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Hey Everybody! We Went to a Wedding in Holland. Isn't that Weird?

In case you are wondering what the title of this post is all about, here you go.

Despite the silly stereotype, we met some of the nicest people in Holland while attending Henk Jan and Fleur's wedding as we were fortunate to meet and get to know their family and friends (some of whom were from Switzerland, too).

So, how does a Dutch Wedding compare to one in the US? Let's review...

It started at at 11AM at a church in Borger.

Waiting for a Wedding

The bride and groom arrived by convertible BMW.



We greeted them and then filed into church, accompanied by lovely Alphorn music. Maybe not so Dutch, but definitely Swiss. The bride and groom currently live and work in Switzerland, so that explains the choice of music and the "Welcome to the Swissies" banner greeting them at the reception site.



The ceremony was performed in Dutch but, in the recap given by our new friends, we learned that it was mostly a civil ceremony that recapped the story of the lives of the bride and groom and how they met. The officiant must have told some good jokes, though, as there were many laughs and smiles.

The Ceremony

The parts that we did understand included an exchange of wedding rings (the Dutch wear them on the right hand)...

The Rings

...and, of course, a kiss to seal the deal.

The Kiss

After the ceremony, we all gave our congratulations to the bride and groom, including the "Dutch Triple Kiss". We then made our way outside where the betrothed thanked the Alphorn players and then gave the instruments a try for themselves. Not too bad!



And then, with rose petals and bubbles, we saw them off.



We all made our way to the Herberg De Blankehoeve for the reception. We had a bit of beer and wine and a light lunch while we admired the groom's wardrobe, including a shirt with the new initials of his bride...

Wardrobe: Monogram

...and fantastic new wooden glasses. No wooden shoes, though. Dang!

Wardrobe: Wooden Glasses

After lunch, they thanked us all for attending with a champagne toast...

Champagne

And then cut and shared their cake.

Cake

Cake Cutting

A bit later, Harma, the groom's sister, presented a recipe book with pages from each guest to the new couple. Our contribution - chicken fajitas - will hopefully remind Henk Jan of his time in Arizona where we got to know him. No idea what the flags were about, though...

Cookbook

After more drinking and socializing, it was time for dinner. I enjoyed some fish from the North Sea and Ellen had some delicious duck. Thanks again to our new friends for translating the menu.

Dinner

Toasts were given by Petra, the Maid of Honor and Jan Willem, the Best Man.

Toast from Petra Toast from Jan Willem

And with that, the DJ fired up the speakers and the party began in earnest.

First Dance...

First Dance

Conga Line...

Conga Line

and Bouquet Toss.

Bouquet Toss

Not so dissimilar from a US wedding, no? A majority of the tunes emanating from the dance floor were the latest hits, too. We felt right at home.

There was one particularly Dutch custom that we especially loved though. Throughout the night, some relative or another would pull out a song that they had written for the bride and groom. It would be a familiar tune with altered lyrics that they would pass out to the crowd. Of course, these were mostly in Dutch, so we just sang along like we knew what we were doing.

The party finally stopped in the wee hours of the morning and it was 2:30AM when we finally fell into bed back at the hotel. Good fun!

Thanks again Henk Jan and Fleur for the great party. Here's to you!

YES!

Comments

  1. Very accurate report of the wedding! Thanks for your contribution to this wonderfull day. You were great company.

    Janwillem

    ReplyDelete
  2. by the way, did you already have your curry wurst in Berlin?

    ReplyDelete

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