Wedding day!!

I’m writing this on the morning of Sunday, July 26 because when we got back to the hotel at 2:30am last night I was a little too tired to post.  Yesterday was a wonderful, long, incredible day.  I took nearly 3,000 photos.  When I crawled into bed and closed my eyes, I could see a string of fuzzy images floating before me, and I could hear my camera lens trying to focus on each one.  Maybe I’ll take a little break from the picture taking today.

(July 27 update: pictures of Kaleb and Karin getting ready before the wedding are now available!)

I woke up and found myself thinking in slightly broken English, like searching for the right word and thinking, “It is like… How do you say?…”  Everyone we’ve met has been so gracious and generous about translating everything into English for us.  Throughout the wedding, toasts and announcements were given in either just English or in both languages.  Including Kaleb, who seems to be fluent in Swedish, there were only six Americans at the wedding.  People here seem so nice and generous and accommodating.  Like “Minnesota nice” squared.

We started our Saturday morning at a breakfast in our little Hotel Arkaden in Arvika.  Yogurt, sliced meats, coffee, sausages, good bread with butter.  Kaleb (Groom) picked us up to take us the 20 minute drive out to the wedding location.  When we met him, we learned that his mom, Jane, had taken ill the night before, and she was at the hospital in Arvika.  Sounded like she started feeling bad in the middle of the night, so Bob (Kaleb’s dad), Kyle (Kaleb’s brother), and Jessica (Kyle’s wife), had taken her into the hospital.  While that added a little unanticipated wedding-day worry, Jane ended up being able to make it to the ceremony.  And Kaleb and Karin proved that they’re unflappable.

(Bride) Karin’s friend (Photographer) Karin (confusing, I know!) came over to style (Bride) Karin’s hair, and I got to hang out and snuggle baby Arvid.  I took pictures, and then Arvid and I walked around the little red-wood-sided house and looked for wild strawberries to pick for the bride on her wedding day.  They were growing along the hedges and near the bases of trees, and when you popped a tiny one (smaller than my pinky fingernail) in your mouth, it tasted like a super-charged explosion of ultra-sweet strawberry flavor.

Bryan kept the groom company, and at one point in the morning, I got to take the car back into town to retrieve the wedding flowers that had been missed amidst the chaotic activities of an earlier trip.  It was fun to drive a stick-shift again and to be off on my own on lake-laced country roads in rural Sweden.

After returning to the cute house bearing some beautiful rose and peony bouquets and pink and white rose corsages, the whole wedding party got dressed and zipped over to the church for some wedding party pictures before the big show.  Bryan was the best man, and Karin’s little sister, Johanna, was the maid of honor.  (Photographer) Karin and I took pictures of the wedding party as dark clouds rolled past and rain occasionally fell.  I was hoping all day that the rain would make way for some blue skies and sunshine, but overall the day was rather dramatically cloudy and not just a little soggy.

I had a lot of fun being a wedding photographer, and (Photographer) Karin and I got along splendidly.  I can’t wait to see how the images turned out!

The wedding started at 4pm.  The church was surprisingly ornate and big for being in what appears to be a lightly populated area.  Apparently there was a government-connected church until about nine years ago, so the church used to be a Swedish church.

I was the primary photographer during the ceremony, and I had a lot of fun (though I was a bit nervous) taking pictures up front and then back in the balcony.  It was a beautiful ceremony, done in a combination of English and Swedish, and presided over by a family friend and the local parson.  I saw a lot of tears in guest’s eyes, and (once things got started) the bridal couple radiated gladness.

The reception was held at a place the locals call a museum.  A 10-minute walk from the church, it consists of a collection of maybe eight houses and converted barns or out-buildings.  I hear that festivals and historic demonstrations are held in these places.  I loved the grass-roofed building, the mossy stone walls, and the beautiful open-beamed structure where the wedding reception was held.  The rain stopped by throughout the evening, but guests wandered around the open area between the building, took pictures with a birch-wood heart, and worked on a group painting for the bridal couple.

The reception was presided over by Karin’s brother, Magnus, who was a splendid Toast Master.  He’s 22-years-old, and did a great job making announcements every half hour or so.  Then throughout dinner, he organized the toasts so guests gave them every 15 minutes or so.  It’s a lovely tradition, and I so enjoyed hearing about Karin and Kaleb from some of those who love them best.

Bryan gave a wonderful toast that was funny and touching.  Makes me proud to be his girl!

After dinner and dessert, there was mingling and dancing, and then cake was served around 11pm.  Just as the sun was setting.  By midnight, you could see light in the sky where the sun was just starting to peek around.  When we took a taxi back home to Arvika at 2am, the stars were out, but the sky in the northeast was getting bright.  I guess you could say that we danced until dawn!

We crawled into bed by 3am, and slept straight through until 10:15am when we woke up to attend a post-wedding brunch.  Sounds like the bridal couple got home and settled by 5am, so I imagine that they’re pretty exhausted!  Kaleb just drove us back to the little house they are staying, and Bryan is exploring the grounds and enjoying sitting on the front porch, gazing out over the lake and hills.  He heard a crane calling, and he saw a cute elderly woman kicking and zipping along on a sort of scooter on this wind-y, bumpy road.  This feels like the perfect kind of place to come and soak in peace.  The kitchen has a wood-burning stove, there are light pink geraniums in the white-paned windows, and the light filters in through lace curtains on the pine floors.

We’re planning to spend the day relaxing with Kaleb and his family, and perhaps we’ll do some walking or exploring around the area.  I have a few pictures to check out, so I may do some of that too!

I’ve been missing my kiddos a bit today.  Not that I’m sad, but if I had the opportunity, I’d love to spend some hours in their sweet company.  And so I’ll sign off!  Good tidings from the rolling Swedish countryside!

~Althea