Special Moments

Still continuing the Civil Partnership story for a few more days before I take a couple of days off from the blog to see the last of the family to their flights…

The days surrounding the ceremony and the day itself hold so many special memories for us, it’s hard to select only a few to highlight today. I am also working on my own here as Neil is currently out on the boat (it’s still last Tuesday as I’m getting this ready in advance). But, here are a few of the moments that stand out for me:

Seeing so many of our friends who had not met each other before getting along so well and having a great time – and thinking ‘this is for us.’

Seeing Harry and Sam in their smart clothes helping their mother, and their godfathers, us, carrying the rings and looking after everyone. Sam arranging to get the hat from the wedding cake because his younger brother was wearing the same kind of hat and wanted it.

The surprise birthday cake. Our CP day was also Neil’s 50^th birthday and we had no idea that Yiannis and his family had arranged this surprise cake for him and us. It was beautifully made in the shape of a camera and it was a shame to cut it, but we did and it was perfect.

The speeches by the best men (and Jenine’s words) which were so honest and heartfelt. Christopher’s was a classic best man’s speech mixed with words about his love for his father. George, my nephew, had the crowd in stitches as he nervously took the microphone, uttered his first sentence, stumbled on a word or two and then said, loudly enough for those on the coast of Turkey to hear, ‘Doh, I’ve f****d it up already.’ He went on to talk about us and also diversity and the fight for recognition of the LGBT community.

During the dancing, we had inserted another of my songs into our playlist. ‘Sleep On’ was a song I wrote for Neil in 2001, and Kinny and I performed it in cabaret; the recording we used was from a CD we made at the time. At the party, we had given everyone a ‘favour’ in the shape of a lantern with a candle inside. Some of the lights were extinguished so we could dance under the stars. Neil and I danced (it was a bit of a tearful moment) and had our eyes closed for a while. I opened my eyes and gave him a nudge; the guests had silently circled around us holding up the candles. More watery eyes followed. A very special moment.

The music we had chosen for the evening was varied. My Symi Dreams album of piano impros was played while everyone was setting up, there were a couple of my own songs involved, as I’ve said, and a selection of numbers that meant something to us. These ranged from Neil’s classic birthday song ‘Let me Entertain you’ by Robbie Williams, to ‘The Rhythm of Life’ from Sweet Charity, a fav of mine, and from the Steve Miller Band to The Monster Mash. When I was about 15, I played in a swing band and we appeared on ‘Swap Shop’ playing ‘Pennsylvania 6500’ so we played that number too. But musically, for me, there were two special moments. One was playing music by my best school friend, Andrew T MacKay, now an important composer of film and other music in India; we had this playing on the way back from Taviri, crossing the flat-calm sea on the boat with the lights of Symi twinkling us safely into port. The other was a number called ‘Nou’s Blue’ composed and arranged by my brother and recorded by him and his band. My mother and I danced to this; another special moment.

As I said, there are so many others that it’s difficult to decide which ones to write down and I don’t want to go on all day. Those are just a few, more may pop up over the next few days.

Share on Facebook

Dancing under the Stars

As our guests were enjoying the wonderful buffet provided by Yianni and his family, Neil and I crept back aboard the boat and changed into our tap shoes. At the appointed time, we called the feasting to a pause and announced the first dance. Traditionally this is the happy couple in some smooch number that raises a lot of ahs from the audience but, as you might have noticed, we were not having a traditional wedding.

I introduced the song. It was one from a musical I wrote in 1996 that was staged in 1997 with choreography by Neil. The recording was sung by my good friends Kinny Gardner and Jo Lee and the song needed setting in context. In it, She wants to marry Him for his money. He wants to get his end away and She will do; He will even agree to marry Her for his own naughty ends. What He doesn’t know is that, once married, She is planning to do away with Him and become a wealthy widow. The song is called ‘I’ll Love you to Death,’ and involved a dance section.

