25th Wedding Anniversary

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25th Wedding Anniversary
Nov 29, 2003

Leasa, from Jamaica.

Ambrosia, from New Jersey.

Urah and baby Kabirah, from London England, and little Amy.

Carolyn and Tony, from Newcastle, England.

Out of Town Guests

For us, the anniversary celebration started a few days earlier, as we had out of town (really out of country) guests coming in. The first to arrive was Leasa, our friend from Jamaica, on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, For the past two years Diana and I had traveled to Jamaica to spend Thankgiving and our anniversary there, but this year Leasa would join us. An hour after Leasa arrived, we next picked up Ambrosia, arriving from New Jersey. Ambrosia was Diana's maid of honor at our wedding, 25 years ago.

On Thanksgiving day, Diana and I traveled up to San Francisco airport to pick up cousin Urah, arriving from London. Urah was bringing her 8-week old daughter Kabirah. We had a few hours to wait before the next arrival, so I took Diana and Urah out for a driving tour, going over the Golden Gate Bridge and through the Marin Headlands, before returning to the airport. We then met cousin Tony and his friend Carolyn, traveling from Newcastle, England.

In the limo - Diana, mother Marian, Ambrosia.

In the limo - Jestina, Stephanie.

Going to the Party

A limosine was arranged to bring Diana and her maids from our house to the party. This was to be in two trips and there was only room for 6 people each trip. Diana planned to arrive at the hall at 7:00. Since the party was to start at 6:00, I wanted to also be there at 6:00 in order to meet with all of my own people that I had invited, so since there was not going to be room for me in the limo, I was able to get my wish to arrive at the party earlier . This also let me have my own car at the hall so I would have it at the end.

Nuru Deen was the Master of Ceremony.

Miriam Marah was the featured singer.

Decorations were provided by Laura, Diana's business neighbor.

The Party Organization

Our friend, Nuru Deen, agreed to be the master of ceremony. His job was made a bit harder when he found out that the program listing was no where to be found, and so he had to create a list of names and who did what/when, all at the last moment. But it all came out ok.

The music was provided by Bankie Jackson. Bankie provided a good mix of music during the evening, but I would have preferred it if he had left out Michael Jackson's song, since it was not quite politically correct at this time.

The up-and-coming celebrity of the Sierra Leone community, 16 year old Miriam Marah, agreed to sing two songs for us during the evening. She did a very good performance.

Laura, who works at the business next door to Diana's, offered to provide all of the decorations for the party, all free as her gift to Diana. This consisted of decorating 20 round tables, plus one very long table for the wedding party, and the main table up on the stage. All were decorated with balloons and flowers, including a very large balloon arch over the main table.

The Bride's Maids and Groom's Men

LeRoy and Darlene.

Ray and Stephanie.

Guy and Marie.

Art and Catherine.

Eugene and Musu.

Paul and Alberta.

Tony and Josephine.

Aaron and Sally.

Terry and Janet.

Ambrose and Ambrosia.

Diana wanted to have a big wedding, and so she managed to pull together a large collection of bride's maids and groom's men, all of whom were supposed to wear special matching clothes.

The bride's maids were, in order of appearance: Darlene, Stephanie, Marie, Catherine, Musu, Alberta, Josephine, Sally, Janet, and Ambrosia.

The groom's men were, in order of appearance: LeRoy, Ray, Guy, Art, Eugene, Paul, Tony, Aaron, Terry, and Ambrose.

Each couple was to enter one at a time, dance a few moments, and then go sit down. Some of the couples danced quite a bit and some almost not at all.

The Family

Steve, Donny's brother.

Jestina, Diana's sister.

Bob and Gerry Tyndall, Donny's "parents".

Marian Thorpe, Diana's mother.

The next people to enter were the family. Steve Axtell is Don's brother, and Jestina Bright is Diana's sister. Bob and Jerry Tyndall are long-time friends of Don's family, and so came representing Don's mother and father. Marian Thorpe is Diana's mother.

Donny and Diana.

Steve, Diana, and Donny sitting at the table.

