the wedding

 a czech wedding

On the last night of camp the Czech campers traditionally plan some sort of party, presentation or game night for the Canadian team. Czech Night is always a blast but, on this particular night, they outdid themselves.

Innocently sitting waiting for the program to start, we were completely unaware of what was about to transpire. Two Czech ladies came to the front and announced that there was a new Czech law passed stating that a foreign married couple had to also be legally married by a Czech officiant in a Czech ceremony in order to acquire visas. They said that they had prepared a traditional Czech wedding for me, Dan and Ev and Ed (the Canadian team leaders). Keep in mind that Danny and I have been married almost 19 years and Ev and Ed have just recently celebrated their 42nd wedding anniversay.  Ev and I were still in a state of shock when we were spirited away to get into our wedding clothes. Unbeknownst to us the traditional doubles of the brides (in this case men) were also being prepared to be offered to and subsequently refused by the grooms.

our Czech mum and dad, eager to get rid of their daughters

The grooms were also being prepared and then taken to our "mum and dad" to ask if they can have our hand in marriage. While this was happening Ev and I merrily chatted with our friend Petr who had been transformed into the Czech version of St Nicholas who would be performing the ceremony (not traditional but I think the only costume they had access to on such short notice).

Petr the Great who officiated our "ceremony"

Ed and Dan, the eager grooms

The grooms were excited to finally have their "real" brides to wed and we proceeded down the aisle whilst all the campers hummed the wedding march and small bridesmaids carried our trains (tablecloths). We had to make up vows on the spot and were immediately inspired to outwit each other to see whose vows generated the most laughter. I won. Mine was so funny the translator was laughing too hard and took a full minute to compose herself to translate what I just said. To protect those of you with sensitive constitutions I have written my vows at the very end.

Ed and Ev exchange rings

The ring bearers presented us with our rings (beautiful handmade gold wire rings) and then we kissed. We, of course, went for the laugh. You can see Pavlina in the background of the picture below having a stroke she was laughing so hard.

reenacting our first kiss much to everyone's amusement

finally shackled... I mean bound... in marriage.

In keeping with tradition, Dan bore a yoke (to keep him faithful) and we walked the gauntlet of well wishers who threw confetti at us. Then we had to face the three trials. Traditional feats to test our marriage and bring us luck in the future. First, we had to break a plate on the ground and together sweep it up in one motion. Dan cut his finger during this task and spent the rest of the evening trying to fing places to subtly staunch the flow of blood much adding to the mystery and intrigue of the evening. Then we had to feed each other "soup" while wearing a giant bib made for two.  Lastly, we had to perform the marriage dance which none of us knew how to do so we just jerked around stupidly.

one of the Czech traditions is feeding each other soup...harder than it sounds...especially when your Czech "friends" prepared Korean kimchee soup for you as a joke

Our "parents" then came to bid us goodbye. They said a few words and then my "father" gave Dan the traditional woolly hat a son-in-law receives from the father-in-law. Its's a cool hat. Afterwards, we were lead into a fully decorated tent and treated to champagne, wine, toasts all around and smoked fish. This was truly one of the best nights of our lives. So much love and care and laughter went into theis night and we felt the full measure of their friendship.

another grand tradition of the groom receiving a special cap from his father-in-law

My vow to my beloved:

I, Krista, promise to love you, Dan, no matter how many times you fart in bed.