The Wedding Dinner :)

Last night, we ate at a casual seaside restaurant called "Tea for Two". We had passed this place many times during our walks along the water and always made a point of saying, "we have to eat there before we leave!". Of course, the anticipation to eat there wouldn't have been as great if the name were different (i.e. we didn't care what the food was like, because the name was SPECTACULAR!).

Anyways - to Tea for Two we went, with big "we just got married" smiles and really hungry "we need to eat pronto" thoughts! We seated ourselves in the perfect location, where we were able to see a wedding party getting photos on the waterfront, a wedding party touring the city in the official "wedding bus of cyprus", and a wedding party of the new-generation era (two men in bright and colourful dresses). We laughed and laughed at the "show" in front of us, until the waitress came over and we filled her in about "THIS" being our wedding party. She looked at us with shock, and asked, "why are you eating your wedding dinner HERE?!!!!". We smiled back and explained that home-cooking at Tea for Two was everything we wanted on our wedding day. And so we ordered a bottle of Aphrodite wine, bangers and mash, and chicken curry!

Our Vows.

Because it was a civil ceremony, Phil and I were not given the opportunity to say our own vows at city hall. However, we did write our own, which we said to eachother the night before our wedding (this may be why the tears were spared on the REAL day!). Here is an answer to the requests we have received:

Phillip's Vows:

Lindsay, I am completely invested in our love. I am inspired to be at my best in your presence, and you are the most important part of my entire life. You have demonstrated a passion for living that is contagious, and shown me that anything is possible as long as we are together.

I look forward to the rest of our lives knowing that I will always have you by my side. I trust you completely, and love you unconditionally. You are my best friend.

I will be there to celebrate with you when you are happy, to hold you when you are sad, and to listen to you when you are angry. I promise to support you no matter the circumstances.

I love you Lindsay, and this love is forever.


Lindsay's Vows:

Phillip, I love you. You are my big smile on a happy day and my big hug on a sad day. You are my cheerleader when I need encouragement and my inspiration to become a better person. You are the one who allows me to dream and imagine, and the person I am safe to share my feelings with. You are my best friend and in being these things, you are the reason I am able to be my truest self. I feel at home with you.

From this day forward, I promise to accept you the way you are, as you have accepted me the way I am. I promise to live our life as an adventure – learning, growing, and exploring together. I promise to believe in our strength as a couple, as we already know that love can climb mountains and will continue to do so when times are tough. I admire you. I respect you. I trust you. And I will love you – unconditionally and forever.

The Special Moment

There we were, standing in front of either the mayor of Pafos, or someone that resembles a mayor anyway, with Lindsay looking beyond beautiful, and me doing my best to get out of dry fit for a day.

The ceremony began as we gazed into eachother's eyes and fought back tears of joy. The mayor began sputtering some words of love, and finally it was time to repeat after him. The problem of course being that he was speaking English with a thick Greek accent which for most words was indistinguishable.

Fighting back laughter I began to follow his lead, and spoke of a life long happiness with Lindsay, a life where I would be committed and dedicated to our love. Lindsay did the same, though I'm sure we both butchered a word here and there along the way.



Then came the most interesting part of the ceremony. It quickly changed from romantic banter into threats of jail time, and public humiliation if we were ever to split from eachother. We were literally being threatened during our "vows"... Following this, and at the very end of our ceremony as we were signing our Marriage Certificate, celebration music was "cued" on the nearby CD player to the tune of... "DOOO, DOOO, DOOO DOO DOOO, DOOO DOO, DOOO DOOO DOOO DOOO DOOO DOOO".... Even more hilarious was the person that was present to hit the "play" button was the angriest civil worker of all time, the same lady that disgustingly accepted our request to wed!

Up until this point I still hadn't heard "You may kiss the bride", and I was dying to kiss Lindsay but didn't want to jump the gun. It seemed pretty unromantic to avoid this kiss altogether, and then finally it was time. "You may kiss your bride", I heard in a thick Greek accent, and that's what I did!



True to form, it made us laugh hysterically outside of the Town Hall, and who could have asked for a better ceremony? Our witnesses were two locals from Cyprus (Our wedding planner and her husband) who awkwardly asked us if we were getting married strictly for Visa purposes, and our gift was a bottle of local wine from the Town Hall of Pafos. It also came with four "wine bottle" gadgets, that I'm sure Momma Parkinson will teach us about when we return home.

What a perfect way to know that I have Lindsay by my side, for the rest of my days...

