Elke's Wedding

It is so special when your friends finally start getting married. I thought I'd never see the day, and most of my close friends at home are not even close to getting hitched; however this summer I've gone to my two first friend-weddings. And it was really lovely. 

These are photos from Elke's wedding. Janelle and I sang for the ceremony, so I was able to take some photos from up in the organ loft. It was interesting to see a wedding across the pond, because there are certainly different wedding customs in Belgium. While we usually have our weddings in a hall or a gym, and have them catered, and just have a wedding dinner and dance, in Belgium it seems that they always have them at an upscale restaurant, and have two different receptions in the afternoon: one for guests who are not invited to the dinner, such as colleagues, and then another for those who are staying for the supper and dance. 

Here are a few photos of Elke and Maarten's house the afternoon of the wedding. Apparently, in Belgium, the friends of the couple often decorate their house in the afternoon to celebrate the wedding. For Elke and Maarten's house, they pretended that it was for sale due to "family drama," and covered the whole place with all sorts of materials from toilet paper to plywood. It was pretty great.

These last photos are photos of the restaurant set for dinner. Unfortunately once we got to the reception, I forgot about taking photos. But at least I have a few of the restaurant. I don't know about the food at other weddings, but Elke's was amazing. At the reception, there were very upscale canapés, and then there was a four-course meal with wine. Interestingly enough, they don't seem to do large wedding cakes there, but there was a dessert plate for dessert which was amazing. It had little tastes of everything from chocolate mousse and hazelnut gelato to raspberry mousse and a wedge of Camembert cheese.