Within five months, Jon and I have been fortunate enough to attend not one, but two weddings in Sweden of dear friends I met while working at Baylor. Since 2005, we have had several reunions throughout Europe and we were so honored to be invited to
Maria's wedding in September and Richard's wedding in January. What are the chances that these two friends from the same semester at Baylor would be getting married within one year?! The weekend after I returned from my month-long visit to Texas, we trekked to the winter wonderland of Sweden in January. Though I had visited several times before in summer and fall, this was my first winter visit. A beautiful snow-white ground cover, frozen lakes with ice skaters, and beautiful traditional wooden houses in the white haze of snowfall presented an idyllic picture of Sweden in winter.
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| Outside the church where the wedding took place |
Our first night was spent in Stockholm with the newly married Maria and Jaokob. We had a fantastic evening out on the town complete with a delicious dinner, karaoke and bar-hopping. Stockholm is truly a remarkable city and I'm so fortunate we are able to experience it with a local perspective. The following day, we trekked to the suburbs of the city to stay at Maria's dad's house, near the wedding location. After dropping our bags, we made our way to a beautiful country church built in the 1200s. Richard and Sofie's wedding only had 40 guests, and we were so very honored to be included in their guest list.
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| The wedding church |
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| The newly-wedded couple, Richard and Sofie |
It was such a beautiful setting for a wedding and after the short ceremony, we made our way to the reception where we enjoyed a champagne reception, fantastic dinner, coffee and dessert and later dancing. The Swedes sure know how to do it up right! One aspect of the Swedish wedding tradition I absolutely adore is the dinner program at each person's seat, which provides commentary about each guest. As you can imagine, it takes a great deal of time to write a short paragraph about each guest, but the effort is worth it when the guests can learn a little bit more about each other and it is a great conversation starter. Another wonderful tradition is that couples do not sit next to one another, in order to encourage conversation with other dinner guests. We had so much fun meeting all the other Swedes there and once again, being the only Americans (or foreigners for that matter). These are experiences we will definitely never forget!
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| Jon, Richard and Jakob |
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| The Texas Crew: Jakob, Maria, Richard and the Cloughs |
Just like Maria and Jakob's wedding, Richard also included a Texas element as an homage to his time there. He had arranged to import Lone Star Beer and had several Texas references in his dinner program. Our wedding gifts to Richard were Texas-themed and even included a Texas passport so he could re-enter the Lone Star State more easily.
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| A Texas Cheers |
The next morning, Maria's dad and stepmom took us out to a lovely Sunday brunch at a neighborhood restaurant along the archipelago. Pictures cannot capture the beauty of the muddled sun in its last effort to produce rays before the snowfall started. The brunch was absolutely superb, but the company was the highlight of the day. Maria's family is so incredibly kind and I was so glad for the opportunity to spend more time with them and get to know them better. Maria and I have always had a special bond and just as it was so meaningful for her to spend time with my family in Texas, I was so happy to be able to spend time with hers.
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| A Sunday brunch view |
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| The Lilliestierna Crew |
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| Post-brunch walk home in the snow |
On our way to the airport that afternoon, we managed to do some sight-seeing at royal grounds where we saw the palace for foreign visitors and a beautiful church. It was a perfect Sunday afternoon with children sledding down hillsides, people walking and skiing through the countryside, and me spending time with my Swedish "family." I feel so blessed to have these incredible friendships with both Maria and Richard. What I thought would be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, has somehow happened twice and I am elated to have witnessed the union of not only one Swedish couple, but two. Until my next visit.......
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