Before the Ceremony: She Said

I was so happy to wake-up on the day and know that I didn't have to go anywhere because everyone was coming to me! I felt spoiled - hair and makeup arrived at 8:30 to make me a princess for Phillip and it was all going to be a big surprise for him! The hair stylist turned some music on and we all talked and laughed about the security tag, our lack of wedding guests, and how much hair I have. The wedding planner showed up while I was being spoiled to spoil me even MORE! She showed up with a single yellow rose and a Starbucks tazo chai latte (my absolute FAVOURITE!). She was more-than-accomodating - making sure I was relaxed and happy. I was in heaven - but I knew Phil was not...and so I sent her to check on him in the other hotel room. It felt like forever while she was gone, and when she came back she said, "Yes.....you can tell he is quite anxious. He'll be okay once we're there." I laughed because I could picture him stressing out, like he does over situations that involve alot of organization.

When my hair and makeup was complete, I was glittered all over and then sent to get changed. I quickly put on my dress, shoes (or white havianas), and jewellery. I couldn't wait to get to city hall! I couldn't wait to see Phil! And, when I finally did get there, I couldn't wait for the photographer to hurry-it-up so I could run in and find him!

In the final pose, he placed me near a fountain and asked me to look over my shoulder and smile. Ahhhh - and there he was :) Waiting for me on the steps.

Before the Ceremony: He Said

It was a really nice gesture from our Hotel's Manager "Kiriakos" to offer me an additonal room for the hours leading up to the wedding. He had in fact already saved the day when he let me borrow a pair of black socks (which I conveniently left in Egypt). Usually the bride needs something "borrowed", but Lindsay and I have always been unconventional in how we handle things.

I grabbed what I thought I would need (shirt, tie, pants, shoes, etc) and headed down the hall to get ready. Once there I realized what a terrible mistake I had made. Not only had I forgotten my computer (which I had planned to use checking sports to calm the nerves), I had entered a room that had already been cleaned and prepared for the couple arriving later that day. I was in prison! I couldn't sit anywhere in fear of messing things up, I couldn't use the bathroom as there was a "this toilet has been disinfected" sign on the seat, and as I looked outside all I could see was rain!

I stepped out to the balcony for a minute and noticed an elderly couple sipping tea in the flat beside me. The man came out and as we began talking, he told me that in his 12 years of being in Cyprus (always June), he had never had a day of rain. Just our luck, the first day of rain was the day we were to be married! Shaking my head, I headed back into my makeshift apartment to pace back and forth nervously awaiting our wedding.

About an hour before the ceremony, I headed to the reception area to leave for the Paphos Town Hall. I had directions, but driving on the left side of the road, and unsure if I truly did understand the hand written map that was drawn for me, I wanted to make sure to arrive on time. However, I was stopped in my tracks by our Wedding Planner, as she told me it was much too early to go anywhere. In the reception area, I paced back and forth for another 30 mins until finally losing my patience and heading out without her approval.

I arrived and took some pictures with the photographer and then was guided into the room where we were to be married. 20 mins to the wedding, 15 mins to the wedding, 10 mins to the wedding, 5 mins to the wedding, still no sign of Lindsay. My worst nightmare was being realized! Had Lindsay changed her mind? With about 30 secs to spare a man (aware of my nervousness) came into the room and asked "Is she a beautiful blonde?" She had arrived!

The Security Tag.

It was a beautiful, sunny day - one day before the wedding to be exact. Phil and I were driving along the coast, admiring the stunning scenery and thinking about how lucky we were to be exploring the country together. Interrupting this dream-like afternoon, the cell phone rang. I answered, Phil was driving. It was our wedding planner (Chrysso), there was a problem.

Chrysso: Lindsay! I am at the dry-cleaners, getting your dress steam-ironed. But, something is wrong. The security tag is still on your dress!

Lindsay: What?! This can't be possible. There's no way.

Chrysso: I know....I can't remove it but I will try to take it to a store that can!

Lindsay: Okay.

During the bad news call, Phil had pulled over to the side of the road, knowing that I was about to freak out. He took the phone from me and called Chrysso back, as my explanation of the problem was too unclear and covered up by the stress and concern that swept over me. I tried to calm myself down, but failed immediately after hearing Phil say "OH MY GOD!" on the mobile. Which leads me to convey the following two things: 1) Did you know that ink splurts everywhere if you try to remove security tags yourself (not to worry - this didn't happen)? and 2) The wedding planner thought we may have stolen the dress from the store (also not the case).

Sadly, no store had the security-tag-removing-device that we were looking for. Luckily, the tag itself was located under the dress, in a spot where you could not see it. Annoyingly, during our wedding day, all I could feel was that darn tag banging against my leg - a constant reminder that my dress was not perfect! Yeesh - at least we can laugh at it now :)

A "90 Minute" Flight...

We booked a "Shuttle" to the Cairo airport through our travel agent, but when we went outside the school after our final day of teaching to grab the ride, it was nowhere in sight. There was a "miscommunication" of sorts as the ride was waiting for us 45 minutes away at our apartment. We scrapped our original "foolproof" plan, and began running, and hollering at taxis.

