The Church Wedding

We had found a cute little church near Hattingen in which to get married, and it fit perfectly our criteria: small, old, cute, and welcoming. The parish was very accepting of our unique situation: A German Catholic marring an American Episcopalian in Germany in a Protestant church, where we were bringing our own American Episcopalian priest and not using the local pastor of the church.

Needless to say, it was a complexity in the organization.


Here are my groomsmen in our 'Abby Road' pose.


Joel, Hunter, and Romaniello as 'The Alternates'. They were willing to step up as groomsmen should there be a groomsmen injury in the few minutes before the wedding.

The bridesmaids, the groomsmen, and the direct family, from above in the church.

Our grandparents.
The 'moms and dads' picture.

The groomsmen, the bridesmaids, and us. The picture worked out well in the stairway of the church, but Babsi looks way too much like a linebacker here. Due to the tight space, the picture is somehow distorted.

Babsi and BW during the readings.

Proud Papa escorting his daughter down the line.

My father during one of his readings.

Standesamt (The Civil Ceremony)

Germans can get married twice: Standesamt and Church. The Standesamt wedding is required whereby the church wedding is optional. In the eyes of the German state, we were married at our Standesamt ceremony.

It was cold, but very sunny...almost too sunny.

I was a nervous wreck before the wedding. While my German was sufficient and improving each day, I had to prove to the Standesamt that I could speak and understand German. If this was not the case, we would have to have (and pay for) a translator. So, the nerves of getting married was shadowed by my fear that before the ceremony, they would decide that my German was not good enough and force us to get a translator, which would literally cancel the wedding by means of a delay in the Standesamt wedding.

As a side note, there were some papers that we both signed. I did not read these nor do I know what the content was. Eva jokes, at least I hope she's joking, that it signs everything over to her in the event of a divorce.

Us and Eva's parents.
The complete gang, including my grandmother on the front row.

Both families together.

My parents and grandmother.