November 25, 2007 was truly one of the best days of my life.

Well, actually, “best” hardly begins to describe it.

It was magnificent. Stupendous. Momentous. Unforgettable.

But before I describe our wedding day, I first must report on the week preceding – totally chock full of good stuff!

On Monday and Tuesday, Nov 19 and 20, 18 adults, 4 kids, one baby, and 1 in-utero descended on the island of Kauai with a whoop and a holler. Included in the mix were us, my folks, Soenke’s folks, my brother/pregnant-wife/4-kids, my sister-in-law’s folks and sister, the esteemed Tim from Stuttgart and his friend Marie, my crazy-opera-gal Lin and her daughter Lindsay, and last but not least my brilliant cousin Steve and his girlfriend Kim.

But wait, allow me to update Kim’s status… unfortunately she is no longer Steve’s girlfriend…. because she is now …his… FIANCÉE !! (Congratulations you two!) He snuck a ring onto the island and surprised her with a romantic proposal, mere days after our own wedding!

But I get ahead of myself…!

Prior to our guests’ arrival, Soenke and I set out to obtain a marriage license. True to laid-back Hawaiian tradition, the marriage license agent was the barista (coffee guy) at the local convenience market in the town where we were staying. We popped in, bought some Hawaiian coconut cookies, filled out some marital paperwork, chatted with Ken Kubota our Marriage License Guy and got ourselves an official-looking permission slip to tie the knot.

With most of the gang present on Wednesday morning, we started the festivities off with a breakfast bang at Eggbert’s Family Restaurant, where we handed out orchid welcome leis (Hawaiian flower necklaces), and scrumptious macadamia nut pancakes drenched in coconut syrup soon filled the table. We jet-lagged eaters propped our eyes open with toothpicks and begged the waitresses to keep the coffee coming!

Thursday was Thanksgiving… and we all know that Thanksgiving is an international event in our world! Three years ago on November 25, 2004, Soenke and I sealed our first Thanksgiving together in Paris with a passionate kiss. For our not-quite-as-passionate matrimonial kiss (remember, our parents and some small children were watching!…), we chose our wedding date -November 25, 2007 - accordingly! This year, Thanksgiving didn’t fall on the 25th… but no worries, we still gathered together our international lineup, headed to Safeway for a pre-cooked Thanksgiving dinner (wow, why didn’t anyone think of that before?!), and gathered together to give thanks in my parents’ hotel suite. It was one of the best Thanksgivings ever!

Friday brought us the Absolute Best Luau on Kauai. For my non-American readers, a luau is a traditional Hawaiian dance-and-feast party – you roast a pig in the ground, cook up a bunch of side dishes, then watch the Hawaiian gals in coconut bikini tops and grass skirts do the famous hula dance (ok, I have simplified for the sake of brevity…) . In any case, it is an absolute MUST when you are visiting the Islands. We were blown away by the Smith’s Family Luau – the luau takes place in their huge gardens which display monuments and foliage from many of the other Polynesian Islands dotting the Pacific Ocean. We couldn’t have loved this event more – the dancing was incredibly varied (representing traditional dances from many islands) and there was even an erupting volcano to make the audience extra nervous.

Sunday was the day everyone was waiting for. We had chosen a secluded stretch of Lydgate Beach on the east side of the island for the ceremony, which began shortly before sunset. A few hours ahead of time, Soenke donned his special Hilo-Hattie’s wedding Hawaiian shirt, tucked Sophie into her finest white ruffled dress, then made both of them scarce so that the bride could babe up.

I have to admit, I was nervous. We were both nervous. We didn’t know why. I mean, it’s not like our lives were going to dramatically change. But there was still this unspecific feeling of “wow, this is a Really Serious Step” lingering in our bellies…. as if giving birth to Sophie and building a house together weren’t already serious steps!

Allow me to mention that this wedding was surely the way that weddings used to be before Bridal Mania took hold in the States, and weddings started costing about as much as a downpayment on a house. I ordered my dress online (wow, leap of faith, eh?), we used the wonderful Rev. Suzanne Stover (a Kauai resident) to organize just about everything - the ceremony / flowers / music as well as her husband Ron, a wedding photographer. Mom and dad organized the beautiful dinner following. Soenke just showed up. Piece of cake!

Thirty minutes before showtime, I nervously strolled out to the lobby of our hotel, in full babed-up island bridal attire. Of course everyone loves a bride, and I got lots of encouraging smiles from hotel guests and employees (which made me more nervous!) The flowers in my hair were poking my head, and the bodice of my dress was stretched dangerously tight. But my hair had turned out great, and I had found a sparkly pair of cream flip-flops to wear with the dress after the barefoot portion of the program was over. Mom and Dad drove me to the beach where the gang was waiting, and the show began.

While our friends/family waited down the beach a short distance, Soenke, Sophie and I approached barefoot on the sand while being serenaded by our Hawaiian musician. (I hear a lot of our guests got teary-eyed at this point!) We were met by Reverend Suzanne, who is simply the most lovely human being – inside and out - you could hope to meet. She brought some beautiful Hawaiian themes into the ceremony, and wove in the idea of a circle of love and protection being created around our little family through our marriage. Our friends and family formed a bigger circle around us. Soenke and I stepped away from the group to say some private vows and hopes to each other, and we finished the ceremony with handfuls of rose petals being flung enthusiastically into the ocean. Right about that time, my 4 little nephews – the most well-behaved kids on the planet for the entire ceremony – exploded into action with much relief and ran around the beach checking out the driftwood, taunting the waves, and looking for shells.

And hence, we were married! We are yet even still basking in the afterglow of this incredible event..

While we don’t quite yet have the formal photographs from the wedding, my gifted cousin Steve snuck a few photos of the Big Day for us (we had put a moratorium on guest photography during the ceremony so that everyone would pay attention!). There are MANY more photos of the big week, which I will present in my next post…

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