The Wedding

First of all, it was an amazing day!! The weather was perfect, the sun was shining, and everyone was happy and beautiful! The day went off without a hitch. For me, it started with Ryan, Jenelle, and I helping the florist finish decorating the church. Let me tell you, Ryan has hidden talents with flowers & greenery that I never knew! Here's the reception tables:

Jenelle & I then went to help Aaron and Stina get dressed and ready to go take pictures. There are many different traditions for weddings, and one difference is that most bridal couples do not have a wedding party or personal attendants. So, Jenelle and I worked our magic. :) Here's the couple headed to an island off of the coast of Gothenberg for pictures:

We all headed to the church to finish getting ready ourselves and then to take family pictures. Here's my hottie husband in his suit, oh and me:

The wedding itself was beautiful! Afterwards, we all walked a short distance to some close friends' of Aaron, the Jannerlands, for a garden party. This was ABSOLUTELY incredible, and the best part of the day if you ask me (which obviously you are if you are reading this!). The garden party consisted of "fika" (what the Swedes eat all the time: coffee and a little something...in this case cupcakes and yummy cookies), a traditional Swedish wedding dance, and a contest. See the board below:

When you arrived at the party, the hosts were giving out pins with either Swedish colors or American colors. The colors determined which country you "played for". Throughout the party there were several contests set up where you needed to pick a person from the opposite country and challenge them to a contest. Such a fun idea! I ended up being a Swede...

Who would have thought I'd be shooting a gun at a wedding? Not me! (By the way, I hate this picture...but it just captures the moment...)

Following the garden party was another walk back to the church for the dinner and formal reception. This too, was incredible. It is tradition in Sweden for you to have hosts & hostesses for your wedding. I know what you are thinking, we have that tradition here too. NOT IN THE SLIGHTEST! The job of host & hostess is absolutely amazing. They take part in the planning of the wedding and prepare for the reception beyond what I can even express. They help the bride & groom create BOOKS for each person at the reception that includes information about EVERY person in attendance: how they know the couple and a little about what they do. It's incredible. They also plan and are the "MC's" for the reception program. The progam is run a little like a talent show... you are to prepare something in advance about/dedicated to the couple (a slideshow, a song, a poem, a story, a letter, etc.) and during the reception let the hosts know you would like to share something. They then create a lineup of acts that are performed during the reception. I can't even tell you how creative and amazing some of the performances were.

Swedes definately out-do American weddings! It was an amazing time!