Last Saturday was my brother-in-law’s church wedding (and party)! It was a really lovely and intimate group of people. It was also cold and rainy. A Chinese guest told me that rain on the wedding day is considered good fortune in China – it means money will rain on you in your life together.
The kids mostly managed to hold it together. Not easy considering the run-up of events leading to the church wedding. There was the only one photo of all three dressed up* that I managed to take. Noah was the ring bearer. Mattias and Trixie were flower children. We had them all practice before the wedding. And, well, they kind of got it right.
After the church wedding, there were cake pops and a log saw in the plaza in front of the church. The log saw is a Bavarian wedding tradition. It’s also another German wedding game, because sawing this way with two people can be quite difficult. The trick is to only pull the saw, but not push. Fritz and I did a log saw at our wedding, too. Except I think our saw was significantly longer and more difficult to use. (It sounds sort of boastful to say that, but, it really was true. Although, on the upside, my own brother modified our log, making it easier to saw.)
There was a good amount of down time when we were just waiting around at the castle for the party afterward. I know, from experience, that this is NOT AT ALL how it feels for the bride and groom, who feel they are rushing from one thing to the next with no time to visit with anyone. My in-laws did an awesome job trying to combat the kid’s boredom. I think the kids might have received more gifts (while waiting) than the bride and groom. And there were these play-push vehicles that showed up in the castle courtyard. Fritz and I were biting our knuckles as their little suited knees skimmed over the top of the wet stones. GULP.
After dinner, there was a dance, pretty much like an American wedding. The kids were really pretty tired by this point, and Trixie fell alseep in my arms. (I transferred her to Fritz at some point.) I think we made it until about 10:30pm, and by then we felt like we could go back to our hotel and sleep without seeming too rude. Noah was disappointed to leave just as the cake was being served. But the newlyweds invited us to their home for coffee and cake the next day, so hopefully Fritz and I were forgiven (by Noah).
*I’ve learned a lot about boy’s suits in the process of getting the boys outfitted for this wedding. Here’s my advice if you are required to buy a suit for a boy: Appaman. Have you heard of Appaman? I hadn’t. Their suits are really good quality and really well-designed for kids (not adults), AND not so different in price from the department store. And now that you know Appaman is such good quality, you can just go straight to the second-hand store and save yourself money, time from trying on not-so-great suits, and all the associated protests from a kid who doesn’t want to wear his suit/change his clothes. Mattias’ suit is the Appaman suit; Noah’s is not. Mattias has asked if he can have another one because it’s “so nice and comfortable.” (!) It also looked consistently good in the photos.
