A German Wedding

We survived our first German wedding! What a great time. The couple was married last Thursday for the "legal" part of the marriage and then held the church ceremony and reception on Saturday. We checked into our hotel in Bad König - prior to heading to the church in Güttersbach. The man at the desk of the hotel did not speak English and thought it was funny that with a name like Hoffman we did not speak Deutsch! 



Our Hotel in Bad Konig



View of the rest of the hotel from our balcony



View out from our balcony



View from our balcony

We changed and made our way to the church in a very small town about 25 minutes from there. The church was old, and up on a hill with beautiful views of the German countryside. We found a seat in the back and saw a few familiar faces sit near us. There was no processional of attendants or mothers lighting candles. The priest went outside to get Britta (the bride), the organ began, and she followed him inside up to the altar to meet Joachim (the groom). Everything was in German but there were songs in English that we knew..."You Raise Me Up", "A Moment Like This", "Ave Maria."

It was a very nice ceremony and afterwards we gathered in the church courtyard for drinks and mingling. I didn't snap any pictures of this part of the day because no one else was! I didn't want to be the annoying American taking pictures but I did take some at the reception :)

The setting was beautiful, an old farm now called the Burghof the small town of Kirchbrombach.

Huge pear tree at the Burghof

We gathered in the courtyard area for drinks and appetizers and more mingling.

The couple was off shooting pictures and we were busy writing good wishes and advice on postcards that were being attached to red, heart shaped balloons. Joachim and Britta gave speeches (in German and English)

of what to expect for the evening and we all gathered together with our balloons for a large group picture before releasing them off into the universe.

What a cool sight and a great idea! Their address was on the postcards so hopefully whoever finds them will send them off.

Now for a few traditions that were new to us....cutting out a large heart from a white sheet. 

They each took a small pair of scissors and cut away and when they were through, Joachim had to carry his bride through the heart to symbolize their new life together. 

Next they are presented with a log that they must cut through. This challenge is meant to show that they can overcome any difficulty if they work together. It was funny to watch them working so hard when they were dressed in their wedding apparel!

We moved inside an old barn transformed into a lovely reception hall. We were seated with other coworkers and listened as the speeches began. Both of the mothers made speeches and toasts and then did Joachim as well as Britta. All was in German but we could feel the intimacy and emotion of what was being said through the tears. We felt very honored to have been able to share this with a couple that we've only known a short time and we did in fact learn that it was indeed an honor for us to be invited! One of the ladies I was talking to said that it is not very common to get invited to a wedding in Germany. She said that she had only been to a few and she was German! We thank Joachim and Britta from the bottoms of our hearts for letting us take part in such a memorable day for them. We will always remember it as well.

We had a delicious buffet dinner, enjoyed the couples first dance and the cutting of the cake. 

There was dancing, drinking and mingling so basically what we would expect at a reception! Mostly everyone was gathered back outside in the courtyard because it was such a beautiful night. We finally caught a shuttle back to the hotel around 12:30 and it seemed we were one of the firsts to leave! The next morning everyone gathered back at the Burghof for breakfast an we found out that the reception still went on a few hours after we left! We had a nice breakfast...oh the croissants...said our goodbyes and thanks and then headed home on a scenic drive through the German countryside again.

It was another fun weekend!