Tag: Wedding

Golden Wedding celebration

My sister June & brother-in-law Garry on their wedding day 31st March 1962

I am the youngest of three children. My eldest sister June, is nearly nine years my senior. On Saturday 31st March 1962, at the tender age of eighteen, June married my brother-in-law Garry, the wedding taking place at Warwick Road Congregational (now United Reformed) Church in Coventry. The picture on the left is of the happy couple outside the Church following their marriage and the boyish face behind Garry’s shoulder is none other than Yours Truly, aged ten!

Exactly fifty years later, on Saturday 31st March 2012, June and Garry celebrated their Golden Wedding anniversary. They marked the occasion by holding a most enjoyable buffet lunch in the Branksome Dene Community Rooms, Poole which overlook the beach near their home for the past twenty years in Westbourne, Bournemouth. The Prague Church Council kindly agreed to me having a pre-Easter rather than my normal post-Easter break, which allowed Sybille and I to be present and join the celebrations.

June and Garry 31st March 2012 © Ricky Yates

Our trip to the UK was only my second since moving to Prague just over three and a half years ago and was Sybille’s first during this same period of time. We flew from Prague to London Gatwick late in the evening of Thursday 29th March and stayed that night and the following one, in a little cottage in the grounds of Bishop’s Lodge, Worth, on the outskirts of Crawley. The Bishop’s Lodge of  Rt Rev’d Dr Geoffrey Rowell, Anglican Diocesan Bishop in Europe, is deliberately located only ten minutes drive from Gatwick making it very convenient both for him and us!

In order to make the most of our four days in the UK, I had arranged online in advance, to hire a car at the airport. In order save money on both hire charges and fuel, I chose to hire a vehicle from the ‘small car’ category. You can probably imagine my amusement when I discovered that the car allocated to me was a brand-new Skoda Fabia – made in the Czech Republic!

Whilst I am well used to driving my own right-hand drive (RHD) car on the right (as opposed to left) side of the road here in the Czech Republic, what did seem strange was driving a RHD car on the left side of the road, something I hadn’t done for over three and a half years. Several times I came very close to driving on the right with Sybille regularly telling me ‘links fahren’, in order to remind me not to cause an accident!

Just before 9am on Saturday 31st March, we set out from the cottage, to drive to Bournemouth/Poole. The journey took us diagonally across West Sussex, a part of England that was new to me having only previously visited the very north-eastern corner of the county to get to Gatwick Airport on several previous occasions and having once driven further south to Brighton. However, once we reached Hampshire and the M27 around Portsmouth, we were back on more familiar territory. We arrived at the Premier Inn in Bournemouth, where we were booked to stay the night, with plenty of time to park the car, get appropriately dressed and then walk down to the sea front to the celebratory lunch venue.

Garry & June cutting their Golden Wedding anniversary cake © Ricky Yates

My nephew Tim making his speech about his parents at their Golden Wedding celebration © Ricky Yates

It was interesting to realise that I was one of a handful of people present at the Buffet Lunch, who had also been present fifty years previously at June and Garry’s wedding. Most of the guests last Saturday, were friends that June and Garry have made locally since they moved to Bournemouth from just outside Leamington Spa in the Midlands, more that twenty years ago. Sybille and I also had the distinction of being the two who had travelled the furthest in order to join the celebrations.

June and Garry have two children, Tim and Tom – the arrival of Tim into this world making me an uncle at the age of twelve. Tim and his partner Deborah have since made June and Garry grandparents and in turn, have made me a great uncle! It was lovely to see my great niece Lilith and my great nephew Silas, for only the second time in theirs and my lifetime.

Below is the, probably never to be repeated family photo, unless that is, we all come together again to mark June and Garry’s Diamond Wedding Anniversary, now due in less than ten years time!

The family photo. From l to r: Deborah (Tim’s partner), Silas (great nephew), Jenny (sister), June (sister), Tim (nephew), Garry (brother-in-law), Tom (nephew), Lilith (great neice), Sybille & myself © Ricky Yates

My first wedding of 2012

Myself with Kristin & Petr following their wedding service © Sybille Yates

On Saturday 3rd March, I conducted my first wedding of 2012 when Petr, a Czech, married Kristin, an American. The wedding took place at St. Clement’s Church with a congregation made up of Petr’s Czech relatives, a small number of Kristin’s American relatives, together with numerous mutual friends.

This wedding presented all the usual problems that arise when I conduct a Czech to English-speaker marriage. Petr’s parents and older relatives do not understand or speak English. None of Kristin’s family speaks Czech except for Kristin herself who has lived in Prague for twenty years and has her own business here. How was I to conduct a service that would be understood and appreciated by everyone present?

As with previous Czech to English-speaker weddings, I got Petr and Kristin to produce a completely bilingual order of service to allow everyone present to follow the liturgy and Bible Readings, even when they were not being spoken in their own native language. But I also got my good friend Kvetoslav, Lay Vice President of the Czech Old Catholic Church, to help me with saying parts of the liturgy in Czech, as well as translating my words of welcome and explanation at the beginning of the service.

