A Danish Wedding full of tradition

So, I mentioned in the last post that I was in Boston for a work conference. So you would think that when my next post talks about being in Boston, it would be the same trip, right? Nope!

After my work trip to Boston, I had to fly back down to NC (for some work stuff on Thursday at Duke and a concert that we had tickets for that night in Raleigh) and then it was back to Boston on Friday. I kid you not - 2 trips to Boston in one week ... at least we're working on our frequent flier miles!

So, Brad and I were back to Boston for the 4th of July weekend. One of my buddies from high school was getting married on Saturday. The wedding was really fun - Kristy's (now) husband is Danish so the wedding was a fun mix of American and Danish wedding traditions. The main difference was that the reception started with a dinner that went on for almost 5 hours! Why you might ask? Because the dinner was led by a "toast master" and many of the guests got up to the mic and gave toasts (or roasts!) throughout dinner. Some were sweet and sentimental, others were hysterical and some were even in song!

It was neat - lots of love and laughs being shared. One toast involved a plastic viking hat which Brad and I managed to borrow later on in the evening for some quick pics :)



Besides the dinner other fun traditions included the first dance being interrupted by the groomsmen who "captured" the groom, stole his shoes and cut the toes off of his socks. Apparently, a Danish wedding tradition in which the bride can examine the groom's socks (to make sure that he hasn't been sneaking out at night) and then prove to her new mother-in-law that she can sew when she has to sew the toes back on!

Needless to say, there aren't any fields on downtown Boston, Joen hasn't been "sneaking around" and there was no sewing machine at the reception hall to test Kristy's sewing skills - but it was funny.

All in all, a lot of fun and great time catching up with old friends. Here's Jenn and Julie from high school (well, really from elementary school - we became friends in girl scouts in the 1st grade!)

And Brad's newest friend - ok, so we didn't know her before the wedding but after 5 hours sitting next to someone at dinner (and admittedly finishing off some wine!), we were all new best friends, ha!