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| Trevor & Maria's Big Day - #2 | |
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8/09/08 - Lagos, Nigeria We attend the Catholic Church wedding ceremony and western-style reception for Trevor & Maria |
(Shutterfly photo album - Catholic church wedding!) |
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Exhausted from the previous day's activities, we awoke on Saturday morning in our new, beautifully remodeled room in the main hotel building, a generous gift from Maria's father, compliments of PHCN, John's employer, that we moved into upon returning to the hotel after yesterdays festivities. Thankfully, it was dry today. Scott dressed in a regular business suit from home and Caroline put on casual clothes, to be dressed later in her complicated outfit at Maria's family's home, before heading to the church. After breakfast and some photos of Trevor (seemingly dressed as P. Diddy) and the guys in the lobby, the van whisked us off to Maria's family home, as per usual. Sally and Caroline were again taken upstairs and dressed and had their geles wrapped. It is a most bizarre sensation to have a gele installed on your head and Sally and Caroline agreed that the feeling of having it done seemed totally different than to watch it being done to someone else. We were running late and tensions were running high. Normally mild-mannered and friendly, Maria's sister and maid of honor, Tola, rushed into our room without so much as a glance, rummaged in the closet, and rushed out. Caroline was last-up to get dressed and the house was vacated as the 'gele girl' was finishing wrapping her like a mummy in her gold and dark green outfit for the day. On her way out of the house, John, the only remaining occupant, said to her with his wonderful sense of humor and accent, as she rushed by in her Nigerian outfit, "Now you are an African American!" Upon our arrival at the church, all was chaos (are you sensing a theme, here?). Scott and Caroline, grateful to simply be normal guests and not in the wedding party today, made their way through the crowds to a pew, where they found 2 seats on the aisle. Unlike an American ceremony, around the time they were seating themselves, Maria and Trevor made their way down the aisle, along with masses of other guests, with no real focus on them. Maria was dressed in a traditional (American-style) strapless,white wedding gown with full tulle skirt and small lace jacket to cover her shoulders, while Trevor was outfitted to the hilt in a white linen suit with a burgundy shirt, white tie, white hat complete with feather, and dark sunglasses. They were quite a vision in white! (Can you say "Usher?") With the bridal couple sitting at the front, the ceremony was similar to a traditional Catholic mass, only with paparazzi swarming the couple, once again, throughout the ceremony. Sitting in our pew, it was nearly impossible to see anything. I guess we'll have to wait for the video… After the ceremony, it was photo time in front of the church. All the while, the next wedding party was trying to get into the church to start their ceremony (just as when we arrived the previous wedding party was still there). So the twenty or so cameramen quickly went through the pre-printed photo-list (e.g. Bride & Groom, Bride's Family, Groom's Family, American Group, etc). Shouted commands of, "BRIDE'S FAMILY!!", were followed by people getting herded into a hastily formed lineup, in which they stayed for no more than 3 seconds (60 photos?) before the next shout ("GROOM'S FAMILY!!!") went out. Photos complete, we were driven to the elaborately decorated reception hall, complete with red carpet entry up the steps and tall, golden, feathery plumes in vases on all tables except ours (???), and amidst more chaos, we were taken by the wedding coordinator and seated at a table right in front of the head table, which had 18 or 20 seats at it! Caroline's outfit was so hot, stiff and tight, she felt like a sardine in a can, ready to faint in the nearly un-air-conditioned room. Sally and Dennis were seated at the next table over, which was a revolving door of notable persons. At one point early on, their table was graced by a Nigerian tribal king, or oba, and his wife. Maria and Trevor and other guests squeezed behind our chairs to pay their respects in the form of kneeling (ladies) and prostrating (men) in front of the king. On the bright side, as there was not another centimeter of space available for the press to squeeze in between us, we had a birds-eye view, for once! A major highlight of the evening was the Bride and Groom's entrance: with festive music playing, Trevor, in full regalia, including white hat and sunglasses, and Maria danced in, among a chaotic entourage of guests and with paparazzi keeping several steps ahead of them, snapping away, trying to get their shots of Lagos' newest couple. It was truly priceless; you should have been there...really. While the huge buffet line inched along, Scott and Caroline, as 'honored guests' were served typical, but very delicious Nigerian fare at their table by reception attendants. Following the meal and many toasts, the dancing commenced and showed no signs of letting up, even as we departed the reception at about 8 pm or so. The band was fantastic, and exhibited boundless energy as one song led right into another, with no stopping or breaks of any kind! The dance floor was packed, making it difficult to get close to the bride and groom, but the dancing was still fun, as we danced and mixed with the Nigerian guests, young and old alike. The spraying was running rampant and even though she re-sprayed much of her take, Caroline managed to make back some of the money from yesterday's ceremony! It was like working at Deja Vu for the evening! Upon leaving the reception hall, the van took us back to the family home, where a tent was set up in the yard and there was more food, more drinks (including alcohol, this time) and a band playing for all who still had the energy to party on. Caroline and Scott changed into their post-wedding Nigerian outfits, while John graciously provided his American guests with several bottles of red wine, that American staple seemingly not particularly favored in Nigeria. We eagerly accepted the bottles, after the dry reception, filling our water-size glasses to the brim (I'll take a large, please), while Greg aptly noted that you'd never see so many people dancing in the US at an alcohol-free event! Touche!
Maria tosses the bouquet |
Caroline & Scott fit right in, don't they?
The
Bride & Groom come dancing in, making their grand entrance as
husband and wife
Maria
& Trevor humor Greg and do 'the #1'
Enjoying some wine at the after-party at Maria's parents' home |
