Commitment Ceremony

S' niece has chosen her life partner. She and he will marry in Melbourne (where they reside) in the future. She wanted to have a public declaration of their relationship and their commitment to it, now as her grandmother (my mother-in-law) is 99, and she wanted to make this public commitment in the place her parents married 30 years ago this year. The clifftop in front of her grandmother's house.

The ceremony was today. Family (from both sides) came for Australia and around New Zealand. Pre-ceremony socialisation (prolonged because of rain) was in my and S' property, before we moved next door to mother-in-law's place. The rain ceased for just over a half hour and the ceremony was held in sunlight.

S read a poem which was her adaptation of a poem by Jane Hirschfield (to make the nature and wildlife references relevant to NZ). My photo is of our niece, A and her betrothed D, while A's father (S' brother B) started the proceedings. The culmination of the ceremony was B announcing formally that A and D are now betrothed. A wonderful phrase to describe an important state that in years gone by was as serious and important as marriage itself. A and D regard it in that light and A is delighted that this took place with her 99 year old grandmother watching from the balcony outside her room.

I am posting this photo, chosen because A liked it, without looking through the gross of photos I took today (145), as it is the start of a wonderful, and inclusive process which is currently slowly winding down.