Rudi and Nicole's Wedding

Let me tell you a few things about German weddings (I have now been to a few). There is always someone who is organizing activities for the guests that have to do with giving something to the bridal couple. The most popular activity is the guest book picture album. They set up an area where attendees get their picture taken, usually with a theme (not something the bride picked out, don't worry) and "fun" costumes.

Can you guess the theme at Rudi's wedding from this picture of us?

Another popular activity is the "postcard a week for a year" where each attendee takes a postcard and sends it to the couple on the week indicated so that they can remember the joy of their wedding the whole year long. This time, we even got a blank postcard that Daniel can draw on.

A couple of times (including this time) we've gotten to do the "wedding time capsule" in which everyone is given a questionaire about what the bridal pair's future life will be like. Then, responses are locked away in a box and the couple opens it years later and presumably hilarity ensues.

What else? Oh there are the speeches given by the parents with pictures of the couple as kids (we did this too - Daniel's father is German after all!). And if "scouts" are guests, then the couple is serenaded for anywhere from 10 minutes (the length of last Saturday's concert) to more than half an hour (at Craig and Heike's wedding).

Not at this wedding, but I have also experienced puppet shows, belly dancers and an amateur painter activity.

This was the 3rd wedding we've been to that was done as a two for one with a baptism. Rudi and Nicole's daughter is named Sophia Nora, is 6 months old, and has an awesome stroller with cup holders (bought in Canada - where they've been living the past 3 years). She is such a sweet baby. Here's a picture of her with her cousin Jaron: