Our Wedding

Leaving the hotel with Dad and Gran

 When I restarted the blog, I promised an update on our wedding and here it is...

The week leading up to the wedding was pretty hectic with family and friends arriving from everywhere almost every day leading up to the big day!  We had gotten all the family together earlier in the week for the Kranzenbinden (the garland binding) which is a German wedding tradition.

The morning of our wedding was just as stressful to me thanks to our hairdresser who was late and took three hours, leaving us running really late.  It was a mad dash back to the hotel to change and get to the town hall on time...or five minutes late.

Dad walking me to the ceremony

In Germany, it is compulsory to marry at the town hall, though not always on the same day as the church ceremony.  For us, it made sense to do it all together though as we had so many guests flying in to be there.

The civil ceremony

The room at the town hall was very small so we were surrounded by our very nearest and dearest as we said 'I do'.  The ceremony was all in German and very official but very moving too.  I then signed my new name for the very first time.

Afterwards we cracked open the bubbly for a quick toast and calm down from the rush of the morning.

The newlyweds!

Outside, Nico's family had arranged a lovely surprise as we all let off balloons to mark the occasion.  It was very special.  There were lots of photos and good wishes at the town hall before we headed off to the church.

Leaving the town hall

It was a little strange and certainly different to walk through the town as newly weds, followed by our congregation on the way to the church where more guests were waiting.  It was a nice chance to have a little chat with my new husband though and catch up on our mornings.

The church ceremony was beautiful.  We were so glad that we picked the smaller church building as it was the perfect size and the light was perfect.  Our best friends read for us in the church and we were lucky to have the priest who confirmed Nico, and who he is lucky enough to call a friend, perform the ceremony. 

Cutting the heart out

Our second pleasant surprise of the day was a big sheet with a spray painted heart on there which we had to cut out together with nail scissors.  Whoever finished their half first is supposed to 'be in charge' in the marriage.  Nico won...

My new family

 Then came the official photos...

Nico's new family

With our attendants

With our friends

Everyone!

 We also took the time to have some photos around the lake.  Most of Nico's family also married in this church and had their photos taken here so it was nice to carry on the tradition and we were really pleased with the results.

The happy couple

Later, we headed to our venue for the reception and celebrated well into the evening.  The food was delicious and the company was very good.  We danced and talked the night away.  There were also a few more surprises in store.

Nico's cufflinks

 Nico's Mum's family prepared a beautiful poem from which they each read a verse and presented us with a rose.  At the end they gave us a beautiful rose plant which is now on the balcony.  The poem and the sentiments that went with it were truly beautiful.

At the lake

 Nico's Dad's family prepared a sketch to represent the night we first met which was really funny and memorable.  We were lucky enough to have some videos of the day too -precious memories.

One of my favourite memories of the night is my Gran.  One of the most inspirational women I know is almost 90 years old and we had worried about how well she would cope with the travel and the excitement of the whole week.  True to form, she proved us all wrong, had a fantastic week and was dancing with the rest of us until almost midnight.  Yet more special memories.

...and they lived happily ever after?

We had such a perfect day with almost all the most important people in our lives.  The whole week was magical and the weekend that followed was nice, sunny and sociable too.  It involved the pool, lots of sunbathing and eating leftovers before we put all our guests on a plane and jetted off for our perfect honeymoon too.