There is a video and maybe, one day, I’ll see it on You Tube and you can watch it. It went well, got a few laughs and neither of us broke anything or anyone, and came out of it unscathed. Then we started the dancing proper with ‘Eternal Flame’, and others joined in.

After that it was what you might call a free for all.

Share on Facebook

A Ceremony at Taviri

Once Steve and Terri had set up the audio and lighting system, the best men had carried equipment, the boys (Sam and Harry) had helped with arrangements, guests had taken their places, Jenine had corralled everyone into place like the goatherd herding the goats earlier, and the sun had set, we were called upon by our best men to attend our ceremony. This was a Humanist ceremony led by Jenine. She spoke wonderful words before inviting us to say our pieces to each other. Our friend, The Reverend Alun Hawkins, read a piece for us and then Neil and I exchanged rings, bourn to the table by godson Harry.

There then followed the best men’s speeches which contained a few laughs and caused a lot of the guests to have teary eyes; as had other speeches made and words spoken. The ceremony came to a close and Jenine introduced the rest of the evening: food and dancing.

Share on Facebook

Celebrations on a boat

Jenine, the Wonder Woman who runs the Olive Tree café in Horio with Wonder Woman #2, Tina, had a long list of things to see to and arrange, as well as playing her part as our celebrant later in the evening. The boat had been set out with table cloths and snacks, and Champaign, for us at the back table. Before boarding, however, we had guests to greet and congratulations to receive from others who were in the harbour.

After boarding the boat, greeting guests as they arrived, we set off at 7 pm to head around to Taviri, a small bay on the east coast of Nimos. I heard bells ringing and boat horns blaring as we left, and wondered if they were for us. (The mayor was also being married that weekend, though the next day, so it might have been for him.) Captain Yiannis had ensured that the landing stage at Taviri was cleared and tidy and that no other boats arrived to take the parking space. Two of his guys had been there all afternoon setting up and keeping guard and had even gone so far as to pen in the goats that live there. It would have been disastrous fun to have had them muscling in on the feast later, but safest for all concerned that they were, for one evening, penned up. That was a kind thought from the goatherd who owns them, and the boys who guarded the bay.

There was another boat in the bay that evening, which added a touch of extra magic to the backdrop with its lights. Later in the evening, the party aboard danced along to our music, adding yet another magical moment. Having arrived, we then decamped to the jetty, or at least, the guests did while we waited aboard for our instructions.

Share on Facebook

Symi Civil Partnership

It’s Tuesday. The nephew, son and their fiancés are off on a round the island boat trip with Neil, and the house is empty for a few hours. This has given me a little time to look through some of Allan’s photos from the events of last weekend. I have quickly selected a few which I am posting over the next few days. This will take us up to Tuesday next week when I am heading to Rhodes for a night to take mother to the airport before I return on Wednesday. After that (probably Friday) I should be back to normal-normal and you’ll start getting a more regular and varied blog. Meanwhile…

I’ll put the photos up roughly in order although they may not match up with the text. The celebrations started with a drinks party at the Rainbow bar in the village square. After this, we went home to get changed, returning half an hour later to collect mother and Neil’s father and the two best men, Neil’s son Christopher and my nephew George, plus Allan and Julie who were in charge of photos. We walked down the slope to the notary office where the first official piece of paperwork was to be done.

The notary was there ready for us, we had given her our passports in advance and the paperwork had been translated by Rachael and Anna (The Symi Estate Agent) in advance so we knew what we were signing. Rachel was also there to translate again as is required by law as we are not Greek nationals. I had had a go at translating the document myself with the help of on online translator but became confused when I started to read that, should a termination of the agreement come about, there would be a diet involved… It’s one of those words that covers a couple of things, apparently, and we were relieved that no, we would not be required by law to go on a diet should anything go wrong.

The papers were signed, hands shaken, and it was off to the boat to meet the other guests.

Share on Facebook