Thursday
November 15
Got up at 7
am and had a cup of tea, placed the bags in the car and said goodbye to Arkas.
Left at 8:25 am and had a few stops along the way to fill up on gas and food.
Was a bit concerned about the Haukeli tunnel, as I’ve heard for weeks that
they’re doing repairs inside the tunnel and we have to drive in a queue through
it. But they only let this queue through every three hours, so I was afraid
that I’d have to wait for three hours when I got there. But as I approached the
tunnel, they had just let the cars from my side through and the guy that was
supposed to drive last and have control of us let me through. So lucky that I
didn’t get there a minute later!
Arrived at
SV and B’s house at 7:15 pm and said hello to B’s mother I and B’s maid of
honour L. SV was still at work at that time.
We started
making the folders that would be placed in front of each seat. A name tag was
placed on the front of the folder, and inside was the seating chart, the menu
and songs. There was a lot of folding involved, some cutting and some trying
and failing, but we got a long way that night. With 73 guests coming, there was
lots to be done.
SV came
home from work and I went with him to pick up the wedding car, a Mercedes.
Went to bed
about 1 am on SV and B’s sofa and had a good nights sleep.
Friday
November 16
Woke up
about 7 am and went down to Haugesund with SV to get a few things done. Got
back to their house and continued with the folders. B’s younger sister KH had
arrived with her husband E, B’s father L came by plane late last night. We soon
discovered that we didn’t have enough ribbons for the folders, so E was sent to
Haugesund to get more. But we did finish them, and after dinner and me having a
shower, a few of us went to the party location to place the folders. We had to
do some rearranging but got it right eventually.
I drove to
SV’s boat house since I was to stay there for the rest of the weekend. Went to
bed about midnight.
Saturday
November 17
Slept like
a baby and woke up at 7:30 am. Did a few preparations and drove into Haugesund
for the appointment at the hairdresser at 10 am. B was already there and L came
after a while. SV drove my car to the hotel and I met him there just after 12
pm. We and I drove to the church with a flower arrangement, then to his house
where I got off and we picked up SV’s suit. Then we drove to his mothers house
where his brother TE and his brother in law S started cleaning and decorating
the car while we got dressed. Got to church about half an hour before it all
started.
Mendelssohns
wedding march (the video is NOT from the wedding, it’s just something I found on Youtube so that you know which march I’m talking about) startet, the doors opened and SV’s daughter C and B’s daughter P
and son H came in. B and L followed right behind them. I took a look at SV and
could see how proud he was over the woman he was about to marry. The children
sat down on the stairs, and the priest started talking. We all sang a psalm
(Herre Gud ditt dyre navn og ære) before SV’s mother M read from the Bible. KH sang You Take My Breath Away and
the priest continued with the personal things about SV and B. Then they said I
do at the right places, I gave SV the rings which they had problems getting on
eachother fingers (just gave us all a laugh) and then they kneeled. After this,
Jan Toft (in Norwegian) (SV’s second cousin) and KH sang Tir n’a noir (this is the original version with Jan Toft and Rita Eriksen) (this is an English version I’ve never heard before, but it’s very good and true to the original) and Jan continued with a
psalm (Leid milde ljos). The priest congratulated the bride and groom, and SV got a Bible which
he handed over to me before we all walked out to Wagners wedding march (again NOT from the wedding).
It was a
cold day, but they stood on the top of the chuch stairs for a while whilst
everybody got to take pictures, and then I drove them and L to the photographer
at 4 pm. Drove to the party location (click on Festlokale on the left for pictures) about 5:45 and the dinner was to start at
6.
The chef
from Paul & K has developed this new way of serving appetizers where the
waiters actually feed us with table spoons. So before we sat down, we were
served one spoon of chevre with black pepper and black currant jam (just fine),
one spoon of smoked salmon with horse raddish cream, capelin roe and gherkins
(wonderful), and one spoon of king prawns with sweet chilli sauce and garlic mayonnaise
(extremely wonderful).
Then we all
sat down. I was seated next to SV’s mother M’s fiance C, and a also talked a
lot with SV’s aunt M.
B’s mother
I gave the welcome speach and we were served pan fried scallops (that SV had
caught himself) with roquette salad and garlic butter as the first course.
Extremely wonderful, could have eaten at least ten more of those! Then B’s
father gave his speach, it was touching to see how moved he was over giving his
last daughter away. The second course was ravioli of langoustine with sauteed
leeks, truffle oil and lobster sauce. This one was also extremely wonderful! M
continued with her speach to SV, and that speach was just as touching as L’s.
