21 July, 2018Category_Things We Love

Our wedding | civil ceremony and reception

Earlier this year we shared our impressions of the wedding morning and the preparations for our big day with you, which you can here once again. Since then, a lot of time has passed, during which we were busy moving from Stuttgart to Hamburg, finishing lots of bridal jewelry for our great brides and store partners, and designing a new mini collection for the respective birthstones every month. If you want to see us on Instagram you probably also noticed that we were just on our honeymoon - and this gorgeous time off reminded us that we forgot to continue the mini-blog series about our wedding. We're determined to make up for it now! So buckle up, we're taking you to the town hall where we got married and to our wedding reception. The civil wedding ceremony After we got ready and had our first emotional look at each other - which you can read all about in the previous blogpost we drove together to the place of our civil wedding.

JOHAN: "When we arrived at the town hall and saw our families and friends who had come from all over Europe or even further away especially for us - that was just an indescribable moment for me. There were even acquaintances there who had only heard from our parents that we were getting married, and they just dropped by. That moved me very much. We were led into the large hall where our civil ceremony was taking place - and as the hall gradually filled with all our guests, I became really emotional. Oh yes, maybe I should mention at this point: I am a VERY emotional person and built close to the water when something beautiful or moving happens. I shed countless tears of joy on our wedding day because just everything and everyone made me so happy and grateful. I just couldn't believe that this was all really happening. For the civil wedding ceremony, we simply opted for the normal "Wedding Package". After all the formalities and paragraphs were read and we signed the papers, we heard the words, "You are now officially husband and wife. Congratulations!" (It wasn't that exact wording, but we were so overwhelmed that we can't remember the exact words.) Immediately, a huge round of applause and minutes of cheering erupted from our guests - and I was in tears again. Even the registrars told us later that they had already experienced a lot, but never such a long-lasting and loud applause after a civil wedding.

FREDRIK: "When we arrived at the marketplace in front of the town hall, we spotted lots of people I had never seen before and I thought: Oops, are they all here for us? Cool! Well, they weren't, because as it turned out, Johan and I were surprisingly not the only ones tying the knot that day and expecting guests. But it just felt like all these people were there to celebrate love - and that was great. Then as we walked into City Hall, I actually saw all of our guests and friends at the end of the aisle. And as we approached them, we were met with huge applause and cheers. It was completely surreal to see all these people in one bunch in the same place, knowing them from completely different stages of life and corners of the world. Then, as we walked up the stairs to the wedding room, I got a bit of a shock: there were many more people! The room was full of friends and family - even though many invited guests were not supposed to arrive for the ceremony until later. The registrars said that they had never experienced so many guests at a civil wedding. One could also think that such a civil wedding is boring, dry and just a "must" before the actual celebration. And to be honest, that's exactly what I thought beforehand. But the atmosphere was so relaxed and the whole ceremony was so emotional and full of happy laughter that I was proven wrong. And even the registrar was infected by the relaxed mood and allowed himself one or two jokes during the official ceremony."

The wedding reception FREDRIK: "I have to confess that I don't remember the official start of the reception at all. This was probably due to the fact that I drove our car myself after the civil ceremony and we then had a small family dinner in the inner circle before the big reception with all the guests started. What I remember clearly, however, is that after a sunny morning, dark clouds suddenly appeared out of nowhere and a heavy downpour poured over the entire garden where the free wedding ceremony was about to take place. Out of the corner of my eye I saw helpers frantically running around and bringing tables, flower arrangements and food to safety. All the guests had quickly gathered under the only roof there was outside - and there were about 160 people! Honestly, though, it was kind of charming and very personal to greet everyone there in the throng. Nevertheless, we were happy and relieved when the sun came out again and all guests could spread out in the big garden. Fortunately, this was also the end of the rain, not a single drop fell that day. In retrospect, I wish I had had more time to talk to every single guest at our wedding. But that's probably how everyone feels and luckily everyone at a wedding understands that completely. The reception was everything we had imagined it would be, with drinks, finger foods, and amazing live music from Jennifer Sarah Bone and Kirill Vorwald, whose music just created the perfect atmosphere for the occasion. I loved every moment of it!"

JOHAN: "The wedding reception made a lasting impression on me because there were so many family members there that I knew from my childhood but hadn't seen in years. It was an afternoon of beautiful surprises, conversations (of which, like Fredrik, I would have liked to have had more with each guest), rain, sunshine and traditions. Two moments in particular moved me that afternoon: the first was a surprise from my uncle and his wife, who are currently making a documentary about a gifted artist named Steven Luca. Never would we have expected that they would invite him to our wedding ceremony, where he gave a demonstration for us that all the guests could understand wordlessly, no matter what nationality they belonged to. He completely enthralled us and left us with a smile on our faces. What exactly he performed is hard to put into words - you have to see his humor and the beauty of his art with your own eyes. If you ever have the opportunity to see him live, take it!

The second big surprise is, strictly speaking, a long-standing family tradition, but one that was new to both of us. I'll try to explain it as briefly and succinctly as possible: the place where most of our wedding took place is over 200 years old and has been in our family for ages. When I was little, we lived there too and it was just gorgeous. After we moved the family to the neighboring town, this family property became the place for family gatherings, parties and a retreat for relaxing weekends. Then over the years it became a tradition among my cousins to have their weddings at this location. We love beautiful traditions and this one in particular stands out because the thought behind it is just beautiful and shows how great our family is.During the reception, my uncle and godfather grabbed the microphone and explained the tradition to our guests. We were then given a flag in the colors of our wedding invitation with our logo on it, which we raised on the spot. The thought behind this is that we raise the flag every year on our wedding day - preferably at the location of our wedding ceremony, to celebrate another year of marriage and reminisce about the incredible day we had with our family and friends. After all that, the reception slowly came to a close and we said our goodbyes to our guests, who were heading back home at this point."

Phew, I think this is by far the longest blog post I've ever written. If you've made it this far, I'm sure you're eager to read the next part. Sign up right now for our Newsletter which always informs you immediately about new blog posts. In addition, as a newsletter subscriber you also benefit from exclusive offers and are always informed first about all news, even before our Facebook and Instagram followers.