Festivities approaching

Hi all, a bit of a stall in the postings due to busyness in general. And, I'm gearing up for two other big parties: my own birthday and Oktoberfest! I will be celebrating my own in a Biergarten with friends at a table with its own beer tap! Should be amusing? In any case, I will try to limit my own beer consumption, because I will be rising and shining nice and early to head off to the opening day of Oktoberfest. There will be plenty of time to shake off the (potential) hangover, given that the tents open their doors at 9 and we won't be served beer until after Christian Ude, the Mayor of Munich, taps the first beer keg in the opening ceremony at 12 noon. But we plan on bringing cards and games (maybe even books) to keep ourselves entertained. And when the beer does come, it will be certainly welcome.

On the wedding planning front, I have mostly been thinking and brewing (haha) over several aspects. It looks like the civil ceremony will be taking place in the morning on Friday, giving us time to do a nice low key lunch with immediate family and friends before heading back to the hotel to hang out and relax (HA! Relax on the day before my wedding? we'll see). I am a bit torn because we will only be inviting our immediate family and the bridal party to the civil service because the room is so small, but I would really like to welcome everyone else who made the long trip to town with some sort of gathering. I was thinking about just having an informal gathering in the evening at some point ? either at the hotel or elsewhere. But then again, I suppose our guests will be happy to fend for themselves in beautiful Alpine wonderland?. Maybe a "welcome back from being legally married" toast, or something, followed by a fun mini golf game, if the weather cooperates? We'll see.. does anyone (including the guests) have any ideas about that? Preferences? I guess there's time to think about it.

We are meeting with Oliver, our officiant, for the first time on Saturday, and I can't wait to see what he's like and what ideas he has! We scouted out potential sites at the Sommerau on Sunday, and it looks like we might be able to hold the ceremony down by the pond if the weather cooperates. If not, they have a lovely ceremony room with a beautiful mural of the town.

On sunday, we bombarded the Sommerau with questions ranging from chair covers to cakes and flowers, and we were very satisfied with a) how reasonably priced everything seems to be and b) how flexible they are. I think we are going to do things how we like, and maybe even throw in a few extras! We also checked out the room again and we loved it, even though it was still being cleaned from the wedding the previous night. The owner invited us to come back on a friday night when everything is set up so we can see it in all its glory, and I can't wait! I might even gather some ideas from other weddings?. Can I go every friday night? :)
We also visited the "mud baths" that are part of the hotel property and watched some people bathing in the black mud and then rinsing off in the adjacent swimming pond. Looked like lots of fun :) And we checked out a hotel room, which are lovely, a mix of wooden old-timeness and nice, cleanly renovated-ness. Did I mention that the hotel is also COVERED in solar panels?? For those who know me, you will understand my excitement at this fact. Well, on we go!

Registries

So it might be a bit early to be talking about this, but I have been thinking about the registry situation. In Germany, they don't really do registries, at least not really. It's still stuck in the old-fashioned days where you actually have to go to the fancy store and they give you all kinds of advice about what fancy schmancy stuff you should put on your grown up fancy schmancy list and how you need a roasting pan to go with your sauce pan… Part of the problem is, Germany is woefully lacking in wonderful stores like Target, Pottery Barn and Williams Sonoma. Lovely stores for the normal people of the world who like gadgets and household stuff but don't want to spend a million dollars or drive all the way to ikea to buy some plastic bins(ok, I know that Williams Sonoma is actually kinda fancy… but it's also kinda wonderful). I have been browsing the amazingly designed registry sites of those stores and bemoaning Germany's medieval stance on weddings. The other problem is, there are about a million things that I want at Target, Pottery Barn and Williams Sonoma precisely because I CAN'T get them here in Europe: Jalapeno roaster pans and measuring cups and Ziploc bags and stuff like that. But of course, who wants to schlep a Bundt pan across the ocean?

So here's the solution I'm thinking of: we will register at the above mentioned three American places, but only for things that are packable. That way, people who are interested in giving us the joy of lovely American products that we otherwise couldn't get will be able to do that, if they are willing to schlep them in their suitcase. Then, we will go to snooty Kustermann (who has really really nice stuff, but they are still snooty) and having one of those archaic registry meetings and pick stuff like plates and glasses and silverware that people otherwise wouldn't want to pack. And we will probably also use something called the "wish gallery" which is a German website where you can make your wedding registry from a bunch of different online shops who were too lazy to make their own registries, so people can then order directly from those stores (like amazon, karstadt, etc…). That seems like a rather unwieldy solution, but the best of both worlds :)

Not that this thing is about the presents, or anything :) Just a thought in the planning process… (hope this didn't come off as to egotistical and material!!)

How did other expats deal with this? Did anyone follow the German tradition of just asking for money? Does anyone else think that is pretty boring? Hmmm..