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! 

Welcome to the Fiji mega-blog! This is part one of a two part blog, dedicated to the lovely Tanya and Lasaro. They decided to get married in Laz’s home country of Fiji, extending the celebration over 2 days; day one was a beautiful ceremony and reception at the Outrigger on the Lagoon, and day two was held in Laz’s home village of Waikete…but more on that in the next post.

The day started with Tanya, her pretty bridesmaids and their lovely mum getting ready in their beachside bure (hut). Meanwhile, Tanya’s dad was busy decorating the wedding cake – how cute is that? He did a fine job indeed. Lasaro and his brother were dressed in traditional tapa cloth, made by his mother and ancestors. Some of the pieces were very old, going back several generations.

The ceremony took place in the Bure Ni Loloma chapel, high above the resort and overlooking the ocean – it was absolutely breathtaking! As the night rolled on, the party really got going and everyone was on the dance floor. In between busting a move, everyone was invited to a drink of kava (made from the kava root) – it has a very interesting flavour and numbing effect on your throat!

The whole day was fun, beautiful and relaxed and we were so happy to be a part of it. A big thanks to the Drake and Tekuleka families for making us feel so welcome; we hope you love your photos as much as we loved taking them!