The taxi began in the proper direction assuring us that he knew where he was going, but after missing the turn to the airport we were headed further into the desert. About 30 minutes later then expected we arrived at the airport.

All seemed too good to be true at the EgyptAir desk, as we smoothly headed through baggage, briskly got through passport control, and even had time to enjoy a snack before our boarding time. Our flight was "On Time", and we headed into the shuttle bus to embark on our journey.

The passengers found their seats, but it was mysteriously hot inside the aircraft. Uncomfortable to a point that Lindsay was even complaining of the heat, to a point where the interior walls felt like they were on fire, to a point where the safety of the passengers was at stake. It took 90 minutes (ironically the amount of time it would have taken to get to Cyprus) for EgyptAir to finally decide that with an air conditioning mishap, we wouldn't be leaving just yet.

During this time, I can't possibly describe the chaos that occurred inside of the aircraft. Families were fanning their crying babies, women were screaming at the stewardesses, men were demanding to see the pilots, and finally I LOST IT!!!!! Note: Anyone who knows me well, knows that when I do finally hit my boiling point, an explosion of epic proportions hits!

I demanded that someone tell us the truth, just give us the information as to why we were stuck in the runway in 50 degree weather with no air conditioning. NOTHING! Then, the passengers behind us pull out this monster of a video camera, and they're a News Team. They're videotaping the madness, interviewing passengers, and trying to get me to speak out against EgyptAir on video.

They finally get us back into the shuttle bus, and we head back to the boarding gate. I am first inside, and begin yelling and screaming that someone give us the information we need. Note (Lindsay and I needed to get to Cyprus that night, as if we didn't arrive with 4 working days left in the week, our wedding wouldn't have been valid).

We were told that it would be 45 minutes, and they bribed us with Coca-Cola and Sandwiches. When we were finally ready to go back on, some of the passengers had decided that our plane was "unsafe" and didn't want to reboard. This meant that EgyptAir had to go through the luggage compartment and get their things off of our plane. All this while we're back in the shuttle bus and the air conditioning on the plane still hadn't been fixed.

We finally got off, and I was biting my nails the entire flight! Our landing was incredibly bad, but at least we were in Cyprus. Those carrying a European Passport whizzed through security as we sorry Canadians waited in a line that seemed to never end, with all "Other" passport carrying passengers.



The Hertz Company was very helpful renting us our car, but of course with the nervousness of driving on the left side of the road (with the wheel on the right), and being tired, we headed off in the wrong direction. We didn't arrive at our hotel apartments until 1am, when our E.T.A. (a generous one) was 9pm. What a beginning!

Choosing Cyprus.

It took us many, many discussions before we finally decided what we wanted to do for our wedding. We knew we wanted it to be the two of us, but we were unsure of where it should take place and how fancy it should be. We didn't know if we wanted to go to city hall in Toronto, a pretty place in the Niagara region, on a trail in Northern Ontario, at a beach in the Caribbean, or be completely wack-o and hit up Las Vegas. We didn't know if we should wear "work" clothes, beach clothes, or more traditional wedding clothes. We didn't know if we wanted flowers or photos, makeup and hair, and so on. Luckily, we came to the realization that the most important thing was becoming husband and wife, and so we knew it would be a special day wherever we decided to do it.


That being said, there are a few reasons Cyprus was a special choice:

1) It is a Mediterranean island that rose out of the Sea! (Kind of like our love...because it sure as hek came out of NOWHERE, haha)
2) Cyprus, also known as "Aphrodite's Island", is the birthplace of Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty.
3) It is so sunny and warm and pretty.....
4) It is close to Egypt (only 1.5 hours by plane!)
5) A marriage in Cyprus is recognized around the world.

Once we selected Cyprus, everything seemed to work itself out! We found an exceptionally cheap flight to Larnaca airport, booked a rental car at Thomas Cook and made reservations at an incredible family-run complex in Pafos. We hired the most lovely wedding planner, named Chrysso, and were amazed at the flawless schedule of appointments and to-do's she had prepared for us (with the to-do's being: RELAX, HAVE FUN, RELAX, etc.). All this considered, Cyprus really was the perfect place to become "The Parkinson's"!

Mr. & Mrs. Parkinson.

It's official. We were married today at 11 a.m. in Pafos, Cyprus. More details to come!

He'll LOVE the environment before I'm finished with him....

Lindsay: OH MY GOODNESS! Phil - there was an earthquake in Ontario!

Phil: Seriously?!

Lindsay: Yes! And they are calling for tornadoes!

Phil: WOW.

Lindsay: (in a "we need to save the world" way) I know, we have to do something! Let's go to Starbucks and sport some "go green!" tumblers!

Phil: (in an "OH GOD, here we go again" way) Whatever you think, hun. You're the boss!