The One-Week Wedding

A few years ago, when I was teaching English to immigrants, we were discussing wedding customs in different countries. As the students shared their wedding stories, I remember all of us being surprised when a Polish woman - raised on a farm - said that her wedding lasted a whole week, from the time the first guests arrived until the last one left. She then told us what she had done every day... for a week!

A wedding is only about half a day in Canada, I remember telling the class.

But recently - having had a wedding in our family - I have begun to re-evaluate my ideas: Canadian weddings can also last a week! Take our son's, for example. The weekend before the wedding, the bride-to-be spent the weekend at a cottage with her friends - her "bachelorette" weekend - her last getaway as a single woman.














At the same time, out-of-town guests began to arrive. Some, like my aunt and uncle from out west, came early to visit my mother.

Others, like Caro and Michael from Germany, arrived early to enjoy Toronto, where the wedding was held...

We drove to Toronto on Tuesday and were able to run some errands with the groom (my son).














(Here we are at a small coffee roasting facility with our German guests.) On Thursday, we went to the church for the rehearsal, and later out for the rehearsal dinner.


















Friday was the wedding!














(Here is a glimpse of the church ceremony.)














Afterwards we ate...

... drank...














... listened to music...

... took pictures...














... and enjoyed the elegant surroundings...














Saturday out-of-town guests began to leave...














Gifts and cards were opened...














The whole event lasted about a week... a beautiful, perfect week!