Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Mawwaige

I've had the great honor of participating in different ways in dear friends' weddings over the years. Here's a catalog of them:

In February, 2003, Venky and Nipali were married. There isn't an official "best man" role in Indian weddings, but I got to contribute by doing the needful throughout the proceedings and behind the scenes.

In September, 2004, I was in Matt and Love's wedding party, a fairytale affair in Dana Point, California. I received a beautiful pair of cuff links with the initials, "BKG" on them. I don't have a middle initial, but Matt gave me one!

In the last year there have been three more. First, Matt, from high school in Hong Kong and Mala from Austin. Mala moved to New Zeland after finishing her PhD in Economics from UT and I connected them in the summer of 2006 when Matt went visited. Little did I know it would result in mawwaige a year later! I celebrated their wedding on April 14th - the day I became a US citizen and a day before my birthday.

On May 10th of this year, I officiated at Bjorn and Kirsten's wedding. Years earlier it had become a standing joke that we were twins. We are constantly confused for each other, though we look NOTHING alike. Bjorn is German, blond and blue-eyed and I'm, well, not. We decided to throw a twin party in honor of non-biological twins and Kirsten, who had just moved to Austin, graciously hosted. It was just the spark needed to light the fire! I was honored to be asked to officiate and the three of us worked together on the ceremony. It was great fun, including my favorite part: kicking it off with the line from The Princess Bride, "Mawwaige. Mawwaige is what bwings us together today." I wore the cuff links Matt and Love had given me years earlier for the special occasion.

Finally, last weekend Amy and Josh had an awesome party in Austin to celebrate their wedding. I was present at the Paramount when they first met and got to be the camera man for the proposal a year later. Josh had the marquee changed with his succinct proposal, "Amy will you marry me?" The party had an all-white theme, dancers, incredible food, a burlesque show and a photo booth. My photo booth picture is here! I suppose it says it all. :)