Wedding of David and Melrose
Pacific Bliss
Colin Price
Sun 15 Sep 2013 20:28
Huge effort made to preserve/ conserve/ regenerate kastom elements of the marriage ceremony - many of the kastoms being used in this ceremony have not been used for years, if not generations. Very laudable on the part of Chief Kerely who is the paramount chief of Kastom for this island. Traditional dress for all the main players, and plenty of long speeches. Very colourful. Melorse arrived wrapped in a woven mat and was presented to David in exchange for chickens and money. THere was a pile of taro, and all things for the garden which was presented to them to start their married lives. Bride and groom did not seem in the least bit excited by the marriage - perhaps because it is an arranged marriage between two villages, and they hardly know each other.
Day 2 was the Church wedding which was in fact a double wedding. Bride and groom covered in talc. Usual Anglican service which somehow feels very strange out here. Zinnia performed as bridesmaid beutifully and, bless her, had to stand in a line shaking hands with all 500 guests before the cutting of the cakes. There was much wailing and shaking of talcum powder. Liz made a great iced tower that took hours to build and seconds to be devoured.
Big meal, mostly of taro and bullock, followed by some great Kastom dances and a lot of sitting around in the sunshine.
Ferried 15 vans back to their village in the North the next day.