Petr & Kristin outside St. Clement's Church following their wedding © Ricky Yates

Therefore, Kvetoslav helped Petr make his vows to Kristin in Czech whilst I helped Kristin make her vows to Petr in English. And the couple chose two Bible Readings, one read in English by Kristin’s mother, and the other read in Czech by Petr’s niece.

We even managed to sing one hymn, admittedly only in English. We sang ‘Joyful, joyful, we adore thee’ which is an American hymn that appears in the ‘The Hymnal’ of the American Episcopal Church. Both Kristin and her parents are from the Episcopalian tradition in the USA. Fortunately, the hymn is set to Beethoven’s ‘Ode to Joy’, the official anthem of the European Union, so it did seem quite appropriate for a transatlantic marriage!

The wedding reception took place in the cupola on the top of a wonderful cubist style building located half-way up Václavské námestí/Wenceslas Square, which currently belongs to the Landesbank Baden-Württemberg. From the cupola, there are amazing views right across Prague as well as looking down on Václavské námestí/Wenceslas Square.

Together with some excellent food and wine, the guests were also entertained by a splendid jazz trio. And throughout the afternoon, both Sybille and I constantly received compliments as to how much everybody had enjoyed the service in Church, especially the way it had enabled both Czech and English speakers to participate and fully understand all that was being said and done.

Particularly from young Czechs, I got expressions of both appreciation, but also of surprise, in that they found the way I led the service both warm and welcoming and in total contrast to their past experience of attending occasional Czech Church services. Whilst it is always nice to be appreciated, it does sadden me that the experience of so many Czechs, is that the Christian Church is both cold and unwelcoming.

It is not the primary purpose of my being here in the Czech Republic, to minister to the spiritual needs of Czech people, but rather to the spiritual needs of native English-speakers. But I increasingly feel that the main reason that the Czech Republic is as atheistic or agnostic as it appears to be, is not because of a deliberate rejection of Christian faith by its population, but rather as a result of the failure of the Czech Christian Churches to be an attractive advert for the Christian faith.

Petr & Kristin at their wedding reception © Ricky Yates

Václavské námestí/Wenceslas Square from the cupola © Ricky Yates

An English – Czech Wedding in Moravia

With Lenka & Phil in the courtyard of Valtice Castle © Ricky Yates

On Friday 10th September, I conducted my third wedding in just under four weeks when Phil, an Englishman, married Lenka, a Czech. However, unlike the two previous weddings which I’ve described in earlier blogposts, this wedding took place over 270 km southeast of Prague in the small Moravian town of Valtice which lies very close to the border with both Austria and Slovakia.

In order to be sure that I arrived on time for the wedding and in a well prepared state, we chose to drive to Valtice the previous afternoon. The bulk of the journey was along the Prague-Brno motorway which was originally constructed during the Communist era. The section nearer to Brno still has the original concrete road surface which is horribly uneven and extremely noisy to drive on. But other than some slight traffic delays leaving Prague, the rest of the journey was fine except for having to  drive through a couple of very heavy downpours.

We arrived in Valtice around 8pm just as it was getting dark. We managed to make phone contact with Phil the bridegroom who met us in the town square and directed us to Penzion Duo where he had kindly booked a room for Sybille and me to stay for two nights. Once we had unloaded our belongings and safely parked the car, we joined Phil and his father Tim at Avalon restaurace a cajovna for our evening meal.

After a good nights sleep, the Friday morning dawned fine and sunny. We were treated to a late breakfast at Restaurace Albero which is where all the guests had been asked to gather and to where we all returned later in the afternoon and evening for the wedding reception.

Valtice Castle © Ricky Yates

The wedding itself took place in the chapel of Valtice Castle, an amazing baroque structure that used to be the main residence of the Liechtenstein family who now reside in the Principality of the same name having fled Valtice as the Soviet army advanced eastwards in April 1945. It provided a wonderful venue for the marriage service as well the perfect location for photographs afterwards.

One of the most enjoyable aspects of the whole day was the keeping of a variety of wedding customs, some of which are peculiar to Moravia. Before the happy couple were allowed to lead their guests into the wedding reception, they had to cut a loaf of bread in two with a wooden knife. Then a plate was broken and Phil and Lenka were given a dustpan and brush to sweep up all the broken pieces, to promote the idea of being able to work together in a healthy manner throughout their marriage.

Phil was then required to carry his bride over the threshold and into the reception. However, because the restaurant is on the first floor, this meant carrying her up two flights of stairs! Then once seated, a large towel was wrapped around the two of them and they were required to feed each other from one bowl of soup using one spoon, once more to encourage them to cooperate together.

