Danish Wedding

The main reason for the trip to Copenhagen was really to attend the wedding of a lovely couple named Christa and Miguel. 

The ceremony was held in the most ornate church I've ever seen, the Trinitatis Kirke (Trinity Church) which is at the annex of the famous Rundetaarn (Round Tower), originally built as an observatory by King Christian IV between 1637 and 1642. 

Unfortunately, we didn't manage to tour the observatory, which is famous for the magnificent views of the city as well its unique interior architecture but the church alone was already very beautiful. 

The walls were draped in renaissance gold ornaments and armies of angel statues. 

The ceremony was lead by a female priest (I'm unsure if this is the right term to use?) and was held in Danish. The bride wore a beautiful bustier gown and was radiating as her father walked her down the aisle. All the guests who had flown in from various parts of the world - Singapore, Italy, England - tried our best to follow the hymns throughout the ceremony but were somehow sparked into infectious giggles halfway through the ceremony! We really didn't mean to (sorry Christa!) but for some strange reason a wave of giggles spread across the vibrating pews and we were in red knots trying to stifle our laughter. 

It was unfortunate that the rains were pouring down on us as we walked from the church to the reception at Vartov but once we were all dry and warm indoors, the champagne begun flowing and mingling was in order. 

We sat down to an intimate dinner of no more than 40 guests. (In Singapore, wedding receptions usually serve anywhere from 200 to 2000 people!) The food was delicious and thoughtfully matched with appropriate wines. 

My favourite part about celebrating Christa and Miguel's union was participating in the Danish wedding traditions!

Apparently, whenever the groom left the room, the male guests would gather in a line and take turns to kiss the bride! The same was true whenever the bride left the room! It was so fun that I think I want to incorporate this in my wedding, just for the sheer fun of it. 

Another tradition we witnessed was the bride and groom having to dance a waltz before midnight. All the guests gathered around the couple as the danced and slowly inched closer, crowding the couple so they could not move. At that point, the men took hostage of Miguel, removed his shoes and cut the ends of his socks! Apparently, the girls were meant to cut the bride's veil into pieces but smart Christa didn't wear one to the reception. 

Various wedding traditions can be similar - like fathers walking brides down the aisle - or completely unique and being at Christa and Miguel's wedding prompted me to google for other interesting wedding traditions! My favourite local custom is still the Chinese Tea Ceremony, especially the part when the groom and his mates will have to do all sorts of crazy things in a bid to see and collect his bride. The next portion where the couple serves tea to their parents is one I highly regard as well. I remember crying bucketloads the day my best friend had to serve tea to her parents, as well as her grand parents who proudly flew all the way from Philippines to see their granddaughter get married. 

Choosing a date for the wedding is one of the utmost important things to do when planning. Here are a couple of traditional rhymes to help you decide:

Monday for wealth
Tuesday for health
Wednesday the best day of all
Thursday for losses
Friday for crosses
Saturday for no luck at all

Married when the year is new, he'll be loving, kind and true.
When February birds do mate, You wed nor dread your fate.
If you wed when March winds blow, joy and sorrow both you'll know.
Marry in April when you can, Joy for Maiden and for Man.
Marry in the month of May, and you'll surely rue the day.
Marry when June roses grow, over land and sea you'll go.
Those who in July do wed, must labour for their daily bred.
Whoever wed in August be, many a change is sure to see
Marry in September's shrine, your living will be rich and fine.
If in October you do marry, love will come but riches tarry.
If you wed in bleak November, only joys will come, remember.
When December snows fall fast, marry and true love will last.

Men planning to propose to their brides on a budget can take a page from the Welsh book of marriage proposals and present their brides to be with a spoon carved out from wood, which the woman has to wear around her neck with a ribbon, as a sign of their engagement! How's that for dodging having to pay thousands of dollars for a diamond ring?

You can also save yourself a massive hangover by doing what the Germans do; instead of holding hen and stag nights, they celebrate by bringing old crockery to throw outside the couple's house. It is believed that broken crockery bring good luck and the more pieces shattered, the more luck the bride and groom will have. Cleaning up would be a feat though!

In Australia, the bride tries for good luck by carrying a horseshoe over their arms.

And instead of throwing a bridal bouquet, single ladies in Peru participate in an activity where a charm is hidden in between the layers of the wedding cake. Strings of ribbon stick out of the cake but only one is tied onto the charm. The woman who pulls on the ribbon with the charm is the one to marry next. 

Tomorrow, more on our day trip to Sweden!

Copenhagen, Denmark

My long awaited holiday to Denmark was a blast! It couldn't have been better, in the company of fantastic people in one of the most beautiful cities in the world.

My first impression of Copenhagen was how warm and polite the people were. The shops and restaurants were mostly understaffed and sometimes getting served took a while but the Danish are patient and understanding. In return, the service staff worked extra hard to attend to every customer with consistent regard. This is so unlike Singapore, where most places are overstaffed, and you still either are completely ignored or find yourself at the receiving end of incredibly moody (dis)service.

The weather was a cool average of 15 degrees, with the occasional showers. Luckily for us, each time we went sightseeing to Rozenbourg Castle and Nyhavn, or even shopping along Stroget, we were blessed with glorious sun.

This was one of the squares along our Stroget shopping route. The preferred mode of transportation on short distances is the bicycle. As a result, they're parked everywhere!

This was taken at the King's Garden, with a view of Rozenbourg Castle in the background. Unfortunately, we got there a little too late to take a look around inside the castle, but the grounds surrounding it sure are beautiful.

My favourite place in the city definitely has to be Nyhavn, also known as New Harbour. Lined with rows of charming cafes and restaurants, it's the perfect spot to park yourself for the afternoon and watch the world go by. Not to mention, the spectacular view of the harbour and the lovely street musicians - no doubt it definitely feels like Europe.

I didn't really get photos of Christiania (big graffiti signs say 'No Photos' and we were warned that they may turn violent if you ignore the signs) but our visit there was definitely one of the most memorable. Freetown Christiania is a self-proclaimed autonomous community and is regulated by their own special laws, separate from the Danish government. At first, we thought it was a street of hippie squatters who do nothing but stone all day (Christiania is most famous for their thriving cannabis trade) but we were pleasantly surprised to find that their little neighbourhood was kept very orderly, appealing even.

The government has cracked down on the marijuana trade a lot since 2004 but walking through you could still see bushes of their own ganja plants, and stalls selling bricks upon bricks of aromatic grass. Even if you didn't want to smoke a joint of your own (which were as big as CIGARS!) all you had to do was take deep breaths as you walk around and you would have been as calm as millpond!

On our last day, we took advantage of the gorgeous weather to spend a day at Tivoli Gardens, an amusement theme park just outside Copenhagen Central train station, and a 5 minute walk from our hotel.

Tivoli Gardens is really quite an alluring place. Completely different from the modern theme parks out there, it exudes an old world charm (something Denmark seems to be all about) and the rides aren't as extreme as the adrenaline junkie ones out there today. Sure, you could still feel your racing heart in the pit of your stomach on some, but you needn't worry about wetting your pants at any point.

We definitely had the best view of Copenhagen on this ride...

What's more, Tivoli lights up so beautifully at night that it looks like a completely different place. I only wish the restaurants didn't close so early so that we could enjoy it a little longer...

Holiday post not over yet, keep a look out for the next installment featuring bytes on the wedding and our day trip to Malmo, Sweden!