The wedding!

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Travis

Wow, ok...
Talk about a big day... The ceremony was held at the Stadhuis (town hall) in Nijmegen, as that is necessary to become legally married in Holland. If you have a church wedding you still have to have a ceremony at the Stadhuis as well, so most people just opt for the one.

After the ceremony the couple left in a horse and carriage, then there were photos, a chinese tea ceremony (explained by Amanda below), a dinner for some friends and family, a reception with tea, coffee and sweets, and then a party. It is apparently common for Dutch weddings to have a number of sections to the wedding day celebrations.

Those of you who know Kelly know that she is a fun and sweet person... We don't know Douwe very well, but Kelly seems to have found herself someone who is worthy of her. He is a genuine and caring man.

Amanda

Those of you who know me well will certainly be aware of the fact that I love weddings.. Even though the ceremony was in Dutch, they had prepared an English transcript of what the celebrant was saying. They had a very lovely story about how they met, which nearly made me cry 😊 It was so good to be able to share in their special day... so far away from our home. Tyra was very cute as the ring bearer too.

Kelly has also learnt Dutch very quickly as well... I guess moving to the other side of the world because you are in love will make you do strange things like learn another language.

They also had a traditional Chinese tea ceremony, in which the newly married couple meets all of the members of their families and addresses them with their official titles (eg. Aunty, Uncle etc). Then it seemed like there was an endless flow of delicious food... almost as much food as you are treated to when visiting Kelly's family.

Then there was a big party which more people were invited to and very yummy coffee and desserts.

We won't be putting all 130 photos in this blog... but yes Kelly and Douwe we will send them to you soon - promise!

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Photos

Kelly and Douwe
About to exchange rings

The first dance...
as husband and wife... ahh... how sweeet!

The family of the bride
Kelly and Douwe with Kelly's family. (the couple just to the right of Kelly and Douwe are getting married next Friday in Barcelona).

Comments

[Jackie]

Enjoying your highlights
Hi Travis and Amanda, I've just arrived back from Sydney and have really been enjoying your travel diary. We've only been upgraded to business class once and yes it really is civilised compared to economy. The photo of Katherine going crazy really amused me. The wedding photos are really great too. You sound like you are having a beaut time. Love, Jackie