The first dance with bubbles being blown © Ricky Yates

Later, when Phil and Lenka took to the dance floor for the first dance, various guests blew bubbles at them, as Sybille and I both agreed, far nicer than having rice or confetti thrown at you! This was a custom that we had already seen previously at Jan and Allison’s wedding six days earlier.

Trying to catch the bouquet! © Ricky Yates

Finally, there was the more widespread tradition of the bride throwing her bouquet over her shoulder with her unmarried female friends and relatives lined up trying to catch it and thus be the next one to get married.

This was the first time we had visited southern Moravia other than driving through it on the motorway on our way to Turkey October 2009. We very much liked what we saw and hope to return there and explore the area further, hopefully in the not too distant future.

A Czech – American Wedding

Me, Allison & Jan inside St. Clement's Church following their marriage service © Sybille Yates

Yesterday, Saturday 4th September, I conducted my second wedding of the year when Jan, a Czech, married Allison, an American. Like my Scottish – Slovak wedding of three weeks earlier, Jan & Allison’s wedding took place in St. Clement’s Church with a similar wonderful mix of nationalities in the congregation including Czech, American, Canadian, German, French and English.

Allison and Jan first met whilst postgraduate students at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. They are both undertaking research in aspects of political science and have spent the past year studying in Berlin.

I first met the happy couple just over a year ago when they attended worship at St. Clements one Sunday morning in August 2009. But it was in December last year that Allison got in contact with me, asking about the possibility of being married at St. Clement’s – wanting to know it was legally possible and what would be involved.

Since the beginning of the year, I have met with Allison and Jan on several occasions, and in between have exchanged numerous emails. More than any wedding couple I can remember, they have wanted ‘Marriage Preparation’; to work through in advance of their wedding, the issues that face any couple entering upon a marital relationship and particularly those additional ones that face a couple who enter upon a cross-cultural marriage.

We’ve also spent much time working upon the content of their marriage service. Whilst sticking to the framework of the Anglican liturgy, as I insisted they had to, between us, we successfully wove in a variety of other material that was personal to the two of them.

All of this preparatory work resulted in a wonderful marriage service with contributions in English and Czech from family members on both sides. A very well produced bilingual order of service allowed everyone present to understand what was being said even if it wasn’t in a language they could understand.

Jan & Allison singing to each other and their guests © Ricky Yates

Following the marriage service in central Prague, the wedding reception took place in the grounds of the home of Jan’s mother Lenka, in the village of Klokocna, about 30 miles / 48 kilometres east of the city. As well as speeches by both the bride and the groom, they also joined together to sing a song, to each other, and to their assembled guests. That certainly was a ‘first’ for me and I’ve been involved in a large number of weddings over the past 21 years!

There was an abundance of food which celebrated the very best of Czech cuisine all prepared by Mr Sapík from the local village restaurant and pension ‘U Kone’. All this could be washed down either by Czech beer or Moravian wine. Music, dancing and entertainment continued until midnight. Then, when festivities ended, Sybille and I just walked 100 metres down the road to ‘Penzion U Kone’ where we spent a peaceful night before driving back to central Prague and St. Clement’s Church on Sunday morning, ready for worship at 11am.

‘Penzion U Kone’ , Klokocna © Ricky Yates

A Scottish – Slovak Wedding

Matthew & Jana leaving Church at the end of their Marriage Service © Sybille Yates

On Saturday 14th August, I conducted my first wedding for nearly a year when Matthew, a Scotsman, married Jana, a Slovak. The wedding took place at St. Clement’s Church in the presence of about forty friends and family – a wonderful mix of nationalities including Scottish, English, American, Slovak, Czech, German and Japanese.

I first met Matthew in June 2009 when he began worshipping with us at St. Clement’s. He had been living in Prague for nearly a year before he found the Church, teaching English in a Czech school. He had previously spent several years in the British Army seeing service in the Gulf and in Northern Ireland.  I was thrilled when he approached me at the beginning of this year saying he had met Jana and they wished me to marry them at St. Clement’s.

Jana comes from near Košice in the far eastern part of Slovakia. However, she has lived in Prague for a number of years and works as an air stewardess for a Japanese airline, regularly flying between Central Europe and Japan. As well as speaking fluent English, she also is reasonably conversant in Japanese!

All the Scots in their kilts including the Czech bagpiper on the far right © Ricky Yates

As a good Scotsman, Matthew wore his kilt for the occasion as did his best man John, his brother Kim who acted as usher, and his friend Stewart who is a Chaplain in the army and who read one of the Bible readings. Matthew also had found a Czech who could play the bagpipes and who piped Jana into Church, accompanied by her parents and then piped the newly married couple out of Church at the end of the service.

The service was followed by a buffet reception held at Restaurant Kabinet in the suburb of Žižkov. As well as good food and drink, we were also treated to some impromptu musical entertainment by the best man on guitar, his wife on the fiddle and an adult pupil of Matthew on the mandolin.

The wedding party outside St. Clement's Church © Sybille Yates