Steffen and Eva's Wedding

After our meetings in Berlin on Wednesday we drove to Heidelberg for the beginning of the wedding festivities (what should have been a 5 hour drive took us nearly 8 due to the highway being shut down- we sat with the car turned off for 1.5 hours before illegally taking a slip road and relying on the GPS to navigate our detour).

We arrived safely at Steffen and Eva's flat at 2:30am for a few hours of sleep.

Thursday was the hen and stag parties and Friday we drove to Crailshiem for the wedding.

The wedding ceremony took place Saturday afternoon at 2pm. It was beautiful.

The ceremony was completely in German (although I did manage to recognize a few words- Florida, Heidelberg, and the part where they say I Do).

The bride and groom sit throughout the entire ceremony, except when they exchanged rings.

The flower girl lead the happy couple out of the church to the courtyard.

Outside we enjoyed appetizers and shared in a toast for the couple before heading to the reception.

It was a 45 minute drive to Weikersheim where the reception would be held.

The drive there was beautiful and it was the perfect chance to put the convertible top down and enjoy the landscape and windy roads.

Upon arriving to the city square, we waited for the couple to arrive before proceeding to the castle.

While the couple was busy taking photographs, the guests had the opportunity to tour the castle and its vast grounds.

This is the Orangery where the reception was held.

Before going inside to dinner, the guests gathered outside with heart shaped balloons. On postcards, each guest wrote a message or the promise to do a favor (someone wrote 1 free night of babysitting for your 3rd child) and attached the postcard to 2 heart balloons. On a count of 3 the balloons (the couples were red) are released. If one of the postcards is found (they are pre-stamped) it is to be mailed back to the couple.
It was really neat.

We were then escorted into dinner and toasted by the couple.

The food was amazing!

Between each course, members of the family gave toasts to the couple.

Steffen's brother Daniel had several surprises up his sleeve that evening...

The heart used for the fireworks display was then covered in roses and each of the guests had their picture taken in the heart. The guests then placed their picture (instantly printed off) in a photo album and wrote a message for the couple. (Very cool guest book).

The bride and groom shared a traditional waltz

as the guests looked on

before inviting everyone to join in.

I could barely stop laughing as Rob attempted to whirl me around the dance floor (waltzing is not our thing). We successfully bumped into every couple as we twirled but we had a grand time.

The dancing and celebrating continued into the wee hours of morning (4am).

This is the only wedding I have ever been to where the dance floor was completely filled with only men.

They were having a great time dancing and singing to the music.

(the girls sat back and enjoyed the entertainment)

The sunrising as Rob and I drove back to Berlin (6am) for our flight to the UK.

We are so glad we were there to share in Steffen and Eva's wedding and wish them the best.