Our Swiss Wedding - July 3 2004

After our small civil ceremony we decided to have a larger wedding celebration so that we could share the occasion with our extended family and friends. This proved a more difficult concept than originally thought as we had family and friends on two sides of the world and the big question became...where to have the wedding??? Being decisive problem solvers we opted for two services; one in Switzerland and one in Australia. This way Ka could wear the dress twice but we would need two cakes, two receptions, two bar tabs, two lots of invitations... in fact two of everything.
The idea of a later ceremony fitted in well with Swiss custom as in Switzerland you can not get legally married in a church, you must have a civil ceremony first and be married before you go to the church.

Before the wedding though we had some time to spend travelling around seeing the sights. K and Ka decided to take K's best man on their own contikki tour - 3 countries in one afternoon!

First stop: A drive from Mannedorf to Austria. Here is K and his best man on the Austrian border.

Next stop Liechtenstein: This is a country you can drive through while performing a U-turn - it is small!! Liechtenstein is famous for its prince and his castle perched on the mountain side in the capital city of Vaduz.

Welcome back to Switzerland.

As we left to go back to Switzerland we were stopped at the border by the guards who thought Ka looked suspicious driving two big Aussies around. We were searched, passports checked and then after a wait were deemed safe enough to re-enter Switzerland so that the wedding could still go ahead. (Perhaps Ka's father put them up to it!)

Home at last for a nice afternoon, outdoor fondue with Ka's family and then some rest.

After our swift tour of the continent we decided to see some of Switzerland. So later in the week we headed up to the beautiful scenery around Appenzell.


In Appenzell - very Swiss.

With the wedding fast approaching Ka had some things to organise so K, the best man and Ka's sister headed by train to the middle of Switzerland and the town of Lucerne.

Climbing up the old city wall and then looking down at the town of Lucerne.

The famous old wooden bridge in the centre of town.

Catching the train back home to Mannedorf. The trains are quick, clean and always on time but like everything in Switzerland you do pay for the privilege.

And now for the wedding...

The Big Day

The incredibly lovely bride and groom and our church in Mannedorf, Switzerland, Ka's home town. The wine for the reception came from the vineyards around the church.

Doing the deed. Being married (for the second time) with our pastor, bridesmaid from Switzerland and best man from Australia.

Some of the official photos of the stunning couple. By the Lake of Zurich and outside the church.

Greeting our guests outside the church before the apero (drinks and snacks before the official reception). Our family and friends came from all over Switzerland, France, Germany, England, the US and Australia to share the occasion with us.

The guests and us outside the reception venue overlooking the Lake of Zurich assembling for a group photo.

Inside the reception and introducing some Aussie traditions to the service such as a bridal table, alternative menu drops and speeches with toasts of champagne. These things are not usually done at Swiss weddings so it made the night very different and unique for the locals. We also included some traditional Swiss items such as games, skits and a picture walk through our lives which was new to our "foreign "(auslander) guests. The combination of the two cultures and the international flavour to the guest list made it a truly memorable night.

In the reception room watching the sun set over the Lake of Zurich.

Cutting our wedding cake. We went for an ice-cream cake for Switzerland as it was a summer reception.

The next day:

A nice surprise for us; the bi-annual Zuri Fascht (Zurich Festival) was being held the weekend of our wedding. After a late night at the reception we all backed up to experience the festivities of Zurich in party mode.

Meeting at the front of Zurich train station to start our day.

The streets of Zurich closed for the weekend while the festival is on.

It proved to be a big weekend with the wedding, the reception, the Zuri Fascht, traditional pints at the Noble Dubliner and finally 60.- sFr shouts at the Nelson pub. We managed to make our way home for four hours sleep and to prepare our trip to Paris the following morning.