WEDDING

MENU

WEDDING NUMBER TWO IN BAGUIO

Homepage
LATEST
Bangladesh
Bali
 China
Germany
Italy
Nepal
Philippines
Singapore
Sri Lanka
Thailand
UK
Family
Friends
Wedding
USA
Links

The Proposal in Dhaka

On 26th Feb 2004 I asked Donna to marry me. She said yes. Two of our friends, Katarina and Louise, took her (on my secret request - I even acted a little offended at not being allowed to join them) away for coffee cakes, manicure and drinks while I rushed to shops, rushed home cooked meal and arranged flowers candles and music. I fetched her from Aussie Club where she was now drinking with them and we were meant to be going to a house warming but I had phoned to give our apologies. Donna wanted to get changed before the party. When we walked into the house the lights were dim and candles and flowers on table with the parts of the food that didn't need to be hot. I told her that we weren't going to the party but no more than that for a while.

After we had eaten (she was getting a bit suspicious now) I gave her a wrapped gift. It had several layers and boxes getting smaller with messages at each layer. In the centre was the question.

The First/Real/Small Wedding in Bali

The wedding took place on the 12th April 2004. It was in the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, Jimbaran, Bali, Indonesia. It was a small event on the top of a small cliff overlooking the expanses of the Indian Ocean.
We had only three guests; Josie and Richard Giles and their young son Gerrard.
Indonesian law says that only a civil wedding is legal but you cannot have a civil marriage until you have had a religous one. The religous one may be Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Catholic or Protestant. We chose Protestant but only because of the restrictive complications required before the Catholic church would allow one. Essentially, we had two wedding ceremonies, one quickly following the other. Donna Holt became Donna Stevens. Or rather, Donna Fontanos Holt became Donna Holt Stevens.
After the ceremony we cut the cake and had a photo session (some pictures are linked below) and then after the sun set into the ocean we had dinner with Richard and Josie. 		The other legal side of things was getting permission from our respective countries that would allow us to get married in Indonesia.
For Donna it meant getting various documentation and certification from the Philippine government (this she did on our previous trip there - and Tita Merle helped a lot) and then various dealings between the Philippine Embassies in Dhaka and Jakarta.
The British side of things was simpler but a little strange. I simply needed to meet the Bali-based Britsh Honorary Consul, swear an oath that I was not already married and pay a fee for the whole affair to be later registered in the UK.
So what was strange about it? The directions we were given to the British Consulate involved a pub called the Cat and Fiddle. The owner of the Cat and Fiddle was also the Honorary Consul. The pub/restaurant was the Consulate.
Ceremony Site Religious Civil

Wedding Number Two

 18th February 2006, Baguio Country Club, Baguio City, Luzon, Philippines.
The Baguio Wedding