Andy), brother-in-law (Brent) and the one and only mother (Julie also a member of St Johns). We were told that mother went through customs and set the bells and whistles going, which also, by the way happened when coming back from Rarotonga .

We departed for Rarotonga 3 August at 4.10 pm , arrived Rarotonga 2 August at about 10 pm , a flight of about 3 hours 50 minutes. For those who do not know, we had to cross the International Date Line to get to Rarotonga , so it is about 22 hours behind us, thus we gained a day.

We hopped onto the courtesy bus to our destination of the Rarotongan Beach Resort and Spa, of which took about ½ hour to get to. On arrival we met with the wedding couple to be, my niece (Julie, named after granny) bride to be, and Shay the groom. The wedding was to take place on the Friday afternoon. We went to their accommodation, which was the honeymoon suite, and met with others in the wedding party. Got to sleep about 3 am (just talking of course) or maybe a little drinking.

Might as well say about the temperature while we were there. We had a couple of days with showers, the wedding day (Friday) was cloudy), the last 2 days was beautiful sunshine. The temperature was still warm (around mid 20 s) day and night whatever the weather. So warm that I was only wearing shorts and t-shirt, or colourful shirts, and sandals the whole time. But of course wore respectable attire for the wedding, even though I looked overdressed. Flashing those lily whites, and blinding everyone with the glare. Don't think I could handle the temperature in the middle of summer.

Got up sometime Wednesday morning and checked out the TV channels. There were 12 movie channels, but the funny part is that they looked like they were played through a DVD and the same movie was repeated for 24 hours. So if you missed something, or only saw part of a movie you could catch up with it later in the day. There was also the CNN channel, Cartoon Network, one I think was a French speaking channel and a couple of others.

Wednesday afternoon we all went into town. We traveled by bus, which took about ½ hour from our accommodation. There were 2 buses you could catch, the clockwise and the anti-clockwise, which ran hourly (one on the hour the other on the ½ hour). Not very big, but good to have a nose around. Saw that the Rarotongans have a $ 3 note, so brought one thinking it was a novelty. Went to a café and received another $ 3 in my change. There are two different types of $ 3 notes, one a pink and the other a green/blue. Also there $ 2 coin was shaped like a triangle, as I found out buying a beer later that day, but spent the coin instead of saving for a souvenir. Otherwise the currency we were using was NZ.

While travelling in the bus, we noticed that there were heaps of people on scooters, and not wearing helmets. The speed limit around town was 30 kph and on the open road I think about 50 kph. The roads were in dire need of repair, with pot-holes etc all over the place. I said to the family that it might be a good idea if I got my license to ride a scooter around the island, but for some reason they thought I might be too dangerous, or it could be hazardous to my health. One day we saw about 4 people on scooters going for their license, and the only one with a helmet was the police officer at the back. All one had to do was produce their NZ license and pay about $ 10 and they got their Rarotongan license.

That night we sent to an Island Night, which was fantastic. I think maybe my eye-sight improved a little for a short time. The entertainment was great, and the umu was delicious, and it all only cost $ 49 . Well worth the money.

Island Night Action

Digest some Cook Islands Culture – don't miss out on an island night! The dancing is reputed to be the best in Polynesia . An Island Night also includes the traditional ‘umukai' feast. Some of the resorts give you a genuine taste experience by cooking the food in the traditional underground oven. The umu fire is lit in a pit around mid-morning. Later the volcanic rocks are placed on the fire and once they are red hot, the umu food wrapped in banana leaves is placed in a large basket and lowered onto the rocks.

After another layer of banana leaves and sacking, sand is heaped on top of the oven to trap the heat. The food is steamed, broiled and smoked for around four hours – it's delicious! Dishes you may come across at an Island Feast include breadfruit, eke (octopus) a variety of meat and seafood, Ika mata (marinated raw fish with coconut cream), taro (prepared like potato) and taro leaves (known as rukau when cooked).

There are plenty of opportunities to enjoy dancing and feasting Raro' style at the Island Nights.

Directly after the show there was a karaoke in another bar. Which saw some good and not so good entertainers, but at least they had the guts to get up and have a go. Everyone had a great time and enjoyed themselves greatly. I kept a low profile, not wanting to clear the place. Managed to get to bed about 1 am or so, who was counting.

