A sunny weekend is a good omen

This past weekend we went to a McK colleagues wedding, which was a great anthropological experience. The groom was in my start group back in September, and we've become friends and sounding boards since. The bride comes from a very politcally-connected family, so we were expecting a glimpse into the upper crust of Belgian society - not our normal milieu.

And it didn't disappoint. The uppercrustiness was cool - we saw (ok, had to be told who they were) the former Prime Minister of Belgium, a couple current members of government, and the first Belgian in space!

Its really a full day of events for the bride and groom, and I can only imagine how exhausted/dehydrated/hungry they are at the end. First was the church service at noon, which was held at a great old church in Leuven, a university town in Flanders (and probably the best university in Belgium-they are much more equal here than in the US, but I'd say its the one with an international profile). It was a Catholic mass that lasted about two hours, and was in Dutch, so I was just listening really hard for the end of Father, Son and Holy Ghost (Heilig Geist) so I'd know when to cross myself.

Things that made it not-your-typical-American wedding. There were 18 attendants on each side! The males all wore matching outfits, but the women had chosen their own - no common color scheme and certainly not the exact same dress. And each wore a hat. A Queen of England, multiplanar with feathers and bows and flowers kind of hat! The ceremony was long, but so are Catholic ceremonies in the States, but children were much more visible as was the wedding planner-ish guy. Also, the groom gave a welcome speech at the church before the priest did (I think they were welcoming, again, the Dutch! A lot of the prayers and readings were in the program, and from my limited Dutch a lot of the Biblical verses and vows are similar to ours- definitely in sickness and in health was mentioned!

The first reception is an outdoor cocktail and I think gets quite an extensive guest list. Later on there is a sit down dinner and afterparty of drinks and dancing for the closer friends (we weren't invited to this part) Anyway, it was held in a castle on the outskirts of Brussels, and was really amazing. A sunny afternoon, which is rare in Belgium! Here is a picture of us in front of the castle's donjon tower (dungeon!)