It was just my good luck catching the fast ferry from the Dockyard to Hamilton Thursday last. I stumbled into a lively wedding reception that had originated in Hamilton, where a popular manager of the Bonefish Inn, Phillip Johnson, and his Bolivian bride, Mariella Suleta, had exchanged vows at the Registry General.

The invitation to join in the fellowship was irresistible, coming as it did from the groom's best man and brother, Ayo Johnson, a communications consultant, and Royal Gazette journalist Cathy Stovell, two of my friends.

"This is a recession wedding," said Cathy, who helped set up the round trip reception aboard the Resolute. Ayo explained the champagne, cake and sandwiches had been added to give a unique twist to the simple ceremony the happy newly weds had desired. An impromptu yet livelier celebration took place in the evening at Bonefish Inn.

The bride promised that a bigger event was planned to take place in her native Bolivia. She studied tourism and business management, and has a reputation as a ballet dancer. Her witness at the Registry was New Zealander Maze Andrews.

Another element in my good fortune that day was knowing the groom's mother, Mrs. Marlene Trott, originally from Angle Street, Hamilton. Many moons ago I wrote a column, Interviewing the Teens, for the new defunct Bermuda Recorder newspaper. Marlene was an interesting personality, embarking as she was to London furthering the training in nursing she had begun at the old Cottage Hospital Nursing Home.

Marlene qualified as a Registered Nurse and midwife, married a Sierra Leonean and joined him in his West African homeland. Phillip, whose African name is Omadele, was the second of their three sons, Ayo being youngest. The eldest has become a well-known Shakespearean actor, currently touring England in the role of Othello. His stage name is Miambana, but his given name is Patrice, after the patriot Lumumba, said his mother. His first trip to Bermuda was at age five.

Mrs. Trott hinted that son Phillip in acquiring a Bolivian bride seemed instinctively to be living up to the reputation he has in the family being nicknamed "The Citizen". She recalled he was born in The Gambia, attended college and university in Sierra Leone, London, Barbados and Bermuda. He is also a freelance photographer and musician.