Author Topic: A Wedding in Fiji (Read 2646 times)

Viv · « **on:** April 08, 2007, 11:54:07 PM »

We recently attended a small intimate wedding in Fiji, it was for my best friend. The weather was hot and humid, food perfect, sea clear and warm and the locals very friendly. We had an absolutely fantastic time despite being eaten alive by mosquitoes. The last year has been difficult for us, my youngest daughter was diagnosed with a rare degenerative syndrome. It has taken me some time to come to terms with this, although I can finally pronounce the stupid word. It was wonderful to get away for some R n' R.

I'm not a good photographer but without further ado,

The wedding enclosure before, the alter, evening dining, the ring girl

Viv · « **Reply #1 on:** April 08, 2007, 11:58:04 PM »

I don't know what I'm doing wrong, this is my 4th attempt to post the pics. Will have to return to this tomorrow.

SheilaJ · « **Reply #2 on:** April 09, 2007, 07:28:44 AM »

Sounds like a lovely getaway. I'm very sorry about your daughter and saying a prayer for both of you.

Johns · « **Reply #3 on:** April 09, 2007, 07:38:44 AM »

VIV,

So sorry to hear bad news regarding your daughter. Any details you wish to provide are welcome. I hope she will have a happy life.

Teresa · « **Reply #4 on:** April 09, 2007, 07:47:52 AM »

Send me the pics and I'll post them . . . . . Glad you guys had fun. Hope things are not too bad for the girls . . . .

MikeW · « **Reply #5 on:** April 09, 2007, 08:49:38 AM »

Glad a good time was had Viv.
Any signs of the recent coup in the country?

Cheers,

Mike

Viv · « **Reply #6 on:** April 09, 2007, 11:28:02 PM »

Thank you for the kind thoughts regarding my daughter, she has been diagnosed with Trichorhinophalangeal Syndrome. It is a rare skeletal condition which affects the bone joints, her face, her hair and possibly her ability to conceive a child, although having had 50+ x-rays, that probably says enough on that score no matter what they say. It is going to have a major impact on her life and her life style. She will certainly face a significant amount of surgery. It has been on my mind quite a bit to say the least. I get weary thinking of it, which sounds selfish I know but how do you explain this to a 12 year old?

Teresa the files on my hard drive are massive, I don't know if I can send them or not but I'll have a go. I have downloaded some to Photobucket which is where I tried to share them from, but with no luck obviously.

Mike, we saw 1 military checkpoint on the 2 hour journey from the airport to the resort, but other than that, nothing!

Wish I could share these pics!! And wish I had more time to catch up with you guys, but the dinner is calling...

Teresa · « **Reply #7 on:** April 10, 2007, 05:10:38 AM »

Viv you know that there are those of us out here who do understand what you are going thru with Katie. It's the hardest thing in the world to worry about a child who is ill or not thriving. It's not selfishness that causes the weariness and you don't have to apologize for it.

Can you post the link to the photobucket pics?

Viv · « **Reply #8 on:** April 10, 2007, 08:30:58 PM »

Teresa I sent you a bunch of pics.

Teresa · « **Reply #9 on:** April 11, 2007, 07:47:40 AM »

Ok - Here goes (again!) . . .

Teresa · « **Reply #10 on:** April 11, 2007, 07:48:31 AM »

That's better - some more . . . .

Joyce · « **Reply #11 on:** April 11, 2007, 07:49:17 AM »

OMG! That is paradise!

Cindi · « **Reply #12 on:** April 11, 2007, 10:23:46 AM »

Beautiful pictures.

That second picture could easily be on a postcard. Boy do I ever need a vacation after seeing those, not to mention the fact that we are having a blizzard outside and its April for crying out loud!

happyoutsidegirl · « **Reply #13 on:** April 11, 2007, 10:54:23 AM »

Hi Viv, I'm so sorry to hear about your doughter, I really do understand as my granddoughter was born with a very rare disease and buy the time she was 20 months old she had a double transplants. If ever you just want to talk or cry please feel free to pm me. I compleatly understand where you are with this, and I know how inportant suport is.

