German Wedding
 

As a part of an upcoming trip to Germany, we're attending a German wedding in a small town on the German Wine Road (Deutsche Weinstrasse).

Our German friends, the groom’s family, are very laid-back. They say it will be a traditional German wedding, with some local customs thrown in. They describe it as three days to drink wine and have fun. We do know there will be separate civil and church ceremonies. Other than that, we’re having trouble getting many details.

Can anyone tell me a little bit about what to expect? Thanks!

hi, wanderfrau,

the best I can do is to tell you about my penfriend's wedding that I attended about 30!! years ago in southern germany.

dress- evening wear ie long dresses for women, suits/jackets for men.

long service - they happen to be catholic. [they had a short civil service the day before to which we were not invited].

travel to church - car - though they went, together, in a pony and trap.

reception - traditonal lunch-type meal after the ceremony, then a pause, tea, supper, dancing, all accompanied by german white wines, sekt [german champagne] brandy etc.

before the wedding, the chimney sweep visited my freind's home to wish her luck. [I knew about this from my german teacher so was not phased by this!]

prepare to eat, drink and be merry.

My friends live in the Pfalz which is also on the weinstrasse - where are you going?
the family will probably tell you what to wear if you ask a specific question.

hope that helps,

regards, ann

Thanks for the help.

I already have info on what to wear, just was hoping for details on what to expect.

Brush up on your dancing skills; standard (waltz) OR maybe disco :-). I'm sure you're not going to be asked to hold a speech, BUT you can (should!!) prepare one. Don't worry if it's in English. Tell them, at least the day before, that you'd like to "say a few words", so it fits better into the schedule. Other than that try not to eat too much the day before.

I can't help you with the church one, but I have seen the civil service of a friend that was in a small town. He videotaped it, although I wasn't there.

It was nothing, very boring, as you might expect. He wore a simple suit, at least, to try to look nice, but the bride wore a pantsuit, as I recall. (not even a fancy pantsuit). The guests didn't really dress up much at all.

Lots of reading things back and forth, etc., it was really boring. Some family members did attend that, as they didn't have a church wedding, so that was it. I don't know if any of the ladies even wore dresses, but maybe.

Yes, don't expect anything more from the civil wedding "act" itself than you would, going "there" to pay the bill for a new passport :-). It's fast and simple.

We attended the wedding in Ommerammergau. It was a wonderful affair. the groom's car was decorated with flowers, they had a reception cocktails and such after the wedding with the town band playing in full Bavarian dress of leiderhosen and dirndles.Then a lovely sit down dinner in the evening with most ladies in long gowns. The fun part was the bride being "kidnapped" by the groom's friends and he had to search for her through several pubs buying drinks for all until he "found her" Also at the reception the friends of the bride and groom put on an audio-visual show with stories and memories about the couple. It was a memorable and fun wedding' no way near boring!!.

oo, yes, i forgot about the dancing.

they all learn how to do it properly - waltzing, quickstep, the lot!

be prepared to trip the light fantastic.

regards, ann

Just what I was looking for -- some first hand experiences. Thank you!

I'll check into getting DH on the speakers list and let you know what happens.