12. Wedding Party at Stefan’s - Saturday
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| Receiving Line |
It rained last night; it was a good drenching that cooled the air.
Finally!
We had a lazy morning at ‘our’ apartment, did some chores, and wrote
some notes. I was thinking of the rain last night and what might have happened
if Stefan did not have the foresight to have a large wedding/party tent put up
behind his house. Good man, this Stefan Knopf, he was prepared, there was no
snafu, and all was under control. The whole affair of the wedding worked like
clockwork.
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| Father and Son Christopher |
We were asked to be at the party again for the 2 pm formal reception.
Ah, we thought, we have time, we will get there around 2.30 or even 3.00 and
all will be ok, right?
Not in Germany! Aileen Paull sent an email at 2.09 pm with “Where are
you?”
Well, ok, not far away, we walked over; we got there at 2.25 PM.
There was a receiving line when we got there; Stefan and Ira very
formally, were again in their wedding clothing.
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| Stefan and His Daughters On the Left; Ira and Her Daughters On the Right |
Everybody toasted the new
couple with a glass of champagne. The catered affair was well organized, the service
of the catering crew subdued but efficient. A huge crowd attended and everybody
was dressed up, yet casually so. The temperature was perfect albeit a bit
threatening of more rain, but it did not matter, we had this huge tent.
We just schmoozed till about 3.30 when cake was served. What am I saying
‘cake’, CAKES, maybe 15 or 20 of them? You would not believe the spread of
bakery goods spread out on a row of tables. I have never seen anything like it.
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| The Wedding Cake |
The highlight was the wedding cake, a 3 tier construction consisting of 3
different flavors. Each layer had its own flavor, you could choose between
lemon, mango or pistachio. And yes, that was just the wedding cake; all the
other cakes were bakery cakes of whatever you could think of. Did you know that
Stefan’s brother owns a bakery? Well you get the idea, right? Did you know that
Stefan is a certified, trained baker himself?
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| More Sugar But Sooo Good |
We all had a sugar high after this ‘Kaffeeklatsch’ and just hung out in
the shade of the very old and big Chestnut tree that is the center of Stefan’s
back yard.
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| The Pistorius and Knopf Families, Joined |
We hung out only for a bit, however, because at 6.00PM dinner
started. A buffet of delicacies that defeats words was spread out. Many
different meats, potatoes, vegetables and salads were offered. The personnel of
the catering service never ran out of anything, some dishes were gone very fast
yet were replaced with something new almost instantly. What an affair. How did
they do that?
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| No More Rich Desserts For Me |
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| Amazing Salad |
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| More Salads |
In the middle of it all, Stefan and Ira were gentle hosts, smiling, talking
with each table, shaking hands, laughing and welcoming each and everyone to
this bash.
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| This Is How the Bike Shop Looked On Friday Night - WOW! |
I have never been to a wedding like this! And I doubt there will ever be
another wedding just like it. Fabulous! Thank you for inviting us!
Thank you Stefan, thank you Ira...we are wishing you all the best for
the future!
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| The Saturday Night Dance Band |
They hired a large band which played in the large hall attached to the
house (the room that used to be for motorcycle maintenance and storage but was
emptied and cleaned up for this event).
The music and dancing started. The dancing
was in full swing when Carol and I left. We snuck away at about 9 + something pm.
This time, the band time, was for the young, our old bodies do not
gyrate like that any longer.
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| Enjoying the Music |
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| New Friends, Agnes and Donna |
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| Aillene and Mike |
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| Us |
