Laura Marie Tilghman, daughter of Frank and Jeanne Tilghman of Newbury, Vt., and Ludovic Chan Razafindramazana, son of Kherounnissa Tombosoa and Chan Chong Tsiu of Maroantsetra, Madagascar, were married in October 2010 in Toamasina, Madagascar.

A traditional Malagasy marriage ceremony was held in the couple’s home on Oct. 15, 2010, attended by close family. Léonor Be, a former host brother of the bride, spoke on behalf of the father of the bride during the proceedings, which were conducted in the Malagasy language. A civil ceremony was held the following day on Oct. 16, 2010 in the Toamasina city hall, officiated in French by assistant mayor Henri Paul Belahy. An afternoon reception followed at the beachside hotel of Chez Paul in Ambodiatafana, where guests dined and danced under swaying palm trees just a few yards from the Indian Ocean.

Despite the long distance, several members of the bride’s family traveled from the United States to attend the festivities, including her parents, her sister, Katherine Hill of Greenwich, Conn., her aunt, Ruth Tilghman, of Brattleboro, Vt., and her uncle and aunt, Tom and Jo-Ann Tilghman of Lakeland, Fla. Before the wedding they were able to see some of the tourist sites of the local area, including the Pangalanes Canal, Lake Ampitabe, Palmarium Reserve, and Ivoloina conservation center and zoo, as well as explore the markets and streets of the city of Toamasina.

Laura is a 1999 graduate of Saint Johnsbury Academy and 2004 graduate of the University of Vermont. She is currently a PhD candidate in the department of anthropology at the University of Georgia, and is conducting her dissertation research on rural-urban migration on the east coast of Madagascar. Ludovic is a 2005 graduate of the Ecole Supérieur Coeur Antanimena. He is currently the executive director of the Toamasina Regional Tourism Office. The couple resides in Toamasina, Madagascar. Laura and her family are Chappaquiddick summer residents, and have deep Island roots. Her great-grandparents were Peter and Margaret Pinney, and her grandparents were Hal and Olive Tilghman.