It seems like the longest wedding ever. After a beautiful traditional morning ceremony we boarded the boat for the hour long trip up the river.

Women guests were dressed in floaty dress and the men – on the whole in shorts. It was warm. Too warm for the lovely jacket Elena had planned for Peter.

We arrived to cheering and Nick , Peter’s friend and MC ( or the ‘Party Planner ‘ as Rob called him) , pulled the boat to shore.

Elena was still circling in her boat waiting for the groom to arrive before we could start. Finally the groom was ready and she landed along with her mother and brother-  to loud cheers.

She looked beautiful in her third wedding outfit! Brisbane, Cambodian dress and today a lace dress. What a stunning Bride. She glowed.

The ceremony began on the little beach. Rob, Pete’s younger brother was the celebrant. He made it clear he wasn’t qualified for the job but as they had already been officially married in Brisbane three weeks ago he was leading a symbolic ceremony.

He proved to be a  wonderful celebrant. I think he’s missed his calling. He was funny, sincere and had researched aspects of a Russian wedding we didn’t know existed. Elena certainly did though and it was lovely.

  
Vows were exchanged. Then the Russian tradition of biting into bread. The one who takes the biggest bit will be the one who wears the pants in the marriage.

 
I leave you to guess.

With the official part of the wedding over it was time for the party to begin.

So up to the deck, the champagne corks popped, the food appeared , the conversation flowed and we all relaxed and enjoyed the Cambodian wedding.

During the night MC Nick introduced the speakers. First up was Svetlana Elena’s beautiful mum. She speaks Russian and Italian but very little English. Yet she had prepared a speech in English! Wonderful. She is such a lovely lady and we are happy to welcome her to our family.

Steve followed later with a speech partly in Russian. What a feat!

Finally Pete who spoke from the heart. He was beaming but got quite emotional as he thanked everyone for their love and support.