A Wedding at Sea

March 10 was a no class day on the ship and it was also a wedding day for one of our professors and her partner. Yes, Kersten and Gianni decided at the beginning of the voyage that they wanted to tie the knot while sailing the high seas. What a great day it turned out to be for the entire community!

The entire community got in on the planning. They played wedding themed movies every night for a week leading up to the big day. There were groups of students and staff responsible for decorations, for flowers, for music, and for different pieces of the ceremony and festivities. The ceremony took place at 5pm on the back deck of the ship. It was hot and the sun was bright but everyone came out dressed to the nines. The attire was “creative formal” so there were Scottish kilts, Indian Saris, beautiful Thai and Chinese silks, African-inspired dresses, etc. It was the most colorfully dressed affair I’ve ever been to. The bride wore a brightly colored Chinese-style long dress full of oranges, reds, yellows and purples. The groom wore a beautiful orange Thai silk shirt. I know it sounds quite loud and gaudy but it wasn’t – it was tasteful and beautiful.

The captain officiated the ceremony and when he pronounced them husband and wife they blew the ship’s whistle – very cool. Our Academic Dean led a Buddhist wedding tradition (she was a Buddhist monk for awhile) of everyone tying strings around each other’s wrists to symbolize not only the couple’s union but the entire community’s connection. Next some of the Moroccan students led everyone in a dance and song that is a festive Moroccan wedding tradition. Some of the staff and students had formed a “wedding band” including guitars, violin and trumpet so they shared a song during the ceremony as well.

After the ceremony we all headed to the middle of the Lido deck for a nice dinner. The crew had carved animals out of fruits and vegetables for all of the table centerpieces. The head table had a full size watermelon carved into the shape of a cage with two love birds inside.

After dinner we headed back out to the pool deck for a toast and cake. Notes of congratulation from the bride and groom’s families were shared aloud and the couple danced their first dance. After the tossing of the bouquet off the upper most deck, we headed into the Student Center where some students shared a repeat performance of their elaborate Bollywood dance that they had put together before our stop in India and the students from Ghana repeated one of their popular dance traditions.

The students continued their festivities in the Student Center while much of the Staff migrated to the Starlight Lounge at the front of the ship for live music and good South African wine. The crew band that had performed during Crew Talent night was asked to perform and many of the crew were invited to the reception. It was so nice to be able to all celebrate together and I think the crew were honored to be asked to participate and perform.

It was a great day and fabulous way to break up this long leg up the coast of Africa. I’m glad the Kersten and Gianni wanted to share their special day with all of us on the ship.

Tomorrow we are in Cape Verde for one day (ugh…just one day) and then we have six more days to arrive in Spain on Good Friday.