Our Web-Powered Aussie Wedding

The bouquet was perfect. The music was picked. The dress was white. The bride- and groom-to-be were in place. My family was ready with special words for the happy couple.

... But over 3000 miles separated this family.

Teresa and Mat were married earlier this evening in a beautiful ceremony, surrounded by family and friends. I say "beautiful" because ... well ... it sounded beautiful as I listened to it on the phone. I'm still waiting on the screen shots Lizzie is going to send to me.

"What?!" You scratch your head and wonder how on earth this wedding took place. Well, I am proud to say that my family experienced our first truly high-tech wedding. My parents participated in the wedding via webcam, and I listened on the phone. Since the messaging system (I think it was MSN or maybe Yahoo IM) only allowed one-to-one video conferencing, I was unable to watch the ceremony. But Mom and Dad saved the day by calling me right before it all began and placing the phone in front of the computer speakers so that I could listen to everything.

"Can you hear us America?" These were the first words I heard, the soft Australian accent present in the celebrant's voice. The wedding sounded beautiful. I could hear clearly my sister saying her vows, Mat saying his. My parents spoke loving words, read excerpts from the Bible, recited Spanish prayers, and Lizzie read a Cherokee poem about love.

The wedding progressed, then the traditional "wedding stuff" happened. The cake was cut. The toasts were made. The bouquet and garter were thrown. The family was positioned in front of the web cam so that the family on the other side of the ocean could take screen shots. You know ... your traditional wedding occurrences. :)

So, as soon as I get them from Lizzie, I'll put some pictures up here and also on my website. Thankfully, the wedding was also videotaped, so I'll get to eventually see the ceremony. For now, I'm really happy that I was able to listen to it.

Congratulations to the happy couple!