Family Wedding

Last weekend my Mum, Heather, Rachel and I drove 6 hours (should of been 5 but there was tons of construction) to just outside Dresden for my cousin Adam's wedding. The party was over a three day period because as the invitation said they like to celebrate. My cousin and his wife have been married for a year but they never had a church ceremony. We were staying at a hotel/hostel run by Monks and some mission. What the mission does is help people in East Germany who have dropped out of school or been in jail and they teach them different skills and morals and things in life. The buildings on the property were all restored and were actually built with the help of the people who have been through the mission. My cousin, his wife and her family have had strong ties to the mission and what they do for a while. The rooming situation though I have to say was a little awkward. Everyone else had rooms with the people they came with and my mom ended up with her own room because the room we were going to have was going to be used for something else. So Rachel, Heather and I ended up sharing a very large room with Marci's (Adam's wife) brother and his girlfriend and a friend of Adam's. The guys however were up in the loft so we did not sleep on the same floor but it was still slightly awkward because we didn't know them.

We arrived in time for the BBQ and the rest of the festivities. That night   we had a BBQ with friends and family from both sides of the couple and then celebrated the Baptism of Adam that evening. As the evening led on some of us sat around the table for a little chat and get to know each other time. Breakfast was a traditional German breakfast followed by free time till the wedding at 3pm. So we decided to go into Dresden for a few hours. We only walked around a small area of the city but it was fun to
 see all the old buildings and the beautiful detail on everything. It used to be where the Royal family of that region lived. before leaving we stopped for lunch and had the most delicious flammkuchen (a very flat pizza with no marinara sauce); my sisters ended up getting bratwurst. the funny thing is is that we don't think the cook charged us for the bratwurst and my sisters are convinced it's because the cook thought I was cute but I'm not totally sure. Anyway it was a neat little cafe where they cooked the pizzas and food outside and served it to you sitting down at a table or standing up. We made it back to the hotel in time to change for the wedding, which was in a very small rustic church, completely their style. After the wedding on the way to the reception, Germans do a vehicle line where they drive along behind the happy couple honking their horns till they arrive at their destination. We returned to the hotel for tea and cake, had a break and then had the remainder of the reception and dinner.

A neat little thing they did was a picture guest book where you would have your polaroid taken and then stick it in a book with a little message for the couple. They also did this thing where everyone went outside to the lake where they had a little dingy set up and the couple got in and rowed out to the middle kind of as a crossing of the water because he's from England and she is from Germany. They then set up fireworks from behind a set of bushes. I must say it was very romantic. I enjoyed many things about this celebration and one of them was that almost everyone who attended was a Christian, which was very enjoyable because many of our conversations were about Christ and the church. They were also all very welcoming and friendly. It was amazing to see such a loving couple who are completely dedicated to Christ and furthering his work, join in a holy union set up by God. It is very encouraging and gives one hope for the future and the people of the world.