Ended off with a song she had written for SV. The next course was a filet of
halibut with olive tapenade and tomato compote with olive oil, tapioca and
fennel. Tasted wonderful! Then there was a lovely speach from SV to B, and a
just as lovely speach from B to SV. The fourth course was a bresaola of deer
with mushroom, french beans, dried cranberries and sauce porto. Tasted
extremely wonderful, and I was so happy when we got more of that! L’s speach
came after this, a wonderful speach about how she and B met and what they had
been through. Then it was my turn… I got laughs after the first section,
laughs and applause after the second and third section and laughs a couple of
times again, so I couldn’t be more pleased. SV was pleased with the speach, and
lots of people congratulated me both later that evening and the next day, so I
must say that I’m very proud of myself! Then it was time for the fifth course,
which was chocolate mousse with orange zest, chocolate brownie, roasted fig,
biscotti, prune and armagnac icecream. Tasted just fine, but had too much spice
in it for my liking. B’s older sister TK also said a few words and we sang a
song that she and KH had written for their sister. The dinner ended with M’s
fiance C saying thank you for dinner.
SV’s
brother TE was toast master, and he did an excellent job the entire evening. Great
introductions for all the speaches, great small pieces of information about the
party and lots of funny stories about marriage that he had found on the
Internet.
After about
4 hours at the table, it was time to walk around and chat a bit while the biggest
room was transformed into a seating and dancing area. First there was the
wedding dance which they got through without any problems. Then KH sang
Songbird before there was the cutting of the cake, a wonderful layer cake with
cream and strawberries. SV’s brother TE and sister EK had prepared a slide show
of some kind, but due to some techical problems, they didn’t get the chance to
show it. So EK told us a bit about what it was about and she would give it to
SV some day instead.
Had a short
photo shoot with everyone involved, such as parents, sisters and brothers and
maid of honour and best man before B threw the bouquet (not usually done in
Norway). L caught it, well she got it just because she’s getting married in
February. Then SV took B’s garter and threw it, and (of course) A, L’s fiance,
got that 🙂
I drove the
bride and groom to the hotel and then drove myself home. Went to bed at about 3
am, didn’t bother to do anything about my hair or makeup at that time.
Sunday
November 18
Woke up at
about 7:30 pm. A bit early, but couldn’t go back to sleep. Talked to mum for a
while, and congratulated Arkas with his 10th birthday. It was hard not being
there with him… Both my makeup and my hair was just as great as it had been
when i fell asleep, but I removed the makeup and 23 pins from my hair. Took
about half an hour to comb all of the hair spray out, but it was worth it.
Drove to
the hotel for breakfast, met several from the wedding. SV and B came down
eventually, they had had a wonderful night 😉 A few of the guests and myself
drove to the party location to get the presents, I ended up driving B home
together with the flowers and the wedding cake.
They had
invited everyone home that day, so there was people coming and going at all
times. Then suddenly we realized that one car with gifts was missing, everybody
thought that somebody else was driving it home, so it was parked by the party
location unlocked! SV called a friend and asked him to go down and lock it,
which he did. I got the keys and checked it when I drove to town later that
afternoon, and SV picked it up sometime during the evening. Nothing stolen
thankfully!
I went to
spend a few hours with my friend K, we just relaxed at her place chatting and
eating a pizza. Went home and to bed at about 10 pm.
Monday
November 19
Got up at 7
am, had a cup of tea and left a sunny Haugesund at 8:15. No problems over the
mountain this time eiter, and drove down from the mountain in fog, which
followed me all the way home. Had a few stops along the way and parked at my
house at 5:30 pm after driving a total of 1300 kilometers since I left Thursday
morning. Mum and A was waiting for me, they had had a nice weekend at my place,
taking care of Arkas. Great seeing him again, but he was more interested in the
smell Diesel (K’s dog) had left on me 🙂 But I gave him a toy as a
birthdaypresent, and he seemed to enjoy it. Unpacked, read the newspapers and
watched a bit of telly before going to bed at about 10:30.
Tuesday
November 20
Woke up
with a headace and feeling extremely tired, so I called work and told them I’d
stay home today. Have just stayed around the house relaxing.
I’ve got
mixed feelings about the wedding being over. Have spent so many months
preparing for this, that it’s almost sad it’s over. But at the same time I’m so
pleased that everything went so fine, except the fact that everything took a
bit more time than they had scheduled, so it got a bit hectic at times. But I
hope they get a long and happy marriage, and I will end this update as I ended
the speach, with the words from the poet Edward Blaylock: I wish the best day
of your past together will be the worst day of your future.
