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Wedding at Fairfield | ||
| Article in NZ Bride
& Groom magazine about a wedding held at Fairfield House
in 2003.. "Emily and Emmanuel Rejouis were selected as our Bride and Groom of the Year. Their photos and story show just how much their wedding day reflected their individual personalities and style, and what a happy occasion it obviously was. Emily tells their story. Family and friends know us as the adventurous and inseperable "Em and 'Em, short for Emily and Emmanuel. I'm from Nelson and Emmanuel is Haitian by birth. After graduating from university, we'd noth been working independantly as volunteers with the United Nations Volunteer Programme, Emmanuel in Rwanda and me in Cambodia. By coincidencewe were both called by the UNV headquarters to go to Nigeria for four months. The day after I arrived was New Year's Eve. That night we fell in love on the dance floor and we have never been apart since. In planning our wedding, it was important to recognise our mixed cultures and heritage. First, Emmanuel's dad gave a religious blessing on hte beach in Haiti, and then came 'Em and 'Em's NZ Wedding'. We chose to get married in the gardens of Fairfield House in Nelson, for its natural beauty and spiritual ambience. Together with our friends we rented the entire villa for three days and about half our 80 guests camped out with us for the wedding weekend. The mix of nationalities was like a mini United nations! We put a lot of creative effort into the planning, consuming several issues of NZ Bride & Groom in the process! Emmanuel with his sense of style, knew he wanted to wear a cream Khan-style suit, and asked our local tailer to make it for him. I designed my gown with the help of a dress designer Loiuse Anderson and spent several hours making jewellery to match. Emmanuel designed our identical wedding rings in white gold and pounamu. Every detail was imbued with personal and cultural symbolism. We also handmade our wedding invitations and created CDs of our favourite music for the guests. Our wedding day dawned sparkling and sunny. As my former high-school teacher played the keyboard in the garden, our mums began the wedding ceremony walking together down the dais- lawn aisle to light unity candles. Then, from within the native bush, came the deep, rhythmic sound of African drums. Emmanuel and his dad emerged side by side from the trees. Next, in a rich burst of colour, seven of my girlfriends appeared from the greenery. Individually dressed to their own taste like butterflies in flame-red and fushia-pink, they floated in caryying Asian parasols and fans. Lastly my dad, sister (as chief bridesmaid), neice (as flowergirl) and I, entered to the very beautiful and majestic 'Nella Fantasia'. Emmanuel and I had written the ceremony together with the guidance of our marriage celebrant. It was a reflection of our families and a new life together. Sprinkled with rose-petal confetti and soap bubbles, an hour later we were drinking Haitian Rhum cocktails. Music is one of our shared passions, so we asked several of our musically talented friends to play and sing for us as a prelude to dinner. Inspired by our adventures, we named the reception tables after the countries we had worked in over the last six years for the United Nations. Naturally we were seated at Nigeria. Emmanuel and I both took a turn to speak. At the enmd of my speech I p[layed the guitar and sang a song that I'd composed for Emmanuel. The dancing and music carried on until the early hours with a lvie band and DJ. The day could not have been more perfect. We have now been married for just over a year and are thankful every day for the chance circumstances in which we met. Despite our cultural and geographic extremes, we have so much in common and share a profound love and respect for each other." |
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