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Wedded bliss at the beach

The bride wore white, but kicked off her shoes. The preacher was in shorts. The path to the altar was golden sand amid clumps of seashore succulents. As the bridegroom kissed his new wife, a gentle wave ran up the beach and lapped their feet.

Welcome to the altar, New Territories style. Such ceremonies will become more common because of the recent Marriage Bill, which allows couples to wed outside marriage registries and churches.

I believe this sensible and welcome move is going to be a big boost to tourism. For one thing, it allows people to get married at Disneyland. That might be fun for visitors, but for many Hongkongers, the relaxed regulations mean freedom to get married where you choose. Last Friday, I went to a ceremony that shows how marvelously this can work.

Eric Rogers and Libby Blow flew in from Singapore to exchange vows on a remote beach. A few years ago, they lived in Sai Kung. When they decided on a wedding day, they opted to celebrate their nuptials in the place they loved most.

When the pair lived in Hong Kong, they journeyed frequently out past High Island to Rocky Harbour towards the tip of the Sai Kung Peninsula. There they dined at Yau Lei restaurant. Set astride a narrow peninsula, one side looks over fish farms, sampans, fishing trawlers and, at weekends, fleets of hired launches and private yachts.

On the other side is a tiny beach, a crescent of gold flanked by steep woods and a craggy headland with a pagoda. From the shore, shimmering waters stretch past islands to the South China Sea. 'It's a place in our hearts,' Eric explained. 'It's where we wanted to get married.'

Two months ago, the couple flew from Singapore to make arrangements. Strolling along the Sai Kung waterfront, trying to haggle with sampan owners for a vessel to take them 10km down the coast, they decided to drop into Insai wine bar for a drink. That was a stroke of luck.

In the stylish lounge they asked a blonde woman if she knew how they could hire a boat to get to the tiny fishing port. They couldn't have found a better source; Megan Davies is a talented organiser of special events.

She also runs the wine bar and, aboard a junk, serves an imaginative menu of Tanka (fisherfolk) food. It took only a couple of glasses of chardonnay for Eric and Libby to realise that Ms Davies was the answer to their dreams.

So last Friday, as the couple became man and wife, Yau Lei had been transformed from a charmingly casual village restaurant to a smart waterfront boutique. It was a perfect autumn day. Under a cloudless sky, Libby said: 'I do.'

Guests from Britain, Singapore and Hong Kong sat under festive Chinese lanterns and scarlet umbrellas eating prawns, garoupa and squid washed down with fruity Australian wines. A Filipino band played gentle love songs and exuberant rock 'n' roll.

'A beach can be as holy as a church,' said Michael Vickers, the Anglican minister who presided over the seashore ceremony. 'What matters is what's in people's hearts.'

The legal changes in laws governing marriages mean that such imaginative venues are certain to become more common, Ms Davies contends. 'Exchanging vows on junks is one option which I think will be popular,' she said. 'It depends on the couple. Hikers may want a wedding on a peak on the MacLehose Trail, though [that] might be a logistical challenge. But anything is possible.'

The options are open. Get hitched aboard a cabin on the Ngong Ping 360 cable car? Marry on a tram trundling along Hong Kong Island? Aboard a Star Ferry? Ms Davies smiles. 'Marriage is a beach,' she says.

Kevin Sinclair is a Hong Kong reporter who lives in the New Territories

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