Last Christmas, Michael Zuill had never heard of Sri Lankan national Chandani (Dilky) Rahasinha. Both were living thousands of miles apart. Earlier this year, they began exchanging letters after he received her address from one of her relatives living on the Island. Within a month, they were planning their wedding.

"One day we were talking and I asked her if she was willing to get married," Michael, a father of four, said. "She said yes, so we continued to get to know each other better."

And according to him, it was only a matter of time before they started to discuss the idea of Dilky moving to Bermuda with him, although it meant she would have to leave her then 13-year-old daughter and elderly mother behind. Michael said he contemplated relocating to Sri Lanka, but the language barrier would have been too great for him.

So, along with planning their June nuptials, the couple decided that Dilky would arrive on the Island in May.

On May 9, the future husband and wife had their first face-to-face meeting.

"I was happy. I knew him from corresponding so I knew him," Dilky said. "He wasn't a stranger to me.

"But I was so tired after the many hours spent flying, I can barely remember (that night)."

Michael said he felt the same, and it helped that her brother and sister-in-law accompanied him to the airport.

"But I would have known it was her, as I had seen many pictures," he told The Royal Gazette.

Before their wedding, Michael showed his future wife around the Island and took her to meet his large family. On June 22, the two were married at Mount Zion church. Although a Christian ceremony, the bridesmaids wore saris; traditional Sri Lankan dresses.

"We wanted the wedding to embrace both our cultures," he said.

Six months later, the couple are now preparing to celebrate their first Christmas together, the first ever for Dilky, who is a Buddhist.

"At home, we celebrate the birthday of the Lord Buddha, and that is in May," she said.

However, she said, Christmas is celebrated by the Christian community in Sri Lanka and colourful lights adorn the houses, as they do in Bermuda.

"But we don't have a boat parade," she said. "This was the first time I had seen that."

And, she said, while Christmas feasts in her country were festive affairs, people did not cook turkeys, but instead roast chicken and prepare a host of dishes, including spicy curries.

"But I will not be cooking any of that this year," she said.

Instead Dilky said she intends to sample Bermudian Christmas cuisine and experience the different ways which locals prepare their meals.

"I've never had a Christmas, so I want to see how the Bermudians do it," she said. "It's totally different from our culture."