Our wedding day

For those of you missed that day, or for those who want to remember how it was, here a little summary:
The guests who were invited to the evening part met in front of the Restaurant Belvoirpark - wonderfully located in the middle of a park in Zürich. From there two tour busses drove us to Greifensee, a charming old town which already existed in the medieval ages, about 20 minutes outside of Zürich. The wedding ceremony took place in a gothic church - the only triangular gothic church in Europe. The lovely setting and nice interior makes it a prime target for weddings, so making the reservation one year in advance was just about in time. As we arrived, about another hundred friends and colleagues waited to see the celebration.

     At 2:30pm the bride arrived by limousine and the ceremony started. The protestant priest, Mr.Simon Gebs, made a superb job - even partly trilingual - and he made us feel comfortable. Inbetween, Catherine Lammers played the flute and Katja Warszas sang the 'Ave Maria'. After the mandatory 'yes', we exchanged rings (I should have used some soap on my ring finger), looked into each other's eyes and ... (you know what comes now). After church, we were greeted by a line

  of flight attendants and pilots, holding up inflatable planes. A zip of champagne and receiving the first congratulations and wishes. Moving 100m into the castle's garden, we could finally do some conversation with the people who came to attend. An aperitif was served and time passed by to quickly, before the two busses and the limousine moved on to a nearby hill. There, on the premises of a local farmer, Anne-Sylvie and I planted a young oak. Spontaneously guests joined us helping to finish up the job, watering and tying it to a pole. From there, we continued on a scenic route to the lake of Zurich, where a big motorboat waited for us. So we cruised for about an hour down the lake, enjoying the evening atmosphere with a low sun and perfect weather.

Arriving in Zurich at the pier, the restaurant was within walking distance. What a surprise to see two alphorns being blown in the park of the restaurant, joined by a traditional swiss flag waver (approximate translation...). Showing our several guests from abroad a part of swiss folklore.

The evening was dominated by numerous presentations, speeches, good music and excellent food. But what mattered most was the guests who contributed to a superb atmosphere. We really enjoyed it. At some time in the evening - when it was my turn to address myself to the people I finished off my speech by telling the audience that Anne-Sylvie really liked one particular song, written by Elton John. So I sat down on the piano and, together with Katja who accompanied me with the guitar, I played and the sang 'Candle in the wind'. I think Anne-Sylvie was moved... (and my father too).

One of the highlights was - when nobody expected it - the entering of 7 'sisters', performing the Sister Act 'I will follow him'. Anne-Sylvie still doesn't want to know what exactly the nuns tried to tell her by this... Time passed by far to quickly, and cutting the wedding cake almost was like preparing breakfast. Ok, not quite, but close. After being driven home, we were greeted by a row of candles, hemming the path to the house's entrance, showing us the way (we were in good enough a shape to find it ourselves, but this was nicer of course). Suddenly, a vulcano firework was lit and another bottle of champagne given by Nadja and Hans Fischer. But the most strenuous part of the day still was ahead: carrying Anne-Sylvie over the threshold of our appartment. Believe me or not, I managed it. Another surprise awaited us in our bedroom (mama, did you give away the key to the appartment?). The ceiling was covered by balloons, filled with helium. On the bed lay two pyjamas (BATMAN?!), and, let's say, a rubber product in the shape of a frog who waited to be kissed, etc etc. Without making use of it, we slowly faded awayyyyyyyyyyy.