The Bride and Groom

Finally, it was time for me and Diana to enter. After dancing alone for a few minutes, all of the crowd came up and joined us. Diana and I then made the rounds, dancing with and hugging as many people as we could manage.

Everybody now took a break from the ceremony and dancing, and we all had dinner. It was supposed to be a catered dinner for 200, but I counted about 250 people present for dinner, and they all managed to find something to eat.

Pastor Ansel Turay.

Ready for it to begin.

The Wedding Ceremony

We did not practice any of this, so it was a bit confusing, but everyone remained flexible and it worked out ok. The pastor, bride, groom, bride's maids, groom's men, and godmothers, all grouped together in the middle of the dance floor, and then we adjusted where people stood until most of the crowd was able to see the ceremony.

Some of Pastor's words - "It is the responsibility of the husband to provide for and support his wife; to shelter her from danger. It is the duty of the husband to cherish her in all manly affection, for it is the command of God's world, that husbands love your wive, just as Christ loved the Church."

"But it is also the duty of the wife to reverence and obey her husband, and to put on the ornament of her meek and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is an ornament of great price. His world commands that wives are subjected to your own husbands, even as the Church is subject to Christ."

"It is therefore the priviledge of both to delight in the company of each other; to remember that in interest and in affection, you are henceforth un-divided but as one."

Donny repeating his vows.

Diana repeating her vows.

Putting on the rings.

Donny's vows - "I Donny, renew my vows with you today Diana, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do us part. According to God's holy ordinance, I therefore receive you."

Diana's vows - "I Diana, renew my vows with you today Donny, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do us part. According to God's holy ordinance, I therefore receive you."

Exchanging Rings

Donny's words -"With this ring, I renew my vows with you today Diana, and every worldly good, I will be able to cast aside, for the loveliness of your love."

Diana's words -"I Diana, with this ring today, I renew my vows, with you my love, and in God's sight, and in the sight of Man, I would faithfully discharge my lovely duties."

Pastor says, "I now pronounce you man and wife.

"You may now kiss the bride."

Paster then finished it up by saying, "I now pronounce you man and wife. You may now kiss the bride."

Lighting the candles.

We then had a lighting of two candles into one, by Millicent and her boyfriend, who Diana thinks should be the next couple to get married.

Cutting the Cake

"The cake, topped by two people on a bicycle."

Cutting the cake.

Eatting cake.

A few days before the party, I just happened to find the perfect figures to go on top the cake. It was a black bride and groom standing next to a bicycle. And the really wierd thing is that I found this sitting on the coffee table in the living room at home. I had never noticed that we had it before.

The Toasts

Brother Steve giving a toast.

Many toasts and/or words of advice were given. The people that I can remember were Momoh Lahai, Momodu Bangura, Patrick Conteh, Patrick Yamba, Dupinea, Bob Tyndall, and my brother Steve. None of the toats made it onto the video of our ceremony, so i can't recall any of the exact words. But I do remember that they were all appreciated by me. Some of the crowd, though, was getting anxious for the speeches to stop and for the dancing to begin.

Starting the dance.

The dancing continues.

Dancing Until the End

Finally, all of the ceremonies and speeches were finished, and the floor was opened for general dancing. I continued where I left off, trying to dance with as many people as I could manage. I was sorry to see that most of my bicycle club people had already gone home, and so there were many of them that i did not get a chance to dance with.

The party finished at about 12:30. Instead of being able to just go home to bed, we ended up going home and continuing the party at our house for a few more hours. I didn't get to bed until 4:00 that morning.

The Final Word

A group photo - Art, Donny, Diana, Darlene, Lisa, Urah, baby Kabirah, Eugene.

Both Diana and I were very happy with how this party came off. This turned out to be a very successful mixing of two cultures. Most of my people were from my bicycle club; Americans used to showing up on time and then getting off to bed early. Diana's people were mostly Africans, used to showing up late for parties and then staying until the wee hours of the morning. We were thinking that the party might turn out to be almost two separate events. We were impressed that most of the Africans managed to show up on time, and that many of the Americans were able to stay until the end. And everyone got along fine.

It looked to me like everybody that came had a good time. Many, many people told me that this party was very good, and some told me that this was the best wedding that they had ever been to.

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