Scenes from a Wedding

They say its the best day of your life, and it bloody well is. I never imagined my heart would belong to such a beauty of a kleine German lady, or that I would be whisked away from my rugged homeland to an ancient castle for a fairy tale wedding, with a purple-robed princess and me wearing an ancestral kilt. Namedy Castle, near Andernach, began as a 14th-century moated fortress but was transformed in the early 18th century into a Baroque pleasure palace by Johann Arnold von Solemacher. Known for its decadent social life and grand architecture, it later suffered war damage, but today serves as a venue for concerts and celebrations, continuing its legacy of luxury and festivity. 

Our wedding day went without a hitch, except for the act of getting hitched itself. Well, ok after a few drinks I fell down the stone stairs and face planted in the wall opposite, but luckily for me, nobody saw that indignity. As you can see from the order of events & photos (you only get the anonymised ones here, pauper), we had a marvellous time with poetry, music, grand surroundings, a bracing whisky Quaich ceremony, handfasting, champagne reception, Scottish pipers, and the most sumptuous meal at the Eifeler Seehütte in Rieden, on the banks of the Waldsee lake into which the beautiful autumn leaves cascaded in their orange and gold finery until the dusk consumed everything. Then, after it was all over, I went out to the lakeside with my bride and we sent Chinese lanterns serenely along the still misty waters, like hopeful wishes for a future of wellbeing and happiness. What an incredible day, and an incredible event. It shall live with me forever, and every time I look into the eyes of my ever-loving bride. 

Aedh Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven by W.B. Yeats

Had I the heaven's embroidered cloths,

Enwrought with golden and silver light,

The blue and the dim and the dark cloths

Of night and light and the half-light,

I would spread the cloths under your feet:

But I, being poor, have only my dreams;

I have spread my dreams under your feet;

Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.

From The Prophet, by Kahlil Gibran

Love has no other desire but to fulfil itself.

But if you love and must needs have desires,

Let these be your desires:

To melt and be like a running brook

That sings its melody to the night,

To know the pain of too much tenderness.

To be wounded by your own understanding of love;

And to bleed willingly and joyfully.

To wake at dawn with a winged heart

And give thanks for another day of loving;

To rest at the noon hour and meditate love's ecstasy;

To return home at eventide with gratitude;

And to sleep with a prayer

For the beloved in your heart

And a song of praise upon your lips.

For the Quaich Ceremony:

Ihr seid nun eins ihr beide by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Ihr seid nun eins, ihr beide,

und wir sind mit euch eins.

Trinkt auf der Freude Dauer

ein Glas des guten Weins!

Und bleibt zu allen Zeiten

einander zugekehrt

durch Streit und Zwietracht werde

nie euer Bund zerstört.

You Two Are One Now, by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

~ English Translation ~

You two are one now

and we are with you one.

Drink to happiness and permanence

a glass of good wine.

And remain at all times

turned towards each other

and fight and conflict may

never break your bond.

 

For the Handfasting Ceremony: 

This Marriage by Rumi 

May these vows and this marriage be blessed. 

May this marriage be as sweet as milk and honey, 

May this marriage be as intoxicating as old wine, 

May this marriage be fruitful like the date palm, 

May this marriage be full of laughter, and everyday a paradise. 

May this marriage be a seal of compassion, for here and hereafter. 

May this marriage have a fair face and a good name, 

May this marriage be as welcome as the full moon in the night sky. 

Listen lovers, now you go on, as I become silent and kiss this blessed night. 

Liebeslied, by Rainer Maria Rilke

Wie soll ich meine Seele halten, daß

sie nicht an deine rührt? Wie soll ich sie

hinheben über dich zu andern Dingen?

Ach gerne möcht ich sie bei irgendwas

Verlorenem im Dunkel unterbringen

an einer fremden stillen Stelle, die

nicht weiterschwingt, wenn deine Tiefen schwingen.

Doch alles, was uns anrührt, dich und mich,

nimmt uns zusammen wie ein Bogenstrich,

der aus zwei Saiten eine Stimme zieht.

Auf welches Instrument sind wir gespannt?

Und welcher Spieler hat uns in der Hand?

O süßes Lied!

Love Song, by Rainer Maria Rilke

~ English translation ~

How shall I hold my soul and yet not touch

It with your own? How shall I ever place

It clear of you on anything beyond?

Oh gladly I would stow it next to such

Things in the darkness as are never found

Down in an alien and silent space

That does not resonate when you resound.

But everything that touches me and you

Takes us together like a bow on two

Taut strings to stroke them to the voice of one.

What instrument have we been lain along?

Whose are the hands that play our unison?

Oh sweet song!

 

Order of Service 

Time & Venue: 2pm Tuesday 5th November 2024 Burg Namedy, Andernach 

Processional: Scarborough Fair, by Simon & Garfunkle. 

Alternative processional: Fantasia on Greensleeves, by Ralph Vaughan Williams.

Introduction from The Registrar 

Poem from The Prophet, by Kahlil Gibran. 

The Marriage Ceremony led by the Registrar 

Exchanging of the vows and rings,

Including the poem: Aedh Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven by W.B. Yeats. 

Handfasting to the poem: This Marriage by Rumi 

The signing of the Register 

The Quaich Ceremony to the poem: Ihr seid nun eins ihr beide by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 

Recessional: Intermezzo in A major, Op. 118 No. 2 by Johannes Brahms 

The ceremony was followed by drinks in the castle. 

The reception dining event was held at Eifeler Seehütte in Rieden at 5pm.