I posted about our wedding a couple of weeks ago. Now that I'm back, I can finally write a blog post on our special day. Happy memories will hopefully also take away a bit of the sadness from leaving my HUSBAND (hihi I still can't believe I have a husband) behind. Overall, I feel quite good though, because we can now finally work on closing the distance this year.
So, I arrived in Ghana on January 13th and a couple of days later my SO and I went to the court to set our court wedding date. We had to write down all our information and they made a notice which was pinned to the wall at the court house and was also posted in the area where we were staying. They do this to make sure that we're not already married (customary marriage) to someone else. If nobody comes to the court within a couple of weeks and says "Hey, that's my husband/wife on that notice", then you're free to get married. So, we waited for some time until we could finally set our date.
Then a few days before our wedding, they asked me who my witness would be. I told them, that my SO's sister would be my witness. Unfortunately, my parents couldn't come, because of my mom's severe MS, but I already knew that it wouldn't be possible. The court people freaked out a bit then and told me that they need a signed letter from parents which states that they approve our marriage. So just two days before the wedding we had to mess around with the letter, find an internet cafe that could print out documents, and hand it back in the next day. But all was good in the end.
They told us repeatedly to come at 7:30am on the 27th and so we got up very early and got ready with some of the family members that were joining us. We thought they were very serious, because they told us so many times to come early, but in the end the judge turned up around 9:15am. Then everything went very fast. We said the vows, signed the certificate, kissed and were out in 10 minutes. All of this not just in front of our witnesses and family, but everyone else that was around that morning. Quite a large crowd. The rest of the day we just chilled and spent time with family.
The next day was our reception, which was lovely. We had some friends and family members come around to my SO's uncle's house where we were staying for a few weeks before heading up North. We had some food, shared stories, took pictures with everyone and danced (a lot). Such a lovely day. We were a bit sad, that my side of the family couldn't be there, but we'll definitely have a small party with them soon.
There was one funny thing that happened though. Well, it's funny now... I didn't find it too funny then. One of my SO's cousins brought a friend who is a makeup artist and does bridal makeup. The lady came with a huge case full of makeup. She used some of her products and some of mine. To finish off the look, she shaped my eyebrows and I asked her not to fill them in too dark, because I'm very pale. A few minutes later, my sister-in-law came into the room. When she saw me, she just looked shocked and pointed at her eyebrows, so I asked for a mirror. When I saw myself I couldn't help it and started crying. I looked terrible! She had drawn on very thick, black and non-symmetrical eyebrows. With my reddish/blond hair, I looked ridiculous. I felt very bad for crying and asked her to please take off the eyebrows completely. I was also annoyed with myself, because I cry so easily, especially when I'm shocked or angry. The eyeshadow was also a bit too dark for my liking, especially with the red lipstick, but I didn't want to take everything off and start all over again, so I just left it. Thankfully, it doesn't look too extreme in the pictures
It was such a lovely wedding and we couldn't be happier! Not only have I gained a husband, but a huge family as well. I love it!
Unfortunately, we didn't have a professional photographer, but the family took some nice pictures:
