Tag Archives: wedding

Wedding day

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The big day.  My bear bud’s getting married!

By the time I woke up, Pokin was gone.  She left at about 10:30am for hair and makeup, apparently picked up in a golf cart.  So it was just my bud and I.

Oh yeah bear bud bonding time!

First we played some video games.

Then we played more video games.  The bride and entourage weren’t supposed to be back until 1-1:30pm so we had plenty of time.

Eventually we decided we’d better start getting ready.

My bud laid out all his things.

Then I made him lay out mine.

We still had time to kill so I think we tried to play more games.

Then my bud got dressed.


(Photos courtesy of Kim Akrich)

And then I got dressed.

And we waited.  Eventually we got a call.  They’re coming!

They had some moments.

And a few more.

Then we all got into the golf cart wedding limo and started scooting around the resort for photos.  We went to the oasis pool.

The ocean side.

Crossed a bunch of bridges.

Posed with a giant banner that the friends and family made for us.

And then it was time for the ceremony!  My bud and Pokin were getting married at the Miri Miri spa beach, on the recommendation of their wedding planner, Adélaïde.  After checking out the site, I approve.  It’s private and nice looking.  We all got into position.

I was a V.I.B. (Very Important Bear) I was, after all, the ring-BEARer.

And it was time!

I got some pretty front row seats.

Or should I say, front row seat.  I was the only guest who got a chair.

   

Actually, I was the only guest, period.

And then the ceremony was done.  Short and sweet.  I dig it.

They had cake.

I had some too.

They danced on the deck.

I didn’t do that.

Then those crazy people decided to get into the water.

I definitely didn’t do that.

Followed by taking a plunge off their deck right into the water.

I went back inside the bungalow.  I’m going to wait for them to return back to sanity.  And to shower all that salt water off.

That night, after they had showered and gotten changed, we went out for a tiki light dinner on the beach.  Pokin chose all seafood, Nicholas, anything, but.

My bud dressed casual.  I decided to stay classy.

It was supposed to be a 3 course dinner, but between the amuse bouche and the 2nd dessert they had 5 courses.

Obviously I preferred the courses at the end.

When we got back, they had brought the leftover cake to the room (which unfortunately had melted a bit), and set out a heart shaped flower bed.  That’s sweet.

By then I could barely stay awake.  Good day.  Congrats bud!  I think I played my role pretty well!

Here’s a video recapping the day.

Video Sadry Ghacir

Time for the weddingbearmoon to begin!  My bud tried to tell me there was no such thing.  Trust me, it’s going to be a thing.

 

Discovering the baby sharks

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During our tour, our butler-guide explained that there was fish feeding and shark feeding every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at the Jean Georges Lagoon.

“Shark feeding??”  This I gotta see.

Right by the entrance of St Regis is the Jean Georges Lagoon restaurant.  The area under the restaurant is netted off and rescued sharks are being raised there until it’s time for their release.  Currently there was a lemon shark and a black reef tipped shark.  A caretaker stood by the lagoon and tried to feed the sharks as she told us shark facts.

“Can you guess how many sharks are killed per year?  About 100 million.  That’s 11,417 sharks per hour.  In contrast, sharks have only killed 12 humans a year.  Usually because they mistake humans for seals or sea turtles.  Sharks are usually quite timid.”  Poor things.

I say she tried because those sharks were no match for the tuna that were way faster.  As the sharks tried to swim towards the food the food was already gone.

So if you come here, you can come check out these sharks.  Just don’t accidentally wade into the shark lagoon.

You might scare the sharks.

Wedding Briefing

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Right after we got settled in, it was time to speak to the wedding coordinator, Adélaïde, about the day.

Wedding planning can be stressful.  I’ve seen it with my bud’s friends and family.  So they went with a package deal.  St Regis has this a la carte brochure where you can pick and choose the details.

They went with (exchange rate of approximately 100 XPF to 1 USD):

  • Wedding coordinator fee 50 000 XPF
  • Symbolic Vows (10 minute ceremony) 80 000 XPF
  • White on white bouquet & boutonniere 37 500 XPF
  • Signature white on white arch (round) 100 000 XPF
  • 1 hr bridal hair styling and 1 hour makeup 40 000 XPF
  • Simple Wedding Cake 12 000 XPF
  • Dinner  under the stars on the beach 37 000 XPF
  • Miri Miri Spa location (normally 75 000 XPF, free because it was a valentine offer)
  • 4 hour photoshoot with Kim Akrich 200 000 XPF
  • Videography with Sadry Ghacir 63 000 XPF

Total : 619 500 XPF (around $6.2K USD)  Given that the average wedding costs $26,720 USD, they made out alright!

Anyway, they picked all that stuff but they still didn’t know what was actually happening during the ceremony – hence the briefing.

Right by the lobby is the bridal boutique, and that’s where you go.  Turns out a lot of people come to the resort and spontaneously decide to do a Tahitian vow renewal, so they are all set up for that!

Once in the boutique, Adélaïde ran through the schedule for the next day.  Sounded pretty simple.  Pokin : be ready at 10:30am.  Nicholas : 1-1:30pm.  Anything that needs to be pressed or steamed, pass it to Adélaïde now.  Everything else will be handled.