The Thursday was a holiday for Rarotonga, the Rarotonga 's 40 year Constitution Day Celebrations. Our Governor General Dame Sylvia Cartwright and entourage were there at our resort, with the official dignitaries of Rarotonga . As they were milling about in the reception area and we were walking through I accidentally bumped into our Governor General and of course quickly apologised. Lucky for me the body guards or cops didn't nab me, or maybe they could tell I was not a threat. Close call all around, but at least I can say I have bumped into the Governor General of New Zealand . So any other time after that we diverted away from the entourage to make sure it didn't happen again. Better safe than sorry.

Thursday night we went to the ‘Crab Races' held at our resort. There were 3 races with the last race being hurdles. The winner crab was number 3 , and what was strange that it won all 3 races (but of course it had a kiwi name, which I can't remember). Great fun was had by all and it only cost $ 2 maximum and $ 2 minimum bets.

Friday was the big day of course, the wedding. The wedding was held on the beach with lovely surroundings. Shay (groom) stood waiting with his 3 best men (or whatever they are called) in nice black suits and Shay wore a traditional lae for the ceremony. The bridesmaids came down the beach aisle one by one with a gap in between until they reached Shay and the guys. They were wearing a nice pinky/red dress (don't expect a mere male like me to give you a great description of the wedding attire, ask Wendy if you know her). Next came Julie (bride) flanked by Andy (mother), and Brent (step-father) looking nice in their particular attire. Julie looked great in her white wedding dress (won't even try to describe it). Of course they were around the customary 15 minutes late. When Julie stood next to the groom she seemed to have a bit of the giggles. Found out later that as they were walking down the aisle, Andy said “slow down we are going a bit too fast”, and Brent replied “yeah you don't want to look to eager”. Or something similar.

The ceremony was short with the both of them doing the usual vows etc. Then we had the group photos, taken with Julie and Shay sitting on a log and everyone behind them. A very well worked out spot for photos. Of course they have had heaps of weddings in the same area. Then they planted a coconut tree in memory of their wedding at Rarotonga , of which there were quite a few. Shay gave granny (my mother) the lae he was wearing and everyone started to call her the Queen of Rarotonga. Otherwise everyone, even the staff called her granny.

Next was the reception with the usual speeches and telegrams from absent people. A few drinks and dancing was enjoyed by all, and even I had one dance, but then my bronchitis kicked in and made me slow down a bit. The bar staff were excellent (especially when replacing drinks without having to get up and get one, or ask for one). Got to bed who knows when????

There were 3 weddings on the Saturday and another on the Sunday, so it seems they have a few weddings at the resort.

Saturday was market day, so we went to see what it was like. Some of the produce looked a little bit suspect, and some things I couldn't recognise. The market closed at mid-day. We saw everything in about 20 minutes, so we went to a café and had brunch, while watching bantams were wondering around. Strange the different standards to NZ. Then caught the bus back to the resort.

Saturday night we went to where Brent's brother was staying for a bbq. We all had fun a couple of drinks and then back to resort for a quiet night.

Sunday we all just sat back, relaxed and did our own thing. Some went canoeing, swimming, sun-bathing, or just sat back and read a book (which I did), while watching a movie at one stage.

Monday was our final day in Rarotonga , and we had a morning call at 5.15 am to get ready to go home. We caught the bus at 6.15 to the airport, and checked in our luggage. We then went and paid our departure tax of $ 30 (thought it was meant to be $ 25 ). Then sat down and had a cup of tea. Next we went through customs and had a look at the duty free shops. We departed Rarotonga at 8.45 am on Tuesday 8 August, and arrived in Auckland on Tuesday 9 August at 11.40 am approx. We were about a ½ hour late due to a head wind all the way. Wendy and I then checked in at the domestic transfer counter, so that we didn't have to carry our bags all the way to the Domestic Terminal. We had lunch in the café area with sister Trisha and then caught the courtesy bus to the Domestic Terminal. We departed Auckland at 3.25 pm and arrived in Wanganui around 4.20 pm .

Overall a great trip and enjoyable wedding. Recommend to anyone who has thought about going to Raro. The people are bubbly and friendly.