Welcome to Tanya and Lasaro’s second Fijian Wedding! As mentioned in our earlier blog post on Fiji, Tanya and Laz had two ceremonies; one at the Outrigger Resort, and one in Laz’s home village of Waikete. It’s a small village north of Suva – don’t bother trying to find it on Google maps, it’s not there!
The day started out with more donning of traditional tapas, this time with Tanya wearing one too. A blessing ceremony was held in the village church with lots of singing and acoustic guitar. Laz’s friends and family sure do know how to carry a tune! Next we made our way to the recreation centre, where we drank more kava and ate a delicious lunch cooked in a lovo (earth oven).
Laz and his friends then treated everyone to a meke dance and as you can see he rather enjoyed himself! It was really fun to watch too. After the reception we wandered around the village, and over to the Tekuleka family home. Tanya and Laz’s mothers exchanged gifts and Tanya was given her tapa to take back to Australia with her.
It was such a treat for us to be invited to the village and see parts of Fijian life that we wouldn’t have as tourists. People say that Fijians are incredibly friendly, and the people of Waikete certainly lived up to that reputation. Thanks again to Tanya and Laz for yet another amazing day!