Sweet!  Sounds simple enough! Time to explore this place!

The near miss

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It’s travel time – I see bags being packed.  My bud tells me it’s getting married time!  A big trip, I see, as the big suitcases are coming out.  I saw suits, I saw dresses, I saw a lot of sunscreen…I got a little nervous when I saw how much stuff was going into suitcases but I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw the gaming laptop being added to the pile.

I sleuthed a little and saw pics  of where we are headed– we’ll be staying on some cool over water huts.  I’m already imagining  it now – my bud and I, gaming on the deck.  It’s going to be epic.

Everything was packed when Pokin came in :

“Hmm, our LAS to LAX flight is getting delayed.  Right about how, it’s scheduled to arrive after our connecting flight to Tahiti”

Well I’m not ok with that!  I was getting really psyched about our epic overwater gaming vacation!

“Even though our flight’s at 7 we better get to the airport early to see if we can get an earlier flight.  We don’t want to risk it.”

So just like that, our day went from leisurely to frantic.  We throw our stuff in the car and drive on down to the airport.

At the airport, my bud tried to get on an earlier flight.

“I’m sorry sir,” said the gate agent.  You are booked on a fare class that doesn’t permit changes.

“But if we don’t get on an earlier flight, we will miss our wedding,” said Pokin.

“I’ll see what I can do, since it was a delay on our side”.  The gate agent types away on his computer.  “I’m afraid all the flights are full.  The best I can do is put you on standby.”

And so it was 1pm and instead of gaming at home we are sitting at the airport hoping to get on a flight.  Meanwhile, we are getting text message alerts constantly from Delta that our flights are being pushed further and further back.  We see numerous flights leave for LAX but we don’t get to get on.  BOO.  

Our standby flight comes.  There are 7 people on standby in front of us.  One by one, they clear the standby guests to board until they stop right before us.

“You gotta be kidding me” I thought.

Everyone boards.  We wait and I glare at the passengers.

Then, luckily they call us.  We get to get on.  They let in a few people after us, and that’s it.

LA here we come!

The Wedding

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Wedding day started out raining.  I looked out the window and I decided I was going back to bed.  Evidently Eric thought the same thing.  So the groom and the bear slept in till noon while the bridesmaids lounged around and had croissants.

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The weather got better around the time I decided to get up, what smart planning!  So I put on my outfit and watched the brides get ready.

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Then I handed myself and the camera to Cousin Anthony.  During the actual wedding I made it a point to photo-bomb every appearance of everyone.

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It was great.  I even took the time to use the photo booth with my bud.

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As far as I was concerned it was a great event.  I think the bride and groom thought so too.  So on that note, Congrats to Eric and PoOn!

 

My Villa

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We’ve made it to Uzes for PoOn and Eric’s wedding!

Originally we were supposed to stay at some dour tiny old apartment called Las Mas Des Oliviers in Uzes this week but I wasn’t having any of that.  ESPECIALLY not after I saw the sweet place PoOn and Eric were staying.  THAT’S where I’m supposed to be.  Not some bunk bed of a tiny place.  This bear deserves better.

So I didn’t say a thing when the group was running behind, and I didn’t point out that it was getting late.  Pokin mentioned that the hotel had an early check-in cut of time of 7:00pm and I knew we were getting close to that time.  With a bit of extra luck getting lost trying to find the apartment and a few other delays later, we were officially without a place to stay.  And then we found out that Las Mas was going to be closed from Saturday until Tuesday.  Well I guess we’re homeless.

A shame.

No choice but for PoOn, Eric and Mrs Mackinnon to put us up in their my villa!

Now this is my kind of place.  Five bedrooms, infinity pool, plenty of chairs to lounge in, tall stone walls, fruit orchards, a cistern, a dungeon, a servant’s quarters and all overlooking vineyards!  I made full use of it while everyone else scrambled to make wedding preparations.  It was great.  I didn’t even get upset when it threatened to rain.  I just sat back and chillaxed while people freaked out about rehearsals, speeches and all of that silly stuff.  All I needed to do was look great after all and that comes naturally for this bear.

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This is my new back yard, relaxing on a patio above my infinity pool.

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Here are my rose gardens and grapes, you can see my wall in the distance where I will eventually position sentries to guard the gate.

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My gardener is doing a good job keeping the lawn green, my kind of color.

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Relaxing in a chair.

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Relaxing in another chair.

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Relaxing in yet another chair.

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I’m definitely getting used to this.

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Oh look, my bear bud even set me up a private alcove for relaxing and looking great.  I think he mentioned something about wedding decorations, but I wasn’t listening.

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I even tamed this vicious beast we found inside the villa.

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A week of villa staying here has reminded me that I need to get a new more permanent bear-villa asap.  Get to it, Nicholas!

p.s.  Pokin was a bit upset that she ended up being charged the whole stay at Las Mas des Oliviers but I still stand behind being glad we stayed at my villa instead.  Also I am sorry that Odette getting her purse and all her keys stolen and the ensuing delay proved instrumental to me getting to stay at my awesome villa.