Day 12 - It's here - The Wedding Day!

Now, I need to get a bit of info out of the way first before I get into the wedding celebrations and show you all the beautiful photos!

Firstly, Tobi and Lisa were already married before their church wedding!  You see, here in Germany the government doesn't recognise the church wedding and the Church doesn't recognise the Registry Office but requires it to be done beforehand.  

Tobi and Lisa had their Registry Office wedding back on the 14th February this year and now their church wedding today on the 9th August. Complicated, yes, but two lots of celebrating!  Sounds good to me.

Where Lisa and Tobi bought their wedding rings

Where Lisa and Tobi got married at the Registry Office......complete with confetti thrower!

Secondly, it's not customary for German weddings to have bridesmaids.  But Lisa wanted to have her 4 best girlfriends as bridesmaids to add an Australian flavour to the wedding.

All the bridesmaids looked absolutely stunning in their Audrey Lane dresses!

And thirdly, Germans love a celebration and it's normal for the bride and groom to stay till the end.  These celebrations can go to the wee small hours of the morning so be prepared for some crazy photos after midnight.  Also, the cake cutting is done at midnight too! 

Now, on with the show!  We drove down to Bennigsen to visit Lisa and the Bridesmaids to fix up any last minute alterations to the dresses and give them a hand to tie the sashes on their dresses. I'm the expert at tying sashes!

Lisa was the most beautiful bride and it was so lovely that her two dads, Tony and Jens, walked her down the isle.  The wedding was in German, which was to be expected, but I knew exactly what was happening and the female Pastor had everyone laughing a few times......which was a lovely touch!  A friend of Lisa's sang Hallelujah and as I looked around a few men were wiping away tears including Tony who was wiping away a lot of tears.  She also sang a song that Lisa wrote for Tobi called Coming Home and even more tears were wiped away.

Meet the newly married couple!

Lisa was walked down the isle by her two dads - Jens and Tony.  What a beautiful moment to see.

The reception was a little different to how we do it back home.  It started at 4pm with Kaffee and Kuchen (coffee and cake) then a few guests went for a walk through the little village of Bennigsen. That is customary in Germany to have Kaffee and Kuchen and then go for a walk or vice versa.

Before dinner was served Lisa and Tobi individually said a speech of thanks to the guests, including moi for making the dresses.  But I have to tell you it was such a great honour to make the beautiful bridesmaids dresses for Lisa.  The girls looked gorgeous.

Dinner was served then more speeches......from Tobi's dad, Bernd, then Tobi's best man, Edvard.  After dessert we had the best speech of all, I'm very biased, from Tony.  He said the speech in German but had an English version so I could read along.....such a sweetie! Many people came up to him afterwards and had only praise for his wonderful speech.  Also, all the speeches during the night were spoken in German and Tony quietly translated them to me......did I say he's such a sweetie!

Tobi's dad, Bernd.

Tobi's bestman Edvard.

And the most fantastic speech of all goes to.........Tony!

The bridesmaids and their partners did a very funny skit of how Lisa and Tobi first met.  I couldn't understand it as it was spoken in German but it was the funniest thing I've ever seen.  Unfortunately I was laughing too much to take any photos.

Tony had organised a quiz in which the guests had to answer questions about Lisa and Tobi and general Australian knowledge. eg. What's the name of the river that flows through Brisbane?  

Now, the time has come for the dancing.  The bride and groom danced the Bridal Waltz and then the parents were asked to join them. To my amazement everyone could waltz so well.  But I got goosebumps when we danced the Viennese Waltz.  Just picture the old movies where couples are twirling around the floor.  Oh my goodness it was one of the many magical moments for me.  Tony and I stumbled along but agreed we must get dancing lessons when we get home.

The Bridal Waltz!

And then a dance with her Papa!

The cake was bought out at midnight - on the dot - and the bridal couple cut the first slice and lovingly shared it with each other. Another magical moment!

Next up it's time to throw the bouquet!

The girls are lined up to see who can catch the bouquet.  Funny man Mario - who is Lisa's step brother - wanted to join in too.

I managed to get a photo with the bridesmaids and Lisa.  I made Lisa's post wedding dress too.  How nice to have my Audrey Lane Dresses in Germany!

Now it's time to get your shoes off and dance.  From midnight onwards was not for the light-hearted.  Shots were flowing and everyone was dancing.  Even us oldies were up dancing with the young ones.  Tony's ex-mother-in-law, Hiltrude - who is 80 - was dancing with her partner well into the wee hours of the morning.

Even the Macarena got a look in!

I'm having a special dance with my son-in-law.

Even I managed to bust out a few moves!

Lots of German-Australian bonding was happening through the night!

And much twirling!

The celebration is in full flight!

We will be catching up with this lovely couple next weekend!  Really looking forward to it.

Lisa and Tobi doing a soft shoe shuffle!  And they were fantastic.

 3 o'clock and all is well!

There was still a big crowd when we left at 3.30am

It was a fantastic night but Tony and I called it a night at 3.30am to get a few hours sleep before we all get together again at 10am for breakfast.  When we left there were still about 30 people dancing and drinking happily!  Their stamina is amazing!

Update this morning:  Lisa and Tobi left the venue at about 4.30am and were up again at 9.30am to greet the guests back for breakfast. At breakfast everyone was feeling either tired, hungover or severely hungover but it was all worth it.





Today and tomorrow are spent in Hanover and will be well earned rest days.  We will then go to Bad Gandersheim for 2 nights to visit good friends of Tonys.  Do you think I might need to rest and recuperate when I get home to Brisbane in 2 weeks time?