We arrived in Oberwesel on the Thursday after spending 24 hours in Singapore. The baby is obviously a born traveller - not surprisingly given her genes - and was outnumbered 3 to 1 by adults so any minor meltdown was quickly solved. Such a busy time for her - her first time in aeroplanes, first train ride and first swim - not to mention adding two countries to her country of birth,
When we got to Oberwesel the family was reunitied and soon we'd had Kaffee und Kuchen at Peter and Monika's house and added them and Erik to our family.
The day of the wedding - beautiful blue sky and sunshine, We took a taxi up to their home and were greeted by Kerstin looking gorgeous in her beautiful dress, She was so beautiful I was quite teary. The wedding party gathered and then there was a loud noise in the street - and a people-mover train pulled up! Bright red engine. We all piled in and took off through the streets with us waving to everyone and a long line of patient traffic behind us, and on down to the Castle.
The ceremony took place in a lovely room in the Castle with fabulous views. Luke and Kerstin looked so happy and Ryan wandered around giggling, and drumming on things and at one stage just crawled into Kerstin's lap and played with her bracelet. He was gorgeous. Eventually the lovely bride and groom made their vows and exchanged rings and now were happily married. This was followed by champagne on the terrace and the bride and groom were whisked off for photos - and then the rest of us for groups shots on the castle steps. Then back into the castle for a leisurely Coffee and Cake - (beautiful again, but our consensus was that Monika's cakes were better!), looking out at the beautiful Rhine River and the other castles.
Next a mini-bus to the reception venue - which was out of town in a place with timber cabins where nost of us were staying overnight. So off to the cabins which were beautiful. I was in with Emma Matt and Amelie and our cabin was called the "Maus Haus" It was green and peaceful and we had a bit of time before the rest of the guests arrived.
The reception too was great fun. Very relaxed and casual with buffet food, and a fun quiz about the bride and groom {not surprisingly won by the table with their families on it}. Then the bridal dance - which started slowly and quietly and then suddenly launched into a choreographed routine to the theme of "The Big Bang Theory". Much dancing followed - the most memorable bit for me was the Irish Dancing by Luke, Matt, Jono and Dan.
We all had only a few steps to our cabins and so we were able to leave when we were ready- the last ones were still celebrating into the wee hours. And then, when we woke next morning - a leisurely breakfast with everyone, including the bride and groom. A perfect end to the perfect wedding.
