Old Retired Guy Blog
July 8 - 14, 2010
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Eichstätt (Page 2 of 5)I'm not sure that I am explaining this correctly, but my understanding is that in Germany you are required to have a state wedding. Those who would like to marry in a church can then also have a church wedding. So, it is not unusual for a couple to have two weddings. Since the state wedding was to be a small wedding on Friday just for the family, we thought that we would only be attending the church wedding on Saturday. However, Simone told us that she would like us to attend the state wedding as well. So, with only one dress shirt to my name, we now had plans to go to two weddings.
Since the state wedding was in Eichstätt, we walked from our room and met family members on the street in front of the office where the wedding was to be held. Then we went to a small room on the second floor where the bride and groom sat on chairs in front of a desk. The witnesses, one man and one woman, sat beside the couple. The officiate stood behind the desk. We didn't understand what was being said but everyone was happy and the ceremony was informal enough for family members to get up and take photos.
When the ceremony ended we were all given drinks and a toast was made to the newlyweds. Then we walked over to the Altmuhl River where some photographs were taken. After the photo session we walked to a very nice restaurant where we sat in the courtyard and had a wonderful lunch. After lunch Kathy and I went back to our room to relax and cool off. With the outside temperature in the low 90s and no air conditioning in our room, that was a challenge. A cool shower helped. Simone picked us up at about 6:30 and we went to the Müller's home in Pfünz for a relaxing and very tasty cookout. Simone's two oldest brothers were grilling some ribs and kabobs with meat and peppers. A number of other dishes like potato salad and cucumbers in vinegar accompanied the meat. Liquid refreshments included bier (that's beer for you non-German speaking folks).
According to
beau-coup.com (and they don't lie) one German wedding tradition is: "Breaking dishes, pots, or anything that
will break into pieces and then cleaning it up together is said to bring good
luck to the bride and groom just before the wedding. The idea is to prepare the
bride and groom for facing life's trials together." I guess you could say that a fun time was had by all. And, there was still one more wedding ceremony to go!
'Eichstätt' |
