(Adri a Burki)
So, the real reason I was in Europe a couple months ago was to attend Adriana and Burkhard's wedding in Ottendorf-Okrilla (a village 30 minutes north of Dresden). They were married on Pentecost weekend, which was the most appropriate day possible to celebrate their union, as it was ultimately a quadrilingual wedding!
(All dolled up and ready to go!)
Adri is Slovak (and ethnically part Hungarian as well), and Burkhard is German, so the entire ceremony was conducted in both languages - first Pastor Matthias would speak in German, then Vladimir (a friend getting his PhD in theology) would speak in Slovak; we alternated languages on each verse of the hymns, and they each spoke their vows in their native tongue. The sermon would have been too cumbersome to go back and forth like that, so Matthias wrote it early enough to be translated, and all the Slovaks had a special insert in their bulletin so they could follow what he was saying (I was on my own to keep up with the German, but that was good practice, and I could follow most of it). Then they asked Burkhard's father, Adri's sister, their friend Adrian, and myself to come forward at the end of the service to each say a blessing and prayer in our native language, which is where things got quadrilingual as Hungarian and English were added to the mix.
So like I say, the day before Pentecost was the perfect day to celebrate this wedding!
(Can we set a table or what?)
Both the service and the reception afterwards were absolutely beautiful. Since Slovakia and Germany have differing customs, they really strove to blend their two cultures (as America has its own wedding culture, it was interesting to me to see where things were similar and where different). So, immediately after the wedding, they had a receiving line and took pictures with all of the guests, then we had cake and coffee (a German custom). There was an official wedding cake but then the guests were also expected to bring cakes to share during this time.
(Look at all that cake!)
After cake, the "program" began. This is also a German custom, and basically recurs through the rest of the evening. The program may or may not have anything to do with the wedding itself - activities ran the gamut from random silly skits and songs to large group folk dancing to skits specific to the couple and a version of the newlywed game, etc.
So there was some program, then we ate dinner, then some more program, then time for talking, interspersed with more program. Around 10 pm or so began the dancing (the Slovak custom), and at midnight all the women gathered around Adri and sang a folk song that was about giving up her veil (a symbol of single maidenhood that must be put away now that she's a married woman), and then the couple served another special, very sweet cake (all this is also Slovak custom). Sometime after this the group started to disperse.
(Adri and her Keretzmama - "Godmother" in Hungarian - with the youngest guest, die kleine Magdalena)
By American standards, this was a rather "small" wedding, but by European standards it was rather large, because they wanted a number of their friends to join the celebration. In America it also seems so much of the wedding accoutrements are bought from some store (often specializing in the wedding industry) and the couple's main tasks are to just pick out everything they want. This was a much more "organic" experience (and my impression is that such practices are more typical of European weddings - at least, of the circle of Europeans that I roll with).
Their clothing and flowers were purchased in the usual places, and the food itself was catered, but all the decorations and programs were designed and made either by Adri herself or by family and friends. A group of us spent all day Friday getting the church's community center ready for the reception (I had no idea I could do napkin origami!), and everyone also pitched in to help tear down when the party was over. All of the cakes were homemade, and friends of Burkhard's brother were hired to serve as waitstaff to help keep things flowing smoothly. Naturally, this all helped to make the cost of the wedding very reasonable, and had the added bonus of providing more time for visiting with the couple and fellow guests on Friday as we set up. And I can honestly say it was one of the most elegant, classy weddings I have ever attended, so it just goes to show you don't have to spend an arm and a leg to have a beautiful celebration.
So that was the Pfingsten Hochzeit. Tune in next time for more about the rest of the week in Dresden, generally.
Peace out,
C.
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