brewery and union

saturday was my last wedding of the year.

a year with four weddings, in different places, all over the country.

from the foothills of the outeniqua mountains to the northern kwazulu natal coast, and from my own garden to the lawns of a small town brewery.

in view of an overberg mountain range.

this wedding, which wed my special cousin deborah to special man kyle, was held in the white-painted interior of the birkenhead brewery in stanford, a town just twenty minutes outside of the western cape whale-watching hot spot of hermanus.

where in front of an doorway looking onto windy lawns and green, folded cape mountains, deborah and kyle said their vows, in front of a room full of standing friends and family.

including the bridesmaids in duck egg blue, cousin boon and peewhe too.

and aunty fronk the wedding organiser, the mastermind behind the event, smiling and beaming in pastel grey.

with more guests overlooking from the various levels of the tiered silver brewery tank balcony railings.

the walls were lined with bent metal hearts, interspersed with down-hanging plant and herb posies, tied together with string.

the tables were lined with bouquets in our grandfathers collection of metal mugs, prizes from his extended golfing career, with stuffed black and white gingham hearts hanging from the chandeliers above.

and, on the red carpet that brought in my dearest deborah cousin and entourage, the happy couple walked out on too post-vows, and were traditionally thrown, scattered and covered with hand-grabbed clumps of pink, tiny fynbos buds.

some of which got lost in her beautifully embroidered boob-tube champagne-coloured dress, with a trim of the exact same floral pattern as on the invitations and save the date magnet.

something that stuck to the front of my fridge for a while. reminding me of their upcoming union, a day i knew would happen at the end of the year, but didn't think would come so soon.

a day when all the family would be together, including peewhe and gr-hant from perthfontein, and all of deborah and kyle's friends, from all over the country, and the world.

a day when people would dance to everything from the talking heads to flo-rider, when siblings would cut their hands on loosely held rogue glasses while busting out moves, and spend an hour on a couch being healed/revived by a re-energizing machine, that kind of looked like a calculator/air-con remote.

a day when our immediate family would chase down the waitresses holding the tray of brie and pistachio wontons with sweet chilli dip.

to the extent that she actually came around from the other side of the building to feed us.

at our request.

a day of kyle and debz tying the knot, after being lost and found.

ten years after a post-school romance.

and even though i drank glass after glass of the resident honey blonde birkenhead brew, and ate an entire plate full of juicy tender, medium rare steak and asparagus, i still had the energy to dance until 1.30am.

after hours of breaking it down in my brother russell's suit jacket, dodging offers of shots, putting on transfer tattoos of butterflies and wearing plastic silver stick-on bindis and glow-in-the-dark put-together glasses.

after watching while a blown up weather balloon took out a few glasses on one of the tables at sunset, and rolled down the hill towards the mountain range in the consistent wind.

which died down later as the sun set, feet became sore in wedge sandals and it was eventually time to leave behind the dance floor die-hards, and drive across the highway to our rented house.

me being the only sober-ish sibling.

and as i left, and took my gift succulent pot home with me, i made sure i held it upright, and kept the stones from falling out.

with full intention of loving it, and making it grow.

like kyle suggested in his groom's speech.

and while walking out with wedge-height heel-up damaged feet, i was honoured to have shared the day with them.

to have tried to fight back the tears during the speeches, laughed at the microphone-loud speech jokes, and to have felt an even deeper appreciation for my gregarious cousin.

and her assemblage of hilariously flowermill place-card named guests, from jen-ket to pearlarator, to uncle cigarette.

but mostly i was just happy that at the last of my weddings to attend for the year, that another one of my family members could be so loved.

and in love.