May 30th – Wedding Day

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May 30th 2015

Published: June 1st 2015

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Brian and Amy

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Amy and Brian at the vineyard

We got up early for a brisk walk to get in some steps. Then it was time to get ready for the wedding. Everyone put on their best clothes and we left in a caravan to drive to the ceremony in Vaihingen an der Enz and Maulbronn. The church wedding was beautiful and Elena looked stunning. We couldn’t understand all the words but it was clear it was all about love. Reinhard is a member of the local volunteer fire brigade and he and Elena exited the church through coils of hose held by his fellow firefighters. They made Reinhard stand under a ladder and lower a bouquet to Elena on a rope wearing big fireman’s gloves. Very cute! Then the firemen served the crowd fruit,cheese, pretzels with butter, Sekt and juice. You KNOW we were all over those pretzels and sekt. After some pictures at the church, the couple rode on a firetruck, decorated with “Just Married” signs and cans, all through the town. We all followed in a honking caravan (Britta much enjoyed the honking!) with our cars decorated with bows. You can’t remove the bows as it would be bad luck – they have to fall off naturally.

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Another shot at the vineyard

We all checked into our historic Klosterpost hotel, dropped off our bags and it was off to the reception at the Klosterkelter (Winery associated with our hotel and the Monastery). There was a beautiful courtyard set against the vineyard hill, a perfect setting for the afternoon. There were more cakes than you can imagine, all types of berry, chocolate, apple, orange, carrot, and cheesecake. There was much socializing, laughter and bouquet throwing. A main course dinner in the evening continued the fun. The reception had many unusual touches. Everyone wrote wishes on cards which were tied to balloons released at sunset. A parody magazine of the couple with cute pictures and jokes was available for purchase. A printer was set up to allow digital cameras to print photos for the quest book along with a tree where you could add your fingerprints in colored ink. Many family and friends gave touching speeches, including Elena’s mother, Gabi. Elena’s half-sister, Klara, sang a Taylor Swift song. The dancing got going in the evening and the crowd was tearing up the floor. Brian thought he’d get away from American wedding songs but no such luck. The surprising thing was how many of the

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Amy hanging out in the vineyard

young folks could dance with actual ballroom steps. You should have seen them swirling around the floor. We and our friends should feel so inadequate! We have great videos but Travel Blog can’t post them now. The shuttle back to the hotel didn’t start picking up until 1230. With the day starting early to drive to the wedding, this was late for us and Peggie and we left everyone still dancing. Our wedding parties are much shorter and we go to bed at 10pm normally so we’ll accept the party pooper award. The rest of the family made it to 0330 and some till 0500.No one wanted the day to stop. It was a lovely wedding and we were so happy to share it. We wish Elena and Reinhart many years of happiness.

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