Wedding Celebration: German Style

Yesterday we went to a wedding for one of Jesse's German friends/co-workers.  It was Valerie's first wedding.  It was also the first Catholic or German wedding Jesse and I have been to.  We didn't understand anything at the wedding, but we just went with the flow and mainly focused on keeping Valerie happy and quiet.  She did really well!  For the first 45 minutes she quietly emptied my diaper bag, and then emptied it again and again as we would repack it.  I took her out for the last 15 minutes or so because she was getting squirmy and it was really quiet because they were taking communion.  The church was beautiful inside.  Not big, but the decor and architecture was so ornate.  The ceremony was followed by snacks (mostly bread and pretzels) and champagne in an outside area right next to the church.  The wedding started at 1pm and around 3 or 3:30 pm every one followed in their cars to the reception venue about 15 minutes away.

Someone didn't want to stand still :-) But she was sooo stinkin' cute in that dress!

We were told beforehand that German wedding receptions can last well into the wee hours of the morning.  We knew we wouldn't make it that long, obviously.  When we arrived there was a HUGE table full of AMAZING looking desserts.  One of our German friends smiled and said we would have dessert first.  I totally thought he was kidding.  Nope.  First thing we did was have coffee and desserts.  Yum, I was a fan. After that nothing really structured happened for a long time.  They had some toys set up in an area for the kids.  There were informal pictures outside and such.  Finally, around 7pm we had cold appetizers, and there was a buffet for the kids.  Then the adults were served a hot meal about an hour later.  Valerie ate well, but wanted to get down and play/run around more.

Yo...what's up.  I'm eatin' my cheerios!

There was a live band that played during dinner and then into the evening.  There was some dancing, the dancers who enjoyed it the most were definitely the group of kids.  They served another small dessert around 10:30pm and we headed out after that.  Valerie fell asleep in her stroller around 9:45 or so even though the band was loud, she was absolutely exhausted.  So were we after chasing her around all day.  She was one busy girl.  Playing with the other kids, dancing, and checking out all the new toys.  It was serious business and she was like the energizer bunny.  She did have one short 20 minute nap in her stroller around 6pm.

Playing!  Serious stuff.

Valerie and some of her dancing friends.  There were about 10 kids there.  It was nice that it was very kid-friendly.

She loved to watch the band, and really wanted to go up and help them.

Jesse took a neat shot of the tables.  

It was a really nice wedding and reception.  We were exhausted, but mostly from chasing little miss busy-body around.  Taking a relaxing day today and staying local.  It's sunny and in the 50s so we'll probably head out to walk around town soon.