Our Home

A wedding at the Cathedral of Christ the Living Saviour in Colombo. Saturday January 24th 2009


A former colleague of James' in the TCL office, Devika, was married to Reverend Ridgeway Gunawardene on January 24th in the very beautiful Anglican Cathedral of Christ the Living Saviour in Colombo. A party of us went from TCL to share their joy and wish them well. Here Mrs. Yvonne Ferdinands, the Head of the TCL English Department, Saman Kumari, a student, Chiritrika and Nilusha from the office, and Rosemary check their outfits in the silvered windows of the van.	Few weddings would fill the cathedral so some empty chairs are hardly surprising. The tendency of congregations to fill the seats from the back seems to be fairly universal. But there was a good crowd to see Devika and Ridgeway on their way. The service included Sinhalese music and the traditions of pouring water onto the couple's hands and tying their little fingers together with string.

On the steps of the cathedral Devika and Ridgeway were joined by Best Man, Reverend Shelton, plus the usual young people. Devika and Ridgeway's engagement was a long one. The wedding had to wait for Ridgeway to complete his studies at TCL (March 2007) and then the Bishop had to give them a date after Ridgeway was ordained Priest (April 2008).	The reception took place in a hotel on the Kandy Road which was very convenient for the TCL party. There were Kandyan dancers and the food was excellent. There don't tend to be speeches in Sri Lankan weddings.

It is traditional for the bride and groom to sit on a seat at the end of the room and be photographed while they feed each other by hand and pose for photographs. Devika and Ridgeway are now serving at Tangalle in the hot south of the country.

Return to Index

	website provided by Puzz1edPCservices and powered by WebUMake (WebSpace4u™)