Somebody at coffee this afternoon (yes, you Bernadette) said that the previous post on the wedding was short on detail and emotion, but really I didn't have time to do it better. Here I am trying to do a better job.We arrived at the town hall in Son en Breugel at 3pm on December 30. We waited behind the family whilst 'secret' things were put in place. This turned out to be a tenor who sang as we entered the room, plus champagne on the table for the end of the ceremony. Normally, when it is busy, there's reluctance to allow such time, but nobody - yes, nobody - gets married between Christmas and New Year, so we had the place to ourselves.
Five cameras recorded the event, unfortunately there was one above the staircase, so you see our shiny heads. I still like this picture. We were so self conscious and slightly nervous, but obviously enjoying every moment. Both of us had never married, so at 59 and 48 respectively, this was a first (and never to be repeated).
We entered the room, the main meeting chamber of the council. It had been refurbished in 2008 and was very attractive indeed, with a very lovely ambiance created by the furnishings and the feeling of love and joy in the air. I wax a trifle lyrical here, but all the members of the family plus the officials, and of course ourselves, created a feeling of great joy and happiness.
Lea, our official, carried out her duties with good humour and dignity. We had spent 90 minutes with her the week before and therefore she knew a lot about us. About 60% was in English and the rest in Dutch. I understood perfectly all the Dutch spoken, and I felt very included in all the proceedings. Notice the tea lights around the tables. There was a beautiful light in the room, quite cozy for such a large space.
In this Maxwell Smart picture (the 'Cone of Silence") Rene is looking quite self conscious. This was part of the very serious ceremony, and I was looking very serious and I think Rene was choking up a little - not sure.
Done! The certificate is signed. Rene signed first, then myself, followed by his sister in law Claartje and her husband Jan - our witnesses. This was only fair since we had been witnesses at their wedding the year before in Australia. I felt euphoric that the formalities were over.
I love this photo. It's after the paperwork was done but I'm not sure what Rene was reacting to. One is so wrapped up in the moment that sometimes it's difficult to reflect back on everything in detail. All I know is that we were both exceptionally happy.
There was an opportunity to make a vow and say some words, and Rene declined but I went ahead and it all got a bit mushy and teary for a short while, which is good because up until then it all seemed like a damned good party. This was serious stuff, and we did have those moments, but not all the time.
I thank our tenor, a relative of my brother in law, for his beautiful singing. It was relaxed but also formal when necessary. We had to leave then and make our way to the town's cafe (pub) where we had a few drinks. I'll post those pictures later.
Here we are leaving in the world's smallest wedding limo, a bright yellow Hyundai Atos. It had green silk on the dash and rear parcel tray plus yellow roses around the windows. Perhaps my favourite wedding picture.
After the cafe we went to a neighbouring village to play kegelen, a Dutch form of ten pin bowling. The pins are picked up by string, and the lanes are a different width, narrower for the first half. You use a standard ball minus holes for the fingers and then you bowl under a wire across the start of the lane. It's all electronic and has screens, but the string on pins idea was very old fashioned to me. I'll include a picture in the next post. Oh, I might mention that OWEN WON against 11 other adults playing (I'm not including 4 year old Anneke). We went to yet another neighbouring town for dinner, at Auberge de Zwaan in Oirschot. If you want to, you can check out the menu for the current season. It was a superb a la carte dinner for 14, and everyone loved the food and the service. We had our own room plus a beautiful fire in the sitting room beside the dining room. It was a superb choice. http://www.dezwaan-oirschot.nl/
During the dinner the family performed a song 'Aus-tra-li-a' to the tune of YMCA. They gave us some funny gifts, as well as a book of the slides used in a Power Point presentation that was before dinner. The edible undies and flashing ducks were funny, but the gift of a surprise night in the honeymoon suite of a beautiful local hotel (once a convent) was a real surprise. Although we didn't get there until midnight, we were taken to our room and found a jacuzzi, champagne and nibbles (we were so very not hungry, but lovely touch) in our large suite with a late checkout of 5pm. My sister in law had smuggled out our toilet bags and a change of underwear.
More next time, but for now, this is enough. With coffee and cake at 1:30pm, wedding at 3, cafe at 4, bowling at 5, dinner at 7 we were really quite tired when we reached the hotel room, but we still tried the jacuzzi and drank the bubbles. We retired exhausted but sublimely happy. It was already New Year's Eve and we had to be in Utrecht by 4pm to pick up our apartment keys and start the round of three social events for that evening. Right now, though, we were consumed by deep and very comforting sleep.
