The Stalheim Hotel was in a rare moment of calm, with no tour busses outside. The clatter of the helicopter brought us out the door. Hotel cameras were brought out into the parking lot. The copter touched down on the lawn beside the hotel, and out stepped two men and two women in full Voss bunads, complete with a top hat for the groom, and a gold glittery and embroidered head-dress for the bride. The bride was laughing and waving up at us in the parking lot, while the groom was much more conscious of the spinning blades overhead. The four of them stood to one side as the helicopter took off. The wind nearly lifted their hats and skirts right off!
The bridal party had just flown from the wedding at the 11th-century church in Voss, at which they had arrived in a horse-drawn carriage, I understand. Talk about "something old and something new"! While they waited for their guests to drive up, they let me take their picture with my cell phone. They were so radiant! When the guests arrived, there were nearly 40 bunad-wearing, cake-bearing couples. At the same time as the guests arrived, a busload of Japanese tourists showed up, so there was much posing and picture taking. Lots of fun.
The wedding reception involved opening gifts, a sit-down dinner, and speeches, as all receptions must. Ingrid and I were waiting outside the room, enjoying the evening while making sure we could admire the guests whenever the doors opened. After a couple of hours, the doors opened and everyone spilled out into the public area. Most of the bunads were from Voss, so they had a lot of similarity. Some were the winter version, which is darker and has a fitted jacket. Most were the summer version, with a white apron and white blouse displayed under the bodice. There were quite a few Bergen dresses, while there was one from the eastern part of the country, near Oslo. (I asked her where it was from, since it looked different).
After a while, the guests went back into the room, but there was a man warming up a Hardanger fiddle outside. It was intricately decorated, and had the extra strings behind the usual violin strings that give the Hardanger fiddle a tonal quality all its own. (listen here) I was delighted to talk with him about it, but only had a moment. He had to lead the bride and groom into the reception. Not too long after, they did the polonaise, which meant that the fiddler led the bride and groom out of the room, and they were followed by all the other guests, two-by-two. They walked out in this stately, smiling parade, into the fog beyond the building doors, made a loop back inside, and then... the bride and groom held their hands in a bridge so that the second couple could duck under, and form a bridge. The third couple ducks under the two bridges and forms their own bridge. This goes on until every couple is forming a bridge. Then the bride and groom go under all the bridges, followed by the other couples in order until all the bridges are released. Then they went back into the ballroom for the first dance. It was a traditional folk dance, which the bride and groom danced wonderfully. The guests soon joined in. The following songs mixed traditional folk dances, Elvis Presley, country-western, and some oldies. They had some good dancers! (You see that they forgot to close the doors!)
Late in the evening, they had more food, and 30 cakes brought by the guests. The music went on till 2 am, but it was a well-behaved occasion. The proof of that is that the guests were all up and cheerful at the breakfast buffet Sunday morning! That was when the bride told me it would be okay for me to blog about their beautiful wedding. It was a once-in-a-lifetime event, and went just perfectly! If the couple is reading this, please accept my best wishes for a long and happy life together.
The wedding reception involved opening gifts, a sit-down dinner, and speeches, as all receptions must. Ingrid and I were waiting outside the room, enjoying the evening while making sure we could admire the guests whenever the doors opened. After a couple of hours, the doors opened and everyone spilled out into the public area. Most of the bunads were from Voss, so they had a lot of similarity. Some were the winter version, which is darker and has a fitted jacket. Most were the summer version, with a white apron and white blouse displayed under the bodice. There were quite a few Bergen dresses, while there was one from the eastern part of the country, near Oslo. (I asked her where it was from, since it looked different).
After a while, the guests went back into the room, but there was a man warming up a Hardanger fiddle outside. It was intricately decorated, and had the extra strings behind the usual violin strings that give the Hardanger fiddle a tonal quality all its own. (listen here) I was delighted to talk with him about it, but only had a moment. He had to lead the bride and groom into the reception. Not too long after, they did the polonaise, which meant that the fiddler led the bride and groom out of the room, and they were followed by all the other guests, two-by-two. They walked out in this stately, smiling parade, into the fog beyond the building doors, made a loop back inside, and then... the bride and groom held their hands in a bridge so that the second couple could duck under, and form a bridge. The third couple ducks under the two bridges and forms their own bridge. This goes on until every couple is forming a bridge. Then the bride and groom go under all the bridges, followed by the other couples in order until all the bridges are released. Then they went back into the ballroom for the first dance. It was a traditional folk dance, which the bride and groom danced wonderfully. The guests soon joined in. The following songs mixed traditional folk dances, Elvis Presley, country-western, and some oldies. They had some good dancers! (You see that they forgot to close the doors!)
Late in the evening, they had more food, and 30 cakes brought by the guests. The music went on till 2 am, but it was a well-behaved occasion. The proof of that is that the guests were all up and cheerful at the breakfast buffet Sunday morning! That was when the bride told me it would be okay for me to blog about their beautiful wedding. It was a once-in-a-lifetime event, and went just perfectly! If the couple is reading this, please accept my best wishes for a long and happy life together.
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