On the second floor of the modern government building, we met our celebrant, Stanton Barakat, who ushered us into the small, brightly painted room which held a few bench seats, a large desk topped with gorgeous flowers and two chairs for us, the bride and groom. Stanton was a good combination of serious and silly, but while he 'lectured' us about the seriousness of marriage and how he was there to 'solemnize' this marriage, we couldn't help but giggle at his long awkward pauses and overuse of the word 'solemnize'. We signed a form declaring that we were both over 18 years of age and weren't married to anyone else, then got onto the good bit, with the rings and vows. The silver rings that we had made while in Vietnam were finally put onto our fingers and we tried to stay serious and focused as we stared into each other's eyes promising to love and cherish each other forever and ever and ever. The loving and cherishing part is easy for us, it's just the 'solemnizing' that gave us a bit of the giggles. He then pronounced us husband and wife and we were all over each other hugging and kissing - absolutely over the moon! We and our witnesses (Mum & Dad) signed the marriage certificate while bro Craig took pictures and the deal was done. Yay!!!

The five of us then celebrated at the exclusive Cafe Sydney, a fabulous restaurant overlooking Sydney Harbour, where we were treated to an amazing lunch on the sunny terrace. On a whim, we (the bride & groom) decided to take the ferry home, which was a gorgeous, romantic cruise across the harbour (reminiscient of the harbour cruise that we met on five years ago!). A quick rest and then we were off to the next celebration, a party with about 25 of our close Sydney friends at one of our favorite pubs, The Oaks. Thanks to Mum & Dad, we had our own private room with jukebox, terrace and flowing food and drinks all night. Though we had told our friends in the mobile phone invitation, 'The best present to bring is yourself', we were amazed to see that many had come bearing gifts. So after a fantastic night of champagne, friends, and karaoke, we were sitting in bed at 3am tearing open wedding presents.

It was off to work the next day (as we really have already just had a one year honeymoon around the world), but the excitement of being married is with us everyday. We're still not used to calling each other 'my wife'and 'my husband' or seeing with each other with wedding bands, and we get giddy several times a day over it all. 'Good morning wife!' 'Have a good day husband!' After five years, we are so happy to be these official names, to officially be a part of each other's families, and soon enough, Bex will also officially be a Rasmus, though you can call her Mrs. Rasmus already! (name change is just another legal formality) Bex's application to be an Australian permanent resident has been turned in, Brad's personal training business is starting to boom, and we will soon be ready to rent our own apartment by the beach. Settling down is slow going and we have a lot on our plate right now, but this adventure is turning out to be one of our greatest journeys together.