Mixing Cultures

Yesterday, my friends Marcus and Helen got married! Helen looked absolutely beautiful. It was such a lovely day, athough a very long one, because I helped set up this venue:There were lots of people helping out beforehand and it was amazing seeing a relatively plain venue transform into something so warm and inviting. A lot of people brought flowers and leaves that they had cut from their garden plants! and materials they had bought to decoate the tables and pillars and gates and all. One lady had been making tissue flowers, which she stapled on to the wedding arch and another had wired up tinsel to form the letters of Marcus and Helen's names to create a pretty wall hanging. What a bunch of talented people! I certainly got some great ideas out of it all. It was such a marvellous idea hiring a community centre and then decorating it and organising catering to keep the costs down.

Both sets of parents had huge grins on their faces, which automatically transferred on to the faces of everyone who looked at them. So sweet to see ;-) hehe Here are some more shots:
The thing that really spun me out was the fact that Marcus' family are a bunch of very stereotypical aussies, whereas Helen's family have traditional chinese values and aspects ingrained in them. The food was a reflection of the different cultures with roast meat, veggies, pavlova and mudcake on one side and noodles, curry and asian deserts on the other! The Australian chocolates handed out to guests were bundled in little oriental bags and there was a traditional Chinese tea ceremony included in the service, where the bride asks the parents for their permission to be accepted into their family and then the in-laws give a speech of acceptance.

In contrast to other weddings I have been to, the bride and groom sat on the bridal table with their parents on either side. In this piccy, the bride's uncle is giving a speech, while the groom's sister is taking a piccy on the right. Classic shot, shame it's not that great a piccy, cos I wasn't in a good positon.

I guess what made this wedding particularly special for me is that i knew Marcus way before he met Helen. When i met him, he was in the midst of a really messy and nasty relationship break-up and mum was helping him with legal issues. At the time, he was so full of bitterness and such an unlovable guy. He had one child who had suffered a lot through his parent's break-up and he was so emotionally broken and miserable. But after it all, he turned to God and prayed so hard and for so long that God would have mercy on him and bring him a wife and over time, i've had the privilege of watching God answer his prayers and change his life around, by bringing him this beautiful godly girl who everyone just loves when they meet her... even Marcus' little son loved her when he met her and that's pretty amazing. She is a very gentle, sweet girl who loves God with all her heart and also loves kids (her work involves kids) and her family have just embraced Marcus and his family and welcomed them in right from the start.


There's no racism in this union and they just seem so right for eachother. I guess God knew who to choose for him. I've watched Marcus turn into this really warm, caring and loving guy with a big smile and a heart full of praise and adoration to God. Praise God for the transformation!!! I wish this lovely couple all the best. They have been such a huge encouragement to me. God really does answers our prayers.

"Behold, I am the Lord of all Mankind, is there anything too hard for me?" .... I guess not!