One thing about arranging a cross cultural wedding is that it is so freakin’ difficult to decide whether you should do it his way or my way. haha..but then again, wedding planning is one of those times when you learn a few things about the marriage itself. If you can’t give and take during this time, chances are your marriage is gonna be one rough sail!

Anyways, we decided to meet half way. So, the wedding is going to be a mix between Faroese & Chinese Indonesian style. Isn’t that just simply awesome! =P

One of the things that I’ve decided to let go is the use of ‘pagar ayu’ (kinda like bridesmaids, but instead of the brides' best friends, they are hired beautiful ladies), and adopt the more traditional western style bridal party. In one way, we both want to acknowledge and honor our friends and family who were always there for us during our courtship, and even long before that. Secondly, our party is going to be a small private one, and it’d be just wonderful to have those closest people right by us, instead of having some strangers that we hire to be pagar ayu. So..ladies & gentleman, introducing to you, my bridal party!

Nadine is going to be the flower girl. She is my niece, and is flipping cute! haha..She is very shy though, so I hope that she won’t have a stage fright or something.

Ly is Hans’ niece. She is 4 years old and is the youngest of Hans’ nieces and nephews. Along with Nadine, she is going to be the flower girl. We are not quite sure yet whether Ly and her family will fly to Jakarta for the wedding, but we sure hope so. =) Toki is Ly’s older brother, and he will be the ring bearer.

Martha is going to be the maid of honor. She has been my best friend since we were in college, and has remained so through the years. She stayed with me during the time when I was at the lowest point of my life, and continued to do so as I started putting the pieces back together. She moved to New Zealand after college, but continued to stay in touch with me, and was always there whenever I needed her. Martha now lives in New Zealand with her family, and she will fly to Jakarta to do us the honor of being my maid of honor.

Leigh is going to be the matron of honor. I met her on the Doulos, and we served there together for 2 years. We didn’t hit it off right away as we are very different, but as we continued to spend time together, we became very close and soon she became my confidant. She was there when Hans & I became friends (She was actually there on the very first day in Fiji!), and continued to support & help us. She has a very cute sense of humor that I love, and her funny comments have always been able to make me laugh even when I’m really sad. Leigh is from South Africa and is married to Mathias who is from Germany. Mathias is also a close friend of mine who has helped and prayed for me individually, and for Hans & I as a couple. Leigh & Mathias live in Germany.

Shalane is one of my bridesmaids. We became friends when we met on the Doulos in Bangkok, and became quite inseparable soon enough. She was also my cabinmate for the last few months of our time on board the ship. She has often given me sensible advice when I chose not to be sensible..hehe. She is loyal, and dependable. She also has a fun side. She loves to go out and look for new adventures, which we both often fall into. She is one of the very few people I always asked to taste my food, because just like me, she eats everything. I think, because of me, she’s tried more food than she wanted to,including some pretty weird Asian food. =) Shalane is from South Africa, and will fly all the way to Indonesia to attend the wedding.

Vira is one of my bridesmaids. She is my sister who is 9 years younger than me. She now studies in Malaysia, and will be finishing next year. One thing I love about having her as my sister is that we are both the same size & I always steal her clothes to wear whenever I go back to Indonesia. haha..She has a very different fashion style from me, but I love it nonetheless. My baby sister is very spoiled because she is the youngest, but she has grown a lot since she left home to study in Malaysia, and has been able to develop her own way of thinking and belief.

I don’t have a list of people for Hans’ groomsmen yet because we don’t know who will be able to come since Indonesia is so far away from the Faroes, the tickets are expensive and most of his friends are still studying. =( We’ll wait and see! God always has a way of surprising us! =)