Heavy Heads and Tiny Feet: 8 years ago today we had the most magical wedding.

It was perfect! It was so "us". So Billantje. A wonderful day filled with family, friends, beer, delicious food, music, dancing, silliness (lots of that), laughter and good times. It was probably the silliest, most unusual wedding ever, especially by american standards. It did not cost a million dollars. I did not wear a white dress. It did not happen in a church. We did not invite thousands of people we hardly knew. We actually didn't "invite" anyone. We let people know when our wedding was going to be and people showed up. People who wanted to be there. Some lived close by, some far away. Some even flew in from other countries! Magical!

The morning of the wedding my mom and I went to the weekly market to pick out my wedding bouquet. I picked out a bunch of wild flowers my grandfather would have loved to have him with me on my special day.

I got ready with my mom and my grandma in our apartment in Muenster while Bill got ready downstairs with some of our friends. The boys left before us and when we were ready to go meet them at city hall my mom surprised me with a bunch of red heart balloons to carry with me. LOVE was in the air :) It drizzled a bit but rain on your wedding day is considered good luck so no one cared. It was so exciting approaching the Standesamt and Bill waiting there for me all handsome in his grey tuxedo. I had not seen his outfit, nor had he seen mine, but my dress was grey and we matched! #magical My stepfather gave me away and we were ready to go get married!

The 3 musketeers together again <3

Wild and free. Right before.

The woman who married us read Khalil Gibran's "On Marriage" from the Prophet, a book I adore. We had no idea she would read this! #magical

You were born together, and together you shall be forevermore.
You shall be together when white wings of death scatter your days.
Aye, you shall be together even in the silent memory of God.
But let there be spaces in your togetherness,
And let the winds of the heavens dance between you.
Love one another but make not a bond of love:
Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls.
Fill each other's cup but drink not from one cup.
Give one another of your bread but eat not from the same loaf.
Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each one of you be alone,
Even as the strings of a lute are alone though they quiver with the same music.
Give your hearts, but not into each other's keeping.
For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts.
And stand together, yet not too near together:
For the pillars of the temple stand apart,
And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other's shadow.

Then we were married, exchanged the rings we had bought at the Stadtfest a month before, celebrated with champagne and let go our balloons outside.

Mr and Mrs Salisbury!

With my lovely family

We gathered our family and closest friends and took them to our favorite restaurant where our friend and master chef Micu had prepared the most amazing turkish buffet for us. We laughed and feasted for several hours and then moved the party to our apartment. We changed into normal clothes, danced, ordered pizza, drank wine. Welcomed more friends. Had a blast.

I had people tell me that this was the "funnest" wedding they had ever attended. That made me so happy because that's exactly what we wanted. A magical day. I am still grateful for everyone who came and made it so special.