18.12.06

Wedding Weekend

This weekend was spent in Italy again, this time in Northern part in the Tyrolian Alps for a wedding. The setting was absolutely beautiful and I finally met the whole group of friends that M. grew up with, his best friends that he has stayed close with all these years, including the bride. He was the bride's witness so an important part of the wedding and had also played an unsuspecting matchmaker when the couple met through him a couple of years ago.

I also was reunited with the group I spent my first days in Europe with two years ago as the groom was our host on New Year's Eve in Prague. I saw good old J. and F., a couple who had spent the holiday with us as well. Those were good memories of the very first weeks that I knew M., a post for another time I think.

I was extremely nervous about going to another wedding after the discomfort of the last one. This one went a lot better though. There is something loveable about all of M.'s childhood friends and I envy that they have stayed so close all these years. I didn't spend too much time with M. as he knew almost everyone at the wedding and is always a social butterfly but his friends never let me feel awkward or alone and other than the usual German/English flipping I felt included throughout the weekend.

The food was great but fattening. Although we were in Italy, we were in a largely German speaking region and the cuisine was more of an Austrian variety. The dessert dumplings were something my mom would have loved.. picture of them below. I danced like no one was watching and the DJ kept the party going until almost 4 in the morning. It was an easy walk down the hall to bed and in the blink of an eye, the weekend was over.

Having now been to two German weddings, which is maybe still a small sample, I have to say there are a few things I really like about them. First, it is a weekend long event. People arrive and more or less the group is a roving party. There is always food to pick on and a comfy place to hang around and chat. The friends often plan surprises like games or a group gift that is handmade and is presented in a group at the dinner. People do not seem as uptight about the scheduled start, end and in between activities. If the party is going, the party goes until people are ready for bed. The weddings seem less about form and more about spending time together on this important event. Finally, I love the honking horns. The whole wedding piles into the cars after the ceremony and heads back to the hotel honking their horns and flashing their lights the whole way. It's quite a racket but it makes you laugh.







Posted from Basel

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

lovely pictures! makes me miss Austria, and yes, you are right about the games. My American friends who came to our wedding loved them, too.

Anonymous said...

Thank you for your observations on German weddings. I'm getting married in Germany next year. What a wonderful thought...that our German wedding will focus on celebrating with our friends and family rather than on the stress (the dress, flowers, seating charts) associated with our American wedding - yes, we are having 2! Great post and beautiful pictures too.