Wedding Guests and Bike Pusher-overers

Amalie from Denmark, who I had met on my Erasmus experience in 2012 in Germany, and subsequently visited a few times after, had invited Chris and I to her wedding in Osnabrück, Germany.

We were invited to a whole day of events on the Saturday, but as there was no direct airport link, we flew in via Dortmund (around an hour to the south) on the Friday afternoon, eventually arriving in the city by the evening.

Osnabrück was a typical German city with a modern pedestrianised city centre, leading to the historic and quaint Old City, with a cathedral and town hall and square. We were staying in the hotel where the reception in the evening would be held - a quaint little hotel in the heart of the old city.

Upon arrival we were already very tired from the long day of travelling, and as the night set in we had a few glasses of wine before being joined at the end of the evening by Laurène, my French friend who was also attending the wedding the following day.

The next morning we woke up for breakfast, before getting ready for the ceremony at the early time of 10:30. Having no idea what to expect, as this was not only a foreign wedding, but also of an international couple, we went downstairs to find the bride, Amalie, standing in the courtyard waiting for her ride to the ceremony.

Wishing her good luck, we then headed towards the Castle where the registry office was located. Upon arriving, we found the small crowd of guests stood outside, and seeing the groom Stephan, we knew this was the right place to wait. Not long after, Amalie and her maids of honour turned up, waving at us all before coming over to greet us and having some photos taken.

After a ceremony in German, they were finally married and we then all went up to congratulate them both. It was at this point that Amalie's mother approached me, introduced herself, and told me about how much she had heard about me! Pleasant things I hope!

We then headed back outside for many photos, and to watch as a bed sheet with a big love heart sewn on was unfolded, with the couple both cutting out the hole and walking through the heart.

After a glass of champagne, it was then time for the close family to head to a restaurant for a meal. This gave us an opportunity to explore the city, and so we headed back to the hotel to change into casual clothes for a bit of tourism!

Leaving the hotel in the heart of the old city, we headed through the Market Square, past the Town Hall towards the St. Peter Cathedral.

Taking some photos of the cathedral, a big gust of wind blew over the bikes in front of us. Next thing, a German lady was shouting at us. Explaining that we didn't speak (enough) German, she then asked in her most assertive English if we had pushed over her bike? Yes, of course we had, it's what we do for fun in random German cities.

Taking a look around the cathedral, we then continued along the old city wall towards the shopping area where we has Schnitzel for lunch, and then popped in the shops.

Having returned to the hotel for a few hours of rest, at 7 we headed downstairs for the party. This again was a small event, and like earlier in the day, it was unlike any wedding party I'd ever seen. But it was fun to see how the German and Danish traditional inter-played with their own ideas.

After a welcome speech from Amalie, we had lots of chats with other guests before the first of the party games - a battle between the new husband and wife on Hans Christian Andersen fairytales, created by Amalie's father and step-mother.

After another period of chat as well as the Flying Buffet coming around, it was then time for the next battle - a game of Mr & Mrs, created by Amalie's mother.

We then had an interlude of the dance created by the hen night girls, before the cutting of the cake, and our final game - a treasure island quiz challenge in German by Stephan's friends. By now it was gone midnight, and it was finally time for the first dance, subsequently followed by the midnight buffet.

After watching the photo slideshow of the happy couple's life together, we finally made our way to bed to get some well needed rest after the busy day.

The following morning over breakfast we said our goodbyes to the newly married couple as well as other guests of the wedding, before checking out and heading to the station.

Back in Dortmund, we had a couple of hours to explore the city, however as it was Sunday it was pretty empty, and unlike most German cities, there was little of interest to actually see, bar the Registration Office.

After a lot of travelling and a busy few days, the first weekend trip of the year was now over. An interesting and different experience for us!