The Choir at a Wedding 1st September 2012
On the 1st of September the choir attended the wedding of Savini and Tom in Rydal Penrhos School,the venue being the beautiful Memorial Hall in the school. Both Savini and Tom are Medical Doctors, Savini in a Birmingham children’s hospital.
The wedding was a civil service but as part of the wedding they had a Sri Lankan poruwa ceremony, the first half is before the exchanging of the rings and the choir sings The Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves (Speed your Journey) over this.
A Poruwa ceremony is a traditional Sri Lankan wedding ceremony with Buddhist influences. The ceremony takes place on a ‘poruwa’, which is the platform.
The ceremony is made up of components that symbolise the couples transition to the next stage of their journey together. The Marriage is not just two people together, but the union of two families. First the couple ascend the Poruwa, and are given to each other by their fathers.
The couple drop 7 betel leaves on to the Poruwa – remembering the 7 generations before them, and paying respect to their ancestors. The bride’s maternal uncle ties the small fingers of the couple with a thread in a nuptial knot, then the groom’s father pours water over the fingers – as a symbol of their strength in the face of difficulty.
The necklace is a gift by groom, promising to look after the bride forever. Kiribath is fed to the couple by their mothers, and is a type of rice made to mark special occasions.
After the civil ceremony with the exchange of rings, Jayamangala gatha is sung as a blessing promoting future health and a good life. Finally is the lighting ceremony, to keep the home fires burning.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6zdGiH96mc
The Bride and Groom with Gwyn and some choristers
ALSO: There is an ABSOLUTE SUPRISE for Tom the Groom at the end. The organist starts playing the Bridal March and this will change to ‘It’s All About
You’ which is a song which Tom sings about himself. Various friends
and family all have a line, a boogie saxophone bit and everybody sings together at the end.
Below is a link to let you enjoy.