Rebecca Hain came into our life in August, 1994. She was 17 and left her home near Frankfurt, Germany to live a year with us as part of a student exchange program. We met her parents, Klaus and Irene (pronounced “ear – reen’ – a”) in July, 1995 when they came to visit America and pick up Rebecca. In 1996, we visited Germany to see them. Now, she’s getting married!
The wedding took place in a Lutheran church the cosmopolitan harbor town of Hamburg.
The church ceremony was at 2:00 PM, all in German. There were no attendants, no bridesmaid(s) and no groomsmen or best man. The bridesmaid and best man were official “witnesses” at the civil ceremony which took place in the court house at noon, but you couldn’t tell them apart from any other attendees at the church ceremony. After the church ceremony, champagne was served in the church courtyard. Then everyone, except Rebecca and Alex who went to have pictures taken, used public transportation to get to the reception which was down near the harbor.
This photo was taken at the reception, a very elegant event attended by many more people than the church service. It started at 6:00 PM with champagne for a couple of hours. Then the elaborate buffet was opened with three entrees; beer and wine flowed freely after that.
Unlike American wedding receptions, where everyone stands in line to go through the buffet line, dinner was very long and drawn out. People seemed to be more interested in visiting than eating. We met so many nice people, and their fluency in English was astonishing. Some had British accents because that’s where they learned English. I was embarrassed that I didn’t know more German.
Thought for the day: Think of all the beauty still left around you and be happy. Anne Frank
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