Viv · « **Reply #14 on:** April 12, 2007, 12:46:44 AM »

Thanks for posting the photos Teresa! I didn’t want to link to Photobucket coz frankly it’s a mess and there are pics that I don’t want to be public.

The first pic is where the wedding was held before the ceremony decorations were put in place. Taken from the end of the Alter.

Second pic is a sunset but what looks like the sun is actually a citronella fire lamp. They were all across the front of the resort and were lit in a ceremony by a Fijian warrior each night. The resort was only 2 burres deep. (Fijian house)

Third pic was taken from my breakfast table. The pool is in the foreground, then you can see the coral reef and the breakers start. The beach is out of pic, just below the sun loungers. I loved that tree, fire flys were all around it at night and it was lighted very well too. Couldn’t get a good pic of that though. The wedding setting was to the right of this pic, very private, surrounded by a tropical garden.

Fourth pic is of one of the many flower decorations. It’s beside the ‘Alter’. You can see the coral reef and part of the beach in the background.

Fifth is of the Alter. The happy couple stood against the background.

Sixth is of the setting for the meal later that night in the same setting as the first pic, taken from the Alter.

Seventh is of the beautiful Fijian girl who carried the rings.

This was quite an upmarket resort, very private and we were extremely pampered and looked after. We were there for 8 days and I miss it terribly!! We came home to a beautiful day, but now winter seems to have set in.

Lol…I have many more but don’t want to bore you all!!

Happyoutsidegirl, I haven’t cried much, she’s such a happy child with a very sweet nature. I let her do the things she shouldn’t be doing like netball coz she loves it! She’s very active and even though I should, I’m not gonna stop her. Heck, she was the long distance champ this year. There’s plenty of time for her to slow down later in life. She should enjoy it while she can. That’s my philosophy and I’m sticking to it!

I did some scuba diving too, now there's an experience!!

Jane · « **Reply #15 on:** April 12, 2007, 03:53:15 AM »

That is just sooooooooooooo beautiful! Yep, paradise just about sums it up.

CT · « **Reply #16 on:** April 12, 2007, 04:50:53 AM »

What a beautiful place Viv. More pictures please? You could never bore us

for you and your daughter.

Scuba diving..do tell

Indiana Karen · « **Reply #17 on:** April 12, 2007, 10:05:28 AM »

Wow, what a wonderful setting for a wedding.

Enjoyed the pictures.

Karen

kaz · « **Reply #18 on:** April 12, 2007, 04:02:46 PM »

And where is the pic of you then Viv???

Sorry to hear about your daughter's condition... kids are just so resiliant and wonderful... it's us parents that usually go to pot!!!

Pa Nancy · « **Reply #19 on:** April 12, 2007, 05:49:09 PM »

That's a good outlook you have for your dd Viv. Good for her. You GO GIRL!!!!

The wedding is beautiful!!! Simply BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!!!! What an AWESOME place.

LeeAnne151 · « **Reply #20 on:** April 13, 2007, 08:53:22 AM »

I agree with PANancy. I don't have children but your attitude about this seems to be the right thing to do. So sorry.

The photos and wedding look amazing. Totally Paradise. Wow. I had no idea. Fiji is so far beyond our price range that I've never given it much thought. Gorgeous.

To link photos that you have posted on Photobucket, click on them so they are the bigger size then right click and "Copy Picture Location" then click on the icon that is under the B for Bold icon "insert image" and paste the picture's URL in between the image tags that will pop up.

Viv · « **Reply #21 on:** April 13, 2007, 09:01:11 PM »

Kay, the scuba diving was a lotta fun, the water was very blue and crystal clear. We were diving at 12 meters. The fish were totally awesome. I can't tell you what a fabulous experience it was. I actually did this the day of the wedding. I still had the mask imprint on my face and looked quite odd!

Good job I was behind the camera and not in front of it then eh Kaz. I took upwards of 500 pics and I'm only in 3 of them.

The thing about my approach with Katie is that she has had so many health issues, I was warned a very long time ago about the danger of making too much fuss and causing her to have what the medical profession call 'sick child syndrome'.

Thanks for all the lovely comments.

sheepie · « **Reply #22 on:** April 14, 2007, 08:02:00 AM »

Your pictures are beautiful what a wonderful trip for you

For you and your daughter