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If you didn't bother to tune in last week, you missed a doozy. In the age of the internet, where the world doesn't seem so big, and family and friends don't ever seem far away, it was wonderful to share our happiest day with all of you. Though only seven (and a dog) were at the actual event, our list of friends, family and honoured guests numbers far into the thousands. Thank you all for attending.
Relive the ceremony, and sign our register!
Of course I wish I was there, but hearing the happiness in your voices I know that it was the perfect thing to do.
Thanks for the re-enactment. It gave me the opportunity to cry at your wedding.
Love (and lots of laughs),
- Kev's Mom, Thunder Bay, ON.
AAAAHHHHH! You're married! AAAAAAHHHHHHH! That's so wonderful. I'm so
happy for both of you. You were such an amazingly beautiful bride.
You both looked great. I'm so glad your dad was able to be there...
You looked awesome in that dress and the scenery was
beautiful. What a perfect wedding... You sneaky sneaky thing!
Congrats and we love you guys and are so happy for you. May God truly
bless you and your marriage and keep you well and happy for a long life
together.
- Cindy & Carl, Austin, TX.
Back home in Thunder Bay, at coffee time following the Sunday
Church Service, a very proud mother (and mother-in-law) made an announcement. She explained how two people
that met at a house construction site of Habitant For Humanity, had taken
a significant step.
Congratulations, Aimee and Kevin Beimers.
May the rest of your lives be exciting and harmonious as you have
already experienced.
- Jack & Colleen, Thunder Bay, ON.
You are now truely the Beimers! We are so happy for you both!
Looks like it was the perfect day! No more secrets okay!?
- Inga & Scott, Thunder Bay, ON.
Dear Mr. and MRS...
It was just a matter of time. Nothing you do surprises me and getting married was just another step on your road of adventure and life. Congratulations!!!
The pictures are beautiful and brought back so many memories of Mom and I, Australia, and many special moments in my life!! Marriage is one of those times when all mundane things are set aside and nothing else matters except for the love you have for one another and the knowledge that the future is yours.
May all the roads ahead be as exciting and full of wonder as the ones you have travelled so far together. I am so happy and proud of you both.
God Bless you...
- Kev's Dad, Jakarta, Indonesia.
Congratulations to the both of you! How come this was such a
secret? We just found out now! Never the less, we're very happy for the
two of you. When are you coming home? Let us know the details soon.
With Love,
- Danny & May, Nepean, ON.
You've made us cry.
Sitting here in New York, we are so happy for you guys. We just wish we
could have been there. Just went through the pictures. I'm driving and Idana is sitting next
to me on the couch saying, "click on that one! click on that one!"
The words are beautiful, the pictures are beautiful, and the bride and
groom are beautiful. I cannot think of two people better suited for each other. You are both
wonderful and we love you.
By the way, the prayer you cited is one that we say every week when we
bless Noam. I hope you guys turn out as wonderful as she is.
Love,
- Michael & Idana, New York, NY.
I'm very proud of you guys. I'm proud of your
accomplishments and wish the best for your future accomplishments together.
- Dan, Thunder Bay, ON.
Congratulations!!!!! Kevin, you caught me by surprise! Welcome to the family Aimee. I look
forward to being your brother-in-law forever. I told the rest of the
family and they were all surprised!
I will write more later. Congratulations to the bride and groom!
The Brother of the Groom
- Chris, Stratford, ON
Dear Kevin and Aimee!
Congratulations! I hope that you`ll have a beautiful life with each
other. I not only hope, I also know, that you`ll have a good life. The
things that you both have done are so amazing, please go on like this!
...My parents will certainly write something down here for you, but I was
the first of the family who saw it (maybe they`re right that I am on
the internet too much :P )
p.s. Is Marta your sister Aimee?
- Menno, Lisse, Holland.
Wow - Isn't that nice! Well it's about damn time. Don't you
guys look great? Kevin, I'm sorry, but Aimee is totally hot.
Congratulations!
- Rob.
Congratulations from Oliver's family and company. Best wishes
and happiness to new Mr and Mrs Beimers...
- Claudia, Barcelona, Spain.
Kevin and Aimee,
I wish you both so much joy. It warms my heart to see the two of you
choose so honestly to be each other's rocks forever. May happiness
follow you wherever you go. Much love,
- Serena, Edmonton, AB.
This is too awesome!!! You're gonna make me cry!!! You guys look awesome, I especially like the pic with
Aimee sitting on the rock leaning up against Kev, with that devilish look on her face.
The vows were awesome, you have no idea how happy we are for you two.
A big huge congrats to you from those of us who are next in line (hehe).
Dana also sends her congrats to you two.
Cherish each other always, you have something special that most people spend a life time looking for.
Love ya, miss you lots,
- Jena & Mike, Thunder Bay, ON.
Wow Wow Wow Congratulations you soppy pair, i am
crying my eyes out after reading your vows, you brought tears to our eyes with this one :o) May we wish you the most
happiness and wonderful times ahead as you face them as husband and wife :o) We are so happy for you :o)
Much love and hugs and kisses your ol' wandering pals Mikki and charlie :o) Wish we could be there to
celebrate your love, have a few bevy's on us :o)
- Mikki & Charlie, Fareham, UK.
I love you guys so much! I couldn't be more miffed or more happy for anybody ever! Just for you,
I'll kill one moose in your honour! No, no, don't try to talk me out of it... It's practically a done deal...
It's just like you two to wait till everyone gives up hope and then do it on the sly. And invited no one.
Sigh. Well kiss each other for me...
- Dean, Thunder Bay, ON.
Seven guests and a dog? Who held the shotgun??? AND WHEN ARE THE LITTLE BEIMERS GONNA POP OUT???? ;-)
- Greg, New York, NY.
Read more entries at the bottom of this page!
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Mike Lalor:
Wife: Chris
Daughter: Kate
Celebrant Fee: $250
Weddings/yr: 20
Little Known Fact #1: Does a commendable impression of a Diving German U-Boat. Ah-OOOG!! Ah-OOOG!! Ah-OOOG!!
Little Known Fact #2: Mike's brother is married to Chris's sister! That means Mike is married to his own sister-in-law-in-law!
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ask a celebrant
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In the eyes of Australia, there are only three things you need to become legally married: I forget the first two, but the third is to have a celebrant present. The question is, what's a celebrant? Let's ask Mike!
What is a celebrant? A celebrant oversees any public or legal ceremony, such as weddings, funerals, christenings, things like that. It's got nothing to do with not having sex; I've heard that more times than you have "she's not pedalling."
How did you become a celebrant? Way back, I received word that Esperance was looking for celebrants. I looked into it, and applied. At the time all you needed to do was read the Marriage Act, show them you understood it. And, I had to prove that I was a "man of integrity". My friends got a kick out of that one.
How do you prove your integrity? I needed to get three glowing character references that somehow explained my worth to society. That was the toughest part.
What's the strangest wedding you've ever officiated? Strange? Well, I can tell you a memorable one... I married a German couple once over lunch. We sat in a nice restaurant, over food and wine. They wanted to keep it very low key, but somehow, everyone in the restaurant slowly clued into what was going on. They recited their vows, and when I pronounced them husband and wife, the whole restaurant applauded.
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| Distance this week: 35km | Distance since Day 1: 9594km |
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What is Bikeabout? Click here to find out!
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Day 226: Shave and a Haircut, Two Bills!
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34.5km
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25°
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3.0h
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1.5L
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Easy
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The Old Hospital Motel
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 where's my hundred bucks?
These were the first words out of Aimee's mouth when she first saw her dad. It may not sound like a very
suitable greeting to the naked ear, so let me explain...
Way way back in the early eighties, daddy and daughter made a little wager. "I'll never shave off my beard!"
said dad. "I bet someday you will," said Aimee, a financial genius even at six years old, "I bet you a
hundred bucks!" The deal was done.
What a surprise when he showed up, clean shaven and fair haired... Inga had told Aimee, "Now now, you're
going to notice a big change in dad. He looks much older, his beard is very white, and he's getting frail.
You may have to go easy on him. Whammo! He comes out of the door, jumps into the air and runs over to Aimee!
Frail. Ha!
But don't worry... we had a much bigger surprise prepared for him later this week...
"I'll call it one of those brand names like where you take the words it represents and shove them all together with capitals instead of hyphens... like EarSockKnot."
- Kevin.
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 pie are squared
Can you believe it? Dad's been in Australia for almost a month -- travelling through Melbourne, Cairns,
Port Douglas, Ayers Rock, Fremantle, and now Esperance -- and the crazy man's never eaten a meat pie! So,
we ran down to Esperance Hot Bread and picked up a variety. Steak and Onion, Chicken Curry, Spinach Quiche,
and plain old Beef. He's gotta like ONE of 'em.
We actually found out that he'd missed out on a lot of the culture in Australia: meat pies,
Tim Tams, Vegemite, sticky date pudding, burgers with the lot, Kangaroo... and that's just the food!
"Don't worry, we'll just live in filth."
- Aimee.
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Day 229: Where's the Stripper I Ordered?
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 taste, not tits
No strippers. That was our only request when Jo from the Esperance Tourist Bureau contacted us a couple of month ago. She wanted to plan a combined Hens/Bucks Do for us when we got to town. Luckily for us, Jo understood that we'd want a nice party, instead of a booze-up with scantily clad ladies/men. Besides, Esperance is a town of 13,000 people. Unless they import the strippers from Perth, we would expect the selection to be a little slim. Er, perhaps 'slim' is the wrong choice of words. I can't really see someone from Munglinup taking to bus to Esperance for fortune and glory. Eww.
As it turned out, we had a fine time enjoying the view from the Harbour Tearoom - it was classy enough to satisfy the most discerning New Yorker, and tasteful enough that I could invite my Dad. Thanks Jo, Brian and the rest of the gang at the Tourist Centre! It's exactly what we wanted!
"This soap, it does not make bubbles!"
- Marta.
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Day 230: Kissed with a Seal
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 cruisin' through the stress
It's the day before the wedding! Time for headaches, last minute disasters and getting a pimple right on the tip of my nose!
At least, that's what would have happened if we had planned a normal wedding. Instead, this is our wedding, the low-stress event! We didn't bother with little aspects like 'caterers', 'photographers', 'hairdressers', 'dress alterations', or even 'guests'. Just to calm down a little, the day before the wedding is the perfect time for a wildlife cruise in the Bay of Isles.
While Kev went on a search for the perfect beach to get married on (still hadn't even decided on "location" yet), Dad and I took advantage of a complimentary cruise on the Seabreeze, thanks to Esperance Tourism Board. Starting at 9am, we were whisked away to get close-up views of sea lions, eagles, birds, and enough dolphins to make Dad run out of film. It was definitely a relaxing way to spend the day before getting married.
"This is your last dinner as a single woman! This is your last shower as a single woman! This is your last washing of teeth as a single woman! Etc."
- Marta.
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 private ceremony
We got married! But you know that, don't you? For those of you who have already seen the photos, read the vows, and signed
the register, here are a few things that stuck out in our minds about the wedding that won't show up in photos or official ceremonies...
Oliver is wearing Dave's clothing.
All the girls are wearing Pam's perfume.
The local newspaper wanted to take photos at the wedding, but Aimee wouldn't tell them where it was going to be.
Everyone, with the exception of the celebrant, took turns in one shower that morning.
Chris gave up her golf day to attend our wedding.
The men's bus was decorated until Don drove under a tree and torn all the streamers off.
All the way to the ceremony, the Jacaranda carrying the girls honked out the Wedding March.
Before the official ceremony started, Mike surprised each person by asking them to give an impromptu speech. Each person was able to come up with something beautiful to say, with the exception of Aimee, who just blurted out that she was "Definitely Ready!!"
Best Man Oliver faked losing the rings for several minutes, fooling everyone.
Throughout the ceremony, Aimee kept thinking "Wow, Kev's pupils are really small."
Halfway through the ceremony, the camera was kicked over and all the photos got blurry.
Kev sat on Aimee's bouquet on the way to the reception.
Kevin made and decorated our wedding cake himself.
We ran out of glasses and so the champagne toast was drunk straight from the bottle.
The reception was shut down due to bongo music and fire dancing.
"Half a thumb's up!"
- Aimee's Dad.
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wally's amazin' facts!
A toast! A toast! I may not have been the best man, but I was certainly the best wombat at the wedding! Which means, this is the time that I get to say whatever I want about the bride, the groom, and weddings in general...
When Aimee and Kevin were done using the internet (very late at night, since they're on the web all friggin' day when they get the chance), I went online to find out more about weddings. More specifically, the cost of the average American wedding. Jeepers! Aimee's Dad sure got off easy!
Picture your typical white wedding. What do you think of first? The dress, of course! The average wedding dress costs the bride over $1300! Aimee bought hers for $99 (and you can't tell me she doesn't look just as hot! Here are some other neat facts...
| Ceremony: |
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Avg: $530 |
Ours: $270 |
| Reception: |
Avg: $9500 |
Ours: $103 |
| Flowers: |
Avg: $1200 |
Ours: $46 |
| Photos: |
Avg: $1400 |
Ours: BYO |
| Rings: |
Avg: $400 |
Ours: $30 |
All in all, the average wedding costs around $19,000! And that's an average wedding! Imagine what you'd pay for an extraordinary wedding! Now that's something to Holy Frickin' Frack about!
One last thing... did you happen to see our beautiful cake? Well, Kev made it for under 30 bucks! Ha! That's one talented guy, that Kevin. Aimee's a lucky gal.
Don't forget to look for Wally this week!
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buck's do:
(n.) bachelor party. Picture a bunch of Aussie blokes having a dirty big pissup over a carton of
middies, staring at shielas, right bloody starkers. Also known as a 'Stag's Night'.
coincidence? i think not.
first day of wedded bliss
