We're Getting Married !

Part 4: The Church

August 26th, 2000

Of course I was on time. In fact I was early. As best man, that's what I am supposed to be: anything the groom sais. And if that means being there on time so that he can relax, so be it. We sorted the flowers, the car was ready apparently, so Arni, Paul, Ariane and myself went into town to listen to some Jazz band, have an icecream in the sun and walk along the Weser. Nice and easy. Ariane left to have her hair done and we drove back to Arni's parent's house. There we sat on the balcony and waited for time to fly past. Arni's nerves were getting there and Paul and I tried hard to make him forget that he would be married in a couple o hours. Mainly by talking absolute rubbish.

Then all of a sudden time had passsed and we decided to get ourselves and the most important man of that day ready. Parents showed signs of pressure and we locked Arni into a room with us (not really), in order to enjoy Paul's deodorant spray together. I put on the new suit and helped Arni with his shirt and cuflinks, which made me feel like a real best man.

Deep breath and off we go. Parents sorted, rings in the pocket, rose on the revers and ready to get the suits creased in the car seats.

Again, we were extremely early at the church. Photo opportunity. Three men in front of a bunch of flowers on the church wall. It was the Horner Kirche, by the way.

And then people arrived one by one. More pictures and a priest on a bike. No cloud on the sky and possibly the best weather you could have for a wedding.

I am stil not convinced that al the people who I shook hand with actually belonged to either bride or groom, but who cares. If some people want to take part in such a nice a dnuplifting event, why not. In the church Lilly was a little puzzled to see my sister on the balcony next to the organ. Ariane explained that my sister was in the vicinity, but didn't like all those people much. then she smiled and told Lilly that my Annette was actually going to sing for Gerlinde and Arnold. Which she did repeatetly and beautifully. It was a perfect wedding. Use your imagination if you weren't present. Smiles, vows, tears, bigger smiles, kisses. Imagine the perfect wedding and there you go.

When the tough bit was done, we all stepped out into the sunshine again to take pictures, shake hands hug each other (not only to enjoy Paul's deo once again) and generally be happy about this perfect day.

Obviously, there were only so many hands one coud shake but with impeccable timing the car arrived. I have no idea what make it was (but am sure that someone will tell me to add it here later), but it was an oldtimer garnished with flowers and veils and everything else you can see on the picture. We perfected the panicy shuffle to the other cars, while bride and groom took seat iin their vehicle and drove to the hotel in a long convoy, our car horns announcing to the world that a freshly married couple was passing.

At the hotel the bride and groom were welcomed by the staff with Champagne, which was consumed and the glasses thrown over their shoulders for good luck. Then into the garden, where more drinks were offered. The beautiful weather gave plenty of scenery for the pictures which were taken. Someone complained about the wind and the rest agreed that some people are simply never happy with anything. They were subsequently ignored ;-)

Some guests couldn't help but make silly jokes and have a good time. Yes, I am talking about Treppe. Because of you, I actually enjoyed myself more than was suitable for a wedding. Anyway, The drinks were flowing, the sun was shining and the queue was froming to hand over gold, spices and precious carpets to the newly-weds. Maybe not carpets. All right, there were no spices either, but you get the idea.

No sooner had all guests finally used the opportunity to lighten their backs from gifts, we were called in with the promise that the meal would be served shortly. as we shuffled into the hotel and our designated dinner and party room I was introduced to the bald DJ, whose name excapes me at the moment. He told me he was a professional and I shouldn't worry. I was o.k. until he had said that. There is something abot people who introduce themselves a professionals. They are usualy late, don't care about the job and mess half of it up. I can say now, that we were lucky with baldy. He didn't mess things up as much as he could have.

Dinner was served with some delay between courses but generally it was nice food and nice company. Everybody looked stunning, especially bride and groom of course. There were speeches, of course. Arnold's mother gave a very moving speech from the heart and summarised how Gerlinde and Arnold had met and spend years together. Of course bu 'together' I mean, Arnold travelling the world, but we all agree it still counts ;-)

When I was about to do my speech apparently Lilly turned around to Ariane, asking why I was standing up and was I really that drunk. Ariane looked puzzled but then explained to her, that I was the best man and a speech was one of my duties. During my speech Gerlinde's mother called me a coward (with a smile on her face) she was probably right.

Desert was fashionably late but nice and the DJ missed his queue to start music for the 'first dance' for Gerlinde and Arnold to open the dancefloor. They still did, of course, and I had the honor to dance with Akki, which was nice. We both decided that we cannot dance so we just moved back and forth and side to side in perfect harmony. Obviously, the music changed to more poppy and rocky tunes and Ariane had a bad conscience, because one of the elder men who she danced with had already had a heart attack. Unfortunately, Lilly had to retreat early due to migrane. This left a more or less clear field for Ariane to catch the bouquet. Well, in the second atempt anyway. The first attempt resulted in a group of girls looking at each other in puzzlement, while the bunch of flowers landed inbetween loudspeakers in another corner of the room. None of the Ladies moved at first, but then Akki picked up the flowers and handed them to Ariane. Arnold intervened and said that there would be no cheating on this wedding, grabbed the bouquet and returned to his wife to try again. This second time they danced, and ... in ... slow ... motion... the bouquet flew across the room towards the bunch of screaming girls. Ariane caught it this time. As everybody screamed I glimbsed over to Gerlinde's mother who simply smiled, but I know she thought 'there you have it, coward' or similar. We had the necesary pictures taked to capture the moment, before the party continued in full swing.

... more revelations about the night of nights later...

click image to see bigger picture