Despite the beautiful location, it was one of the most modest weddings I have ever attended. Her fiance went to work at 5am to 9. Afterward she finished, they gathered their paperwork and donned simple short, white dresses. My roommate even refused my help with hair and makeup. They headed out to the gangway off the ship to Lime Tree beach- inviting some colleagues who were able to get away from work to join them. Luckily we were mostly photographers so they received a full, free wedding photography service. The "reception" was a cocktail and lunch ordered at a restaurant on
During the same time my school friend got married with full, wedding reception, ballgown and flower-strewn church service attached. She married her boyfriend of three years. My roommate married her girlfriend of three months.
Despite their differences they both believed that it was the right time to get married. When I was younger I used to believe that you had to be with someone for years or live with them before you even though of marriage but now I know that when you are ready you are ready. If its the right person waiting three years before will not make a difference.
This post is a bit personal yet I want to share the most amazing thing I have seen while travelling on a ship. That is something you see every day: love and its ability to conquer all obstacles. I have seen people who live halfway across the world from each other cross that distance after only a few months of even knowing each other. You would think living a lifestyle on a ship would close your heart to love but I have seen it make people more and more open to it. My own ship love affair brimmed with crazy emotions and happiness. We never had the ability to dress up and go out for dinner at night like I did with my boyfriends at home yet I still felt the romance flaring between us. I suppose less romance leads to more sincerity and, in the case of my roommate, the minimalist wedding she had was more than she ever dreamed of.
During that dark time in our past known as the slave trade- "negroe" men and women were never allowed to be married yet love conquered all obstacles and they defied this rule. They swept a broom under their feet-jumping over it together- making them man and wife. Without a marriage license they were just as married in their hearts as any other married couple.
Customs around marriage have changed over years and through continents but love which is passionate enough to face more than a few obstacles is something that will never change- no matter the place or the time. Now that, is the biggest wonder of our world.
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