The Swedish Wedding

So it was my first experience of a Swedish wedding, and here are a few details:

The background - The happy couple are Fredrik and Elina - Fredrik is an old High School friend of Adams, and Elina is his lovely Fiance who have been together for years! I met them last year, and they have always been very warm to me, and I have enjoyed their company both in London once and in Sweden. So I was looking forward to the day.

The Wedding was to be held on the djurgården island in Stockholm, which has on it a museum, theme park, zoo, cathedral looking building, a few conference buildings and this wonderful church.

This is one section of the church which was amazing. The church is actually from the South of Sweden, and was taken apart and re-made once brought to Stockholm. It was all wood inside, and painted ceilings. Candles were lit, and the outside of the building was the Deep red colour of many Swedish country houses. Was so cute and romantic!

To interupt the story before we left the house we saw that it was slighty drizzling outside, so Adam suggested an umbrella. The colourful piece of equipment was all colours of the rainbow, yellow, red, blue, green, and with my elegant outfit I rejected it. Bad move. As you can see below, it was needed.

Mr & Mrs............after the ceremony it is tradition for the newlyweds to stand out the front of the church and have photos taken. Fredrik is in his Military uniform from his service over 10 years ago....it used to be compulsory for all men to perform their service, and if they meet a certain level (I believe officer), they usually wear their uniform to the wedding. Adam wanted to as well....typical Navy boy! Elina's dress was amazing, the red detail was beautiful, and the embroidary was beautiful.

Going to the reception we had an outdoor task. There were questions posted about the couple on the trail on the reception hall, and we were given a table to record the answers. When we reached the destination we handed in out question papers to be marked. The results were revealed later in the night. Was a very cute task. Luckily we were able to borrow an umbrella!

So during the reception I started to see the biggest tradition of all - the speeches. There were about 10 in total. From all different people, friends, family etc. But it was handled in a tactful way, during courses, and each individual saying their own peice, so lasting no longer than a few minutes. Adam too made a speach (any excuse), however I was the only one who could'nt understand it. Oh well the others laughed.

So here was my dress that I wore:

Of course in the colour I love, but on the day it proved to be...............not sure what to say, but I was considered part of the bridal party..........purely due to the colour of the dress........and the hair:
(Me with the two bridemaids - Louise and Sara)

Another tradition I learnt was that if you are married you are split from each other on the tables, so that you mingle with others. Was a great idea, to make sure people talk, and kindly my table was very obliging to the language of English.

Well here are some more happy snaps from the night..................

Adam and I:

Peter, Fredrik, Adam & Karsten (All school mates from over 15 years ago! hahaha:

Me with the happy couple and bridesmaids:

The four girls:

Adam and Sara on the dancefloor............. I will spare you with the rest of the funky moves.....haha


Well that was the night, and so Adam and I headed off home, to have two hours sleep before getting up to embark on a 7 hours trip home. Not recommended for anyone after a wedding!

But thank you to the beautiful couple, it was a lovely experience